>the same as the privacy populists who obsess about data, most of whom lived in advanced democracies in which the data isn’t used for serious assaults on people

This observation betrays a serious misunderstanding of the way democracy functions. The reason these assaults don't happen (or rather, don't happen more, because they do happen) is there is a robust public discourse that is critical of these moves and keeps them in check. Democracies don't magically grant people rights, they must be fought for.