There is a common claim that many people allow big tech (e.g. Google) to basically spy on them. Thus, this means that we shouldn't care if governments spy on us.
This ignores many differences between big tech and government spying:
1. Choice
2. Consequences
3. Avoidance
4. Redress
In turn,
1. Choice
People who choose to allow big tech to spy on them *choose* to do so.
I used to know this guy who claimed that his phone had been hacked, so he downgraded his smartphone to a feature phone so it would be impossible to hack his phone.
However, the sorts of privacy-compromising government surveillance that are promoted under a false equivalence with big tech's spying typically cannot be opted out of.
In any event, even if I opt to be spied on by one big tech company, it doesn't mean I consent to be spied upon by all other big tech companies. So I may trust Apple, but not Google, for example.
2. Consequences
What is the potential for abuse if I allow big tech to spy on me?
Typically, big tech will at most know anything I have done online - and any information I have willingly given it.
On the other hand, Government has the potential to combine information directly gathered from spying on me with information from its administrative records.
Having the information that they have, big tech and government then differ in what they can do with this information.
Big tech is constrained by end user licence agreements and can only use the information they have about me to deliver ads, make their products work properly and improve their products. The very worst that they can do is to ban me from using their services (and I can always bypass the ban surreptitiously - see below). If they try to do anything more, I can sue them (see below too).
Governments, on the other hand, can throw the full power of the legal system at me, and initiate criminal proceedings which can result in a fine, jail term or even - in extremis, in jurisdictions which allow for them - corporal and/or capital punishment.
3. Avoidance
While big tech spies on you, you can give it wrong information. There're many people who give big tech fake information or otherwise mess up its algorithms, e.g. filling in wrong information, using VPNs, clearing their cookies, using incognito/private browsing mode etc.
Government spying is typically (and certainly potentially) more sophisticated than what big tech can do. And while technically you can try to avoid government spying, this also ties in with 2 - if you mess with big tech's spying, they can't do very much to you (at most, ban you from their service). But a government can impose criminal sanctions upon you.
4. Redress
This is perhaps the most important point.
If big tech abuses their ability to spy on people, I can sue them in court. For example, Google settled a class action lawsuit in 2018 around privacy problems in Google Plus.
Suing the government is a lot harder. And it may not even be possible.
Even in the US, which is lawsuit heavy, the Federal Tort Claims Act only lays out a few limited exemptions to sovereign immunity - you can only sue the federal government when it performs a "discretionary function or duty".
Meanwhile, in Singapore, you can't sue the government for abusing private data - at most individuals will be punished. Which means that there is potential for institutional abuse.
It is instructive to see what happened to a previous privacy guarantee in Singapore, around ERP 2.0, in under one and a half years:
Nov 3, 2014:
Parliament: New ERP system 'not a threat to privacy'
"Data collected by a satellite-tracked electronic road-pricing (ERP) system Singapore is building will be "aggregated and anonymised", said Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew in response to questions about how privacy will be safeguarded."
Apr 7, 2016
ERP, traffic data to be used to counter terror threat
"Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) data and public transport cameras will be added to the Home Team's arsenal in the fight against terrorism and serious crime - as the Government toughens its stance on the use of such information in the face of mounting threats."
Addendum:
A friend of mine added: "Predictability. Corporate goals are generally predictable, not so much about politics/govt."
