Who is under whose thumb here? Like most things, its a bit of a two way street. From an intelligence perspective, I agree w huntergatherer that everyone's not

Who is under whose thumb here? Like most things, its a bit of a two way street. From an intelligence perspective, I agree w huntergatherer that everyone's not under active surveillance. IMO the problem is: - once you are its far cheaper and more complete to surveil than it used to be, and... - the bar to be a "party of interest" is far lower than it used to be. We can see this especially as some tech filters downwards into local police stations. Its also tremendously useful for FAANG/MAANG to ensure their interests are adopted by elected officials and US officials are pretty cheaply bought. Honestly two senior SWE salaries for a year would do it for most congressmen. Just like Altria, or energy companies, tech companies donate to both sides of the fence, solicit tax breaks from both sides of the fence and look to keep labor cheap and competition low so that their owners/shareholders/investors are enriched. From a federal government perspective, we need these companies to be 'American'. It doesn't matter where they pay their taxes, how much they off-shore work, etc. these companies trade on the US stock exchange, make up one of the strongest economies in the world, driving capital and human talent from every corner of the world to the US. Why slow all that down in the name of 'fairness', user protection, competition and a lack of predictability