Who said anything about widespread surveillance? The "government wants to listen to every Echo user" idea is paranoid fantasy. The "government would really li

Who said anything about widespread surveillance? The "government wants to listen to every Echo user" idea is paranoid fantasy. The "government would really like to listen to these individuals, but doesn't want to go through full court proceedings" is less fanciful and not without precedent. It's not just profit. It's the morass of backroom bargains to stave off regulation, honest desire to "do good", future contracts, and political goodwill. There's a rich history of US technology companies enabling the government / military for all of the above reasons.