Excellent article. It really made me think about the responsibility we (programmers) have for protecting user information. I wonder how this problem could be solved, though. Apple is already widely criticized for their tight control over applications (even though this article clearly shows that this control is not _that_ tight). I do believe however, that right now Apple would be the only company who could change this trend with their App Store model; they already check every single application they offer for sale.

But the line between what's considered usage pattern analysis or creepy spying is hard to draw.