It used to be the case that the police couldn't tap your land line without a warrant. How long did phones even exist before the government was already abusing

It used to be the case that the police couldn't tap your land line without a warrant. How long did phones even exist before the government was already abusing this power? The government can't be trusted to have a mechanism like this and not abuse it (setting aside the fact that the existence of such back doors means once someone cracks it, anyone can tap you).