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by idle_zealot 821 days ago
Because basically everyone giving up all privacy for a modicum of convenience makes the world a worse place. It's a seatbelt situation; people consistently make the wrong decision, so the option is removed. In the abstract it's distasteful to remove autonomy like that, but on occasion we need to make collective calculated decisions like this.
1 comments

I don't get how it makes me worse off if someone else voluntarily consents to give up their privacy?
Maybe you'll understand it when I replace one inalienable right with another in that sentence: "I don't get how it makes me worse off if someone else voluntarily consents to selling themselves to slavery?"
It is much easier for your government to institute a repressive regime if most of your fellow citizens have given up their privacy. Once instituted, the regime can prevent you from leaving the country and harm you in many ways even if you personally were very careful to preserve your privacy.