[rudra]

of course all those companies are hoarding your data. Some like google may not use it to intelkigently push adverts if you opt out of it. But this huge treasure of real inter-related time ordered data is too tasty to let go if one is hoping to make big advances in AI research. So I can't blame them. If you are not paying for something then you are the product.
Many experts in the field are saying that china is far ahead in ML based AI that uses huge data sets to train intelligent systems. Cause their goverment can track all the data from its huge population with impunity and they are doing just that. That much quality data makes system behaviour analysis and optimization easier.

I am kind of afraid that with such huge data, behaviour predictions might become so good that when used in the field on a new subject, the systems won't need that many new inputs to predict. We are no random living automata. All the bubbling thoughts abd impulses in our mind may be a near chaotic mess. But when we see the output in words and activity, it is much more predictable...my guess.

So may be just abandoning is not going to be enough.

edit. then there is the push to digitize everything around the world and the rampant data theft. We are probably already more exposed than being nude.