[j2ko4r]

I believe the point they're going for is that if end-to-end encryption were off by default the majority of people would not turn it on, so to speak.

So the goal is to be able to passively collect more data, rather than actively track down criminals who would presumably take precautions to ensure their activity is suitably encrypted.

[ikeboy]

>criminals who would presumably take precautions

This strikes me as weak. Sure, some criminals would still enable it, but most criminals wouldn't. I've made the same arguments in greater detail here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10580829 , and lower link to some criminal activity with hundreds of millions at stake that communicated over email.