Such reports, although highly speculative in terms of the actual value of data, nevertheless produce an irresistible feam-of-missing-out, or FOMO, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy as everyone makes a dash for the promised profits. This means that although everyone, from individuals to governments and big technology corporations might want to ensure privacy, they simply do not have strong enough incentives to do so. The FOMO and temptation to sneak in a backdoor, to make secure systems just a little less secure, is simply too strong. Governments want to know what their (and others) populations are talking about, companies want to know what their customers are thinking, employers want to know what their employees are doing and parents and school teachers want to know what the kids are up to.

There is a useful concept from the early history of science and technology studies that can somewhat help illuminate this mess. This is affordance theory. The theory analyzes the use of an object by its determined environment, system and things it offers to people — the kinds of things that become possible, desirable, comfortable and interesting to do as a result of the object or the system. Our current environment, to put it mildly, offers the irresistible temptation of surveillance to everyone from pet owners and parents to governments.