This comes so close to speaking the truth. Take the thought to its logical conclusion. I think of online services like I think of my local bodega. You can't run

This comes so close to speaking the truth. Take the thought to its logical conclusion. I think of online services like I think of my local bodega. You can't run a store if it's illegal for you to see or have any knowledge about the people who walk into your store. No store owner ever said, "I have a legitimate need of being able to see the people who walk into my store, just so I can prevent theft, and I immediately forget about all my customers after 48 hours." Store owners want to be able to develop relationships with the people who walk into their stores. That requires getting to know the person. Finding out what things they like. So they can make sure their shelves are stocked with their favorite things. And that's basically all tech companies want. When people talk about privacy in this context, it comes across to me like someone who doesn't want anyone to know they've visited the local porn store. Not that far from the truth if we consider how consumers used the web during its first decade of history. The web has evolved since then but that culture stuck and turned into policy. Tech is profoundly anti-social by default, and the only way that tech companies can be successful (e.g. Twitter, Facebook) is by overcoming that to create spaces where people can know the people they're interacting with online. So when people say they don't think tech companies should be able to have knowledge or information about people, what they're really saying is they don't want tech companies to be successful.