The presumption of innocence, the right to a jury trial, the right to face your accuser, the need for a judicial order before you are searched or have property seized.. these rules weren't dreamed up because a bunch of bad people were caught doing bad things, and the good government of the day put them away.

Here's the rub with that argument, though. You're not doing anything illegal now. But the things you're doing now, might be ruled illegal in the future. And you might get riled up, and want to stage a revolt or something. But the government already has years worth of data on you — in other words, they have the…