Why not both?
> The worst thing a company can do is try to sell you more soap
No, the worst thing a company can do is to propagate the recorded data, willingly or otherwise (companies get hacked, forced by governments, etc.), to entities that won't be content with just using that data to sell more soap.
Oh, btw. Do you know who's in general VERY interested in all that sweet data such companies collect? That's right: Governments.
And politicians and governments, at least in all countries that I intend to live in, answer to the voter. Who do companies answer to?