Mark Shuttleworth has personally responded to Bug #1111808 and has appears to have apologized for the privacy snafu that has occurred with the latest release of Ubuntu due to the Amazon Dash plug-in for Unity being enabled by default and for the poor default implementation and lack of information about networked features with-in Unity. This caused both outrage and panic on both sides but the reality is that these features were poorly handled and the user should have been informed of their presence at the start.
Shuttleworth has promised that in 13.04 "Raring" users will be able to switch Unity to a "private" mode where networking is totally disable and there will also be options to turn off these plug-ins on a one-by-one basis as well. The user will also be informed after logging into Ubuntu or when first using these features of their presence and the legal notice will be more noticeable.
However, unfortunately, it looks like they will be turned on by default. Honestly, I think this scope feature is a good feature and if users want to use it then more power to them. Especially if Canonical gets a bit of the profit cut. But they really need to understand that while it is okay to ship with this kind of functionality, it should really be turned off by default. Instead, perhaps they should show a pop-up that coerces the user to make a choice between a networked and a non-networked Unity. The problem is that businesses which handle sensitive information are really going to think twice about using such an operating system because Unity in its default mode as it is now could be seen as spyware. This has to change.
Another option that should be put on the table is doing what KRunner does in KDE for certain plug-ins. Have the option to assign a prefix to launch said dash lens or scope. For example, allow me to set things up so that the only time the Amazon scope launches is when I type something like: "a: tea cups". Now that makes some sense and gives me the ability to control what data goes out. However, given Ubuntu's focus on simplicity I doubt this will happen.
It is not a perfect solution, but it is a step in the right direction.
Shuttleworth has promised that in 13.04 "Raring" users will be able to switch Unity to a "private" mode where networking is totally disable and there will also be options to turn off these plug-ins on a one-by-one basis as well. The user will also be informed after logging into Ubuntu or when first using these features of their presence and the legal notice will be more noticeable.
However, unfortunately, it looks like they will be turned on by default. Honestly, I think this scope feature is a good feature and if users want to use it then more power to them. Especially if Canonical gets a bit of the profit cut. But they really need to understand that while it is okay to ship with this kind of functionality, it should really be turned off by default. Instead, perhaps they should show a pop-up that coerces the user to make a choice between a networked and a non-networked Unity. The problem is that businesses which handle sensitive information are really going to think twice about using such an operating system because Unity in its default mode as it is now could be seen as spyware. This has to change.
Another option that should be put on the table is doing what KRunner does in KDE for certain plug-ins. Have the option to assign a prefix to launch said dash lens or scope. For example, allow me to set things up so that the only time the Amazon scope launches is when I type something like: "a: tea cups". Now that makes some sense and gives me the ability to control what data goes out. However, given Ubuntu's focus on simplicity I doubt this will happen.
It is not a perfect solution, but it is a step in the right direction.