The practices should be banned. It's a federal felony to wiretap or open someone else's mail. In almost all states, it's a crime to record conversations without consent from at least one party. Earlier generations passed those laws because they viewed mass surveillance as a fundamentally Soviet activity with no place in a free society.
According to some footnotes in Shoshana Zuboff's book, the FTC was on the path to ban these practices in 2001 but then 9/11 happened.
According to some footnotes in Shoshana Zuboff's book, the FTC was on the path to ban these practices in 2001 but then 9/11 happened.