Private eyes on public data

Private eyes on public data : "For $5, each customer can even purchase two maps of the moon. But not Australia."

Do I want a map of the moon? Not really. I have some really good slides. Do I want government data released for anyone to peruse at a cost, especially spatial data? Can't say. I thought we were into security and safety and this is the big catch of data storage. As soon as it is stored then it is accessible for a price or not. For good or not. For profit or not. I read all 6 pages of this article and when it came up with the Panama Canal analogy, I started to be concerned. When you start getting bizarre analogies which sound relatively innocent then the argument is often on shaky ground. Releasing data so anyone can use it and so the terribly disorganised government can't hog it all, isn't an argument which convinces me. So I can have a map of the moon?? So I can have as much cheap data as the US? So I can be more ahead of data digging than the UK? There is nothing which tells me we should offer our data for anyone and anybody to use as they wish. I may be wrong. Perhaps there are benefits which I have overlooked or not even considered. It's bad enough now with the lack of privacy boundaries. It's about sacred space, I suppose.