zlacker

>>benwer+(OP)
Are there any countries which have the capabilities to spy on their citizenry that do not? I think there’s this idea of American exceptionalism, that spying on citizens is something that happens elsewhere but not in the good ‘ol US of A. But that’s probably more propaganda than fact.

The US gov has trampled on essentially every right we were taught about in 4th grade schoolhouse rock. They infiltrated and spied on Muslims in Minnesota [1] and before that had an entire program of spying on any activist at all. Before that they put entire races (Germans and Japanese) in internment camps and SCOTUS said it was fine. Hell, they even bombed people in Philadelphia.

My point is, exploiting the 3rd party doctrine to spy on Americans might be out of step with your conception of America and what you think it should be, but it’s not out of step with the historical reality of America.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/01/magazine/fbi-terrorism-te...

>>janals+Cz3
I think the EU is at least a bit more aware of this kind of tracking, and trying to do something to stop it. If I became aware of some (EU) company collecting my location info on that scale, at least I have the right to get to know what data they have on me, and to ask them to delete it. Of course I don't believe all is perfect in the EU, nor that all those rules are always followed, but at least we are trying...