With iTunes Upgrade Comes Ping Privacy Warning

Included in the just released iTunes 10.1 upgrade is a new warning that may cause concern for some users concerned with privacy.  If you have a Ping account and use the Ping sidebar, Apple says you are now consenting to: "iTunes will send information to Apple about the content you select in your iTunes library in order to provide you with Ping personal recommendations."

iTune's Genius recommendations have previously been based on music that the user owns.  The new Ping rules go further, making recommendations based not only ownership, but also on items that you don't own but just play or sample.  That distinction may seem insignificant to many users, but others may feel big brother inching ever closer. 

The update does include the ability to disable Ping and remove it from the iTunes Sidebar.