I don't think there's a Vast Conspiracy to trample our rights. This would require a government that is far more capable of keeping secrets than the one we have, which can't keep so much as a third-rate burglary or botched land deal quiet.

What we DO have are people in positions of power who want to make their jobs easier.

Consider the bahavior on a smaller scale and I think you'll see parallels. Like the school administrator who institutes Zero Tolerance policies so he doesn't have to think or justify his decisions to irate parents when a kid gets caught handing an aspirin to a friend. He can fall back on "It's Official Policy" instead of actually having to use his long-forgotten brain.

I find the same behavior in government.