The principle of privacy has long been associated with free republics. You can't, for example, arrange your life in the relative certainty that the left hand and the right hand are not sharing information about where you've been.

It may not be an intrusion for the simple middle class life, like mine, but I can see where someone who was busy creating a rich, multi-faceted life might value the privacy we once had.

For another thing, surveillance without permission is a violation of the right of the individual to be secure in his possessions. It is an intrusion of the state into the life of the individual without grounds, effectively classifying the individual as a suspect without grounds.