If you pay careful attention to the Spam you get online, it's sometimes possible to see who's collecting just what kind of information about you. And increasingly, even these image-conscious companies show their teeth. As for governments, the geeks and nerds who've grown up on the Net have encountered almost comically clueless ones. It's easy to understand why people struggle to take it seriously. But that hasn't always been the case.
Personal privacy is a monumental safeguard against abuse of governmental authority.
The distance between corporate and government computers is a very short one. Access to this kind of information ought not be passed around among corporations. If citizens wish to give up their privacy, they obviously have the right to do so. But they ought to be given a choice. Shockingly, it's already too late for that.