Both, but largely through marketing. It's hard to address concerns in the product if the mechanism to collect the data in question doesn't exist.
Our goal is to even the playing field when it comes to accessing spatial data and I feel that's adequately reflected in the core feature of our mapping software; whether you're a forensic analyst at Interpol or the neighbor kid looking up BMX trails, you'll always be looking at the most up-to-date map data. Paid customers receive features of course, but what appears on the map is the same regardless of whether or not you're paying.
I think most people who are not in this group would expect it to be private. My snail mail isn't encrypted, but I have an expectation that it is private.
Yes it is. USPS first class (ie regular not bulk) mail IS absolutely private and may not be opened by authorities without a warrant (and tampering with them by non authorities is a federal crime).
What security agencies have done is scan and collect all envelope info (metadata) which was ruled to be not private (makes sense) but with powerful enough cameras, lights, and enhancement software that most letters sent in standard envelopes can leak their contents.
I live in the US and have had snail mail opened without my permission and forwarded to me at the post office before. Once they put a sticker on it, once they didn't even bother. So, no, your snail mail isn't private at all. Government is free to open it and examine it any time they want. Legally the inspector is only supposed to open discount classes of mail, which is about half of them, to make sure you aren't lying to ship something cheaper, but in practice they are free to open anything and do.
I'm a Star Wars collector and parent who shops at TRU. Beyond debt, the stores are mismanaged the same as most other old-school retailers that are having problems.
For the last Force Friday (the day all the stores get new Star Wars toys and people go out at midnight to purchase), there were numerous reports of TRU's opening at midnight with almost zero new inventory. How does that happen, it's a planned date set months in advance. My TRU also has $200 items that have sat on the shelves for over 2 years.
No, they don't avoid it. I pay sales tax on every purchase I make on Amazon. It is required based on the laws of certain states. I recall there being some law passed a while ago regarding this.
But, aren't ecommerce sites collecting this information and more from your browsing? I don't think it's possible to say one is much better than the other, just that we expect tracking online, not in the real world.
There is the point that in the "real world", social norms haven't yet adapted to the requirements of privacy (although you could also view it as societal norms allowing too much tracking). For example, if I wanted to use a mask to conceal my face from trackers, I would be ostracized. There are analogues in the virtual world of course, but it's usually harder in the physical world.
I think a lot of the Bay Area power comes from having so many tech folks in one place, which is hard for Canada to manage anywhere given population. In the Bay Area, you can go for a coffee or a beer and run into a bunch of tech folks and something may come out of that. There's no where in Canada where tech has the density to make that happen in a random way (maybe Ottawa or Waterloo back in the day).
Immigration can help, for sure bringing smart minds in is never a bad thing. I've only lived in Ottawa and Toronto, I think creating the critical mass of tech folks is difficult in those cities which have other more dominant industries (government and financial/cpg respectively).
Agree that past success fuels the mentality that builds the future.
