[deadweight3]

You do have a choice, thats why there is the ugly text with the learn more link. They really went out of their way to ensure you were informed. Anything less than acknowledgement stinks too much of either the tech cults, or unfounded paranoia. The first icon presented is Safari, so if you don't read and don't look at icons, then okay... But that's not Apples problem. If it's a feature you don't want to use, don't use it, you can turn it off without a python scripts. I tire of these stupid games.

Theft and financia fraud? Do you search for you account numbers and passwords in spotlight???

[csirac2]

What prompted me to reply was when you said "Regardless, it doesn't matter. It's simply ignorant to bitch about this, when the NSA literally intercepts all of this and exploits or introduces exploits into the software you use".

When RealPlayer was grilled for bundling spyware which harvested the exact same data, why did their excuses ("hey we mentioned this in the EULA, plus you could've scrolled through the features and disabled it at install-time") not create the same placated reactions Apple seems to be achieving here?

"Opt-out of some part of this avalanche of b.s. information-leaking features serving little to zero actual benefit to the user" has always been a stupid, sleazy trend to monetize the very basics of computing and whilst I respect that most people don't give a damn and/or don't have the energy to give a damn, it's a user-hostile design pattern.