Anthopic choosing to delay their models' invevitable distillation by competitors is their prerogative.
That they choose to implement it by fingerprinting my access patterns without first disclosing is where they shit the bed. It isn't "sneaky" it's straight up sneaky (and dishonest and unscrupulous while we're at it). That this particular instance is harmless doesn't give me much comfort. Who's to say they aren't harvesting PII?
That their actions make sense for their business isn't any reason for people to accept their deceitful, customer-hostile decisions.
Even good goals do not excuse malicious or reckless execution. The ends do not always justify the means.
Whether or not it harmed you this time, it's a violation of trust and autonomy.
Surely you'd be angry if someone secretly installed a rootkit onto your computer, even if--at least for now--it only had code to try to detect and snitch on Public Enemy #1.
This seems to be a VERY low resolution, functionally anonymous, bit of info, probably related to protecting their IP from bad actors breaking the TOS.
This looks like it's covered in the second bullet point of the "Personal data we automatically receive", that you consented to:
> Usage Information: We collect information about your use of the Services, such as the dates and times of access, browsing history, search, information about the links you click and about third-party applications, services, and content you integrate or interact with, pages you view, and other information about how you use the Services, and technology on the devices you use to access the Services.
What do you see as malicious or reckless here, exactly?