I love Ubuntu, but I still feel like this a misstep. Would feel much happier if they followed the EFFs recommendation, such as making it an opt-in option the first time you open the Dash.

Meh ... I don't really see the fuss.  And in any case, how is this different to how Google uses my email, etc?

If it helps them earn a buck for the value I get out of it, I'm happy.

I think the reason it concerns me more than Google's context sensitive ads is data gets sent to a third party provider, it's opt out rather than opt in, it transmits all the requests I put into the dash to Canonical (I trust them not to install abusive software, but don't them with my personal data) and in generally don't want product results when starting programs or locating documents (makes a lot of clutter). Where I distinguish this from something like Google search is that I'm explicitly looking for something online rather than doing basic OS operations. I think I'd even be happy if the default lens had a single "Search Products for 'term'" suggestion so at least it's an explicit action (same thoughts for a dedicated "product search" lens that I explicitly open).