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1b1ed1a
(Get the code!)
Thanks for the in-depth reply.
It is reassuring to hear that dash.ubuntu.com acts as a proxy. On a personal level I find this to be more tolerable than a direct interface with a commercial service I have no customer relation with.
The data aspect alone is probably enough to warrant inclusion of a toggle for this feature, or perhaps an option to only download this kind of data when connected to wifi.
That said, I politely disagree on the privacy aspect. Please indulge me — an avid Ubuntu user — in relating my personal view on this matter. From a principled standpoint there are two things that would help in maintaining Ubuntu's reputation with regards to privacy.
One is informed consent. It would like to be informed about what kind of data is being automatically transmitted to other parties. Perhaps via a page in the documentation that lists the various types of external connections that are being made on a stock release of Ubuntu Touch (and probably the normal Ubuntu OS). Is such a list available?
One reason that I mention this is that the default behaviour of the dash in stock desktop Ubuntu used to be to search Amazon automatically with search terms entered. This has since been disabled by default, but did raise valid privacy concerns. I feel strongly that Ubuntu is the kind of OS where users are actively given a chance to influence the data they are broadcasting, especially in this age of mass surveillance and mass tracking. But to do that, users must be aware of what is happening and who they are communicating with. As you mention it makes quite a difference if artwork requests are done directly to 7digital or via Canonical's proxy.
The second is perhaps an extension of that, and is simply to enable users to disable this kind of behaviour. Ideally users can disable third party communications like these (indirect) requests to 7digital at will from the Privacy and Security settings.
I will admit that music artwork does seem lot less sensitive in terms of its privacy impact than general searches in the dash, but I feel strongly that this decision should be left with the user, especially for stock software included with the OS, and bundled services of the OS (e.g., the thumbnailer).
A hypothetical case that comes to my mind is this. Consider Wikipedia's list of controversial album art¹. If I was visiting a country with strict laws regarding nudity and sexuality and an active policy of examining your personal electronic devices at the border (sadly, not unlikely these days) it would be unpleasant — at the very least — to have a Music App fetch the album covers for, say, Nirvana – Nevermind or The Scorpions – Virgin Killer (!).
Needless to say that even if the music itself was allowed, possession of these kind of images is highly illegal in such jurisdictions, with punishments that are no laughing matter. If our hypothetical Scorpions-fan took care not to upload any music tagged with album covers to his device, he would still end up with those covers in plain view to any customs officer inspecting his phone or tablet.
1: https:/