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Tech Companies Urge Supreme Court To Boost Cellphone Privacy (reuters.com)
More than a dozen high technology companies and the biggest wireless operator in the United States, Verizon, have called on the U.S. Supreme Court to make it harder for government officials to access individuals' sensitive cellphone data. From a report: The companies filed a 44-page brief with the court on Monday night in a high-profile dispute over whether police should have to get a warrant before obtaining data that could reveal a cellphone user's whereabouts. Signed by some of Silicon Valley's biggest names, including Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Snap and Alphabet's Google, the brief said that as individuals' data is increasingly collected through digital devices, greater privacy protections are needed under the law. "That users rely on technology companies to process their data for limited purposes does not mean that they expect their intimate data to be monitored by the government without a warrant," the brief said.
No, the government collecting your data is not the same as when private corporations do.
When Google knows what you click on, they'll show you some adds. The FBI, local SWAT or sheriff on the other hand, will kick down your door, shoot your dog, beat you to shit. If you're lucky, they go to the wrong house, and it is your neighbor who gets the treatment.
Losing privacy to advertising companies can be annoying and frustrating. Losing privacy to your government is by definition a surveillance state, and quickly becomes a police state. If you live in the USofA, you just have to look out the window to see it unfolding in front of your eyes.