Until the advent of the computer, and an out of control, self perpetuating bureaucracy foisted upon us by an increasingly ignorant electorate, the country between the two coasts were never used to that kind of intrusion into privacy ... it simply was not bureaucratically possible to do so.
Those of us who grew up with that have a hard time standing still for the current state of affairs ... then again, about all we can do now is mouth off about it.
You snooze, you lose while the sheep continue to the vote the wolves in.