Whenever I've questioned the risk of having one company in charge of the the entire world's private secrets, essentially, I've been downvoted and told something like this wouldn't happen at Google because of their extensive protocols with dealing user data.
This post seems to have been flagged away from the front page...
That would be so cheap. Haven't seen that before from Googlers - they have been really good about not influencing HN discussions, IMO. (Perhaps this angle is their kryptonite, though?)
Have seen it a lot in Microsoft-related stories, to the point where I've refrained from commenting, because I know a giant pile of downvotes/flaggings would be incoming if I were to write anything negative.
Haven't experienced anything like this with stories about any of the other large companies.
While the Apple fiasco plays out, we should remember that No One is trustworthy, and fight any company that wants to peek into your life.