New-age companies' mass data-collection spree worries investors

Collecting lots of data is paramount to developing artificial intelliegence

Nearly every technology start-up wants the same thing: more data.

But in the rush to collect all manner of information about customers, tensions are rising in Silicon Valley over whether such practices amount to a form of surveillance that customers will ultimately find invasive.

Whether ordering an Uber, streaming music, shopping online or tracking a health condition, consumers are giving an unprecedented amount of information to technology companies.

“The data that companies ... have on you is significantly greater than you appreciate,” Mark Suster, managing partner at venture capital firm Upfront Ventures, said in an interview at a conference in