If so, why were they not apathetic and ill-informed a mere then, not even 100 years ago? Certainly people of the time thought Britain was peace- and freedom- loving then, too.
Complexity. A policeman taking a literal print of your body is far simpler and more direct than "big data" and so on.
Remember that most computer users are hazy at best about whether `natwest.my-account.co.uk` is a phishing scam. There isn't the necessary baseline of informed opinion to have a reasonable discussion about this kind of snooping.
