Does Ubuntu upload personal information by default and without permission now?

[Jo-Erlend Schinstad]

I was a little bit surprised to read that the Music Lense will actually 
send your searches to an online database by default and without asking 
any permission beforehand. In earlier versions of Ubuntu, things like 
popcon have not been activated by default and you've always been 
confident that there are no open ports and no data being transmitted 
unless you've asked for it.

I had difficulties believing this to be true, so I tested it. I searched 
for an artist of which I have no records, and sure enough, the music 
lense told me I could purchase it. I then disconnected from the network 
and searched again and this time, I got no advertisement. A very simple 
test that anyone can perform, and it indicated to me that the search was 
indeed being sent to some online service. Does this apply to all my 
searches? What else is being uploaded about me?

I was just about to sniff my network to see for myself when I came to my 
senses... If people even get the impression that they are being 
monitored by their own system, then Ubuntu has certainly lost. 
Technologies like Zeitgeist are great, but they also mean it's more 
important than ever that absolutely no information is being transmitted 
without asking permission first and that user always knows what is being 
sent. The feeling of loosing that confidence was not a good one.

I think the advertisements in the lenses, whether it's for software or 
music, needs to be deactivated. Not only does it validate the notion 
that Ubuntu is "free for a reason, just like GMail", but it might also 
cause users to loose confidence in their own privacy.

It just isn't worth it.

Jo-Erlend Schinstad