By analogy... Our relationship with shops has changed over the last 30 years thanks to CCTV (affordable webcams) and point of sale systems. We went from an era

By analogy... Our relationship with shops has changed over the last 30 years thanks to CCTV (affordable webcams) and point of sale systems. We went from an era where we were not expected to be 'filmed as we shopped' to taking it for granted. In the pre-CCTV days different strategies were needed for preventing slippage. Helpful shop assistants would ask suspicious customers if they 'needed any help'. Having stock locked away in glass fronted cabinets helped too, having all the goodies behind the counter or in hard to get to window displays helped too. There was a lot more going on than physical security though. If your prices were actually reasonable and if everyone in town loved your store then you wouldn't get robbed. Being locally owned rather than part of a chain helped as theft from a big chain could be imagined to be only costing some notional insurance company (in a thief's mind wanting to justify stealing). Community also mattered in that nobody wants to steal from a shop they rely on, so getting barred from the local newsagents was not a desirable outcome. Nobody would steal a packet of sweets from a shopkeeper who they knew the name of and depended on for their daily newspaper/milk/fags/top-shelf magazines. Kids could be watched or only allowed in two at a time, adults could be trusted due to soft levers of trust. Nowadays though you just wouldn't have a fortune in stock laid out ready for people to slip into their pockets, you would have CCTV, on every aisle, from both sides and from both directions. You would have some outsourced security contractor monitoring the CCTV and telling staff if they needed to apprehend anyone. There would be no 'he said vs shopkeeper said' discussion with the police, CCTV does the evidence providing bit. The thing is that the CCTV works without anyone looking at the monitor screens. The 'smile you are on CCTV' signs are a huge part of it. They instil fear in the souls of the shoplifter. Coupled with this there is no need for patrons to actually know the staff or for them to know neighbours that could also be shopping. With increased mobility (people shop far and wide these days) the nature of shopping has changed. The difference that the Snowden leaks have made is that we now know that the CCTV is 'everywhere', in our email and phone calls too. This ubiquitous spying works in a similar way to CCTV in retail - behaviour is controlled. We accept CCTV in retail in part because we want our pint of milk (or whatever it is) and there is no option to buy what we need from places that don't have CCTV. We are not going to buy a pasture and get a herd of cows going just to have that spot of milk in our tea. CCTV can't be objected to. Similarly in post-Snowden world we still have needs to communicate and we just have to accept the spying. That is what has changed, an acceptance of it.