Nor the US or countries inside the EU can be considered police states as of today. The problem is our direction ... We are heading towards a police state. Not

Nor the US or countries inside the EU can be considered police states as of today. The problem is our direction ... We are heading towards a police state. Not there yet, but that's where we will end up if you don't stop ever increasing mass surveillance and more rights/power for the police and the police like authorities we recently created. IMHO privacy is very important for a functional society and democracy - once you are aware that someone is listening you don't express yourself as freely any more, most people will begin to self censor .... and freedom of speech is lost to a certain degree. A search warrant needs reasonable suspicion and a second opinion by a judge. I think it's fair that we protect our privacy by the same means. After all, last time I checked the risk of getting killed by a terrorist was about the same as the chance of being killed by a meteor.