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The reason is a lot of people think:

1. My government will use this tech only for good. 2. I don't live in China, so why should I care about that.

If you say that your current government loses freedom and how do you go back to freedom, then they think differently.

It makes them think they need freedom now in hardware and software, so they can go back to freedom, instead of being permanently stuck in non-freedom.




>1. My government will use this tech only for good.

Precisely, and even now there are a steady stream of examples of people in power using tech for no good, here's just a tiny snippet of examples where police had mis-used databases to spy, stalk and harass:

USA:

N.J. cop used police databases to stalk ex-girlfriend, investigators say https://www.nj.com/monmouth/2023/01/nj-cop-used-police-datab...

Officer Fired for Allegedly Using Police Database to Stalk, Harass Women https://www.newsweek.com/officer-fired-allegedly-using-polic...

Australia:

Former policeman accused of using force database to stalk ex-wife and girlfriend https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/former-policeman...

Former federal police officer faces new charges over stalking of ex-girlfriend https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6138318/former-federa...

(Note the two above articles are not the same person)

UK:

Met police officer 'used CCTV cameras to stalk his ex-girlfriend after telling her to take up sex work to pay her bills' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11868575/Met-police...

Creepy cop saw attractive woman on the road and 'looked up her license plate number so he could stalk her on Facebook' https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2178556/Officer-Jef...

The more you look, the more you find - and this barely scratches the surface of ways that systems that hold personal data can be abused.

When designing any new law, we must always consider the fact that there is no such thing as "good guys" and "bad guys". The potential for abuse must be extremely limited and the benefits of the law should legitimately outweigh the potential abuses.




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