[geofft]

OK, but those taxes are paid by someone (usually business taxes). I am strongly in favor of government-funded healthcare but the number of countries where the government can be funded by, like, drilling oil is very small, so I think my argument stands - some portion of the money I spend on dinner is going not towards things that directly produce my dinner but things that someone else thinks is worthwhile. Even if I agree with it, it's not my decision.

[giantDinosaur]

Structuring something in the interests of what benefits them won't necessarily align with what benefits you, since the actual structure of the relationship matters, as brief regard to my flippant comment on your analogy. It isn't about what % of dinner goes to healthcare - it's (and I was assuming some hideous employer-pays healthcare system) rather about the system which is built to align incentives and benefits in certain ways. That is, I stand to lose in many situations if healthcare is provided directly by the payments of my customers, or whatever. Likewise, with privacy, it isn't just that 'it spies', it's that what it purports to aid me in is likely coincidental. Just like a targeted advertisement actually really benefiting me is effectively irrelevant to the advertiser - it's just nice if our incentives happen to align, for one brief moment. :-)

It isn't so nice when they don't.