Eli5 why is the government collecting metadata or online information in general a terrible thing?

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I understand people will go far lengths to protect their privacy but with the internet once you have a email they probably have a good idea about you already, and unless you are doing something with malicious intent the government probably (hopefully) doesn’t really care, so why is it such a huge thing?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Until government becomes uncorrurptable, then any power it has over you will be corrupted at some point.

Like guns, live in America, and want to exercise your right to own an object that you have no intention of ever using on other people? Better be careful with what officials know you have. (See Nazi Germany, Russia at various points in the last century, or almost any dictatorship and the resulting civilian deaths and economic upheavals that followed)

Need an abortion? It would be a real shame if someone in the government didn’t want you to have one and also had the ability to track you, your location, or your menstrual cycle. (See some current U.S. states)

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