What was the discussion I remember seeing long ago, about two kinds of surveillance-in-society?:

Kinda-good, 1, so and so can just go check the camera that points at the central plaza fountain that anyone can access, and sees that his spouse has arrived and is waiting for him as agreed.

or Bad, 2, cameras all over that everyone has no idea who controls, watches, and/or is recording

'prosperous society' ~= convenience, less human hours wasted on boring stuff. The convenience of a video doorbell and connected home sure seem worth it to me.

Agree to disagree. Systems that frustrate the accumulation and concentration of power seem to be integral to a functional society, nevermind a prosperous one, historically speaking.

“Convenience, less human hours wasted on boring stuff” is fine as an individual consumer mindset, but does not form sufficient criteria for evaluating complex social systems.

And how are either of those things substantially impacted if Google's policy was "we do not hand over user data without a warrant"?

I'm not saying they are, just that consumers are giving up privacy for some sort of return. It's not required, as there are E2E HomeKit alternatives, but it's inaccurate that 'all you do is give up privacy'.

You can have all of this without giving up data.