I was thinking about this earlier (about the time the article was published). States will get more data for cheaper by buying data from companies, but I'm not sure the data will necessarily be more useful. Knowing my location, what websites I've looked at, and what products I've bought -- it doesn't necessarily paint a more accurate picture of me, than what the NSA already collects.

State surveillance is kinda like central planning. It doesn't matter how much data you have; it won't help if you think that you should be in control of other people. That perspective unavoidably prevents you from seeing reality.