>That isn't a far comparison to make because the British government taking my stuff deprives me of that very stuff. That is not the reason the restrictions exi

>That isn't a far comparison to make because the British government taking my stuff deprives me of that very stuff. That is not the reason the restrictions exist at all. It's to prevent abuse of power, not just the police stealing your stuff. Searching your house is, in general, far less abusive than stealing your digital information. You may not keep records of your private activities, you might not have any incriminating physical items. It also takes far more effort for the police to do. Your digital information includes everywhere you've ever been, much of your conversations, the crazy things you Googled because you were curious, the porn you've looked at, everything you've ever bought, etc. Eventually it may even include recordings from microphone and cameras as they become ubiquitous. And all this becomes a permanent record of your life. It will be stored on some computer forever, never going away. Oh ya, and it happens without your knowledge.