Being independent means little to me. FBI can swoop in and take all the drives based on some vague suspicions. They can be hacked. They could decide to start selling my data tomorrow.

End it end encryption make me worry less about this. I’m not a very trustful person simply put.

But I agree that everyone need to evaluate their convenience vs. risk ratio individually. I use VPNs, I wouldn’t dare to ask my family to do the same, it’s highly inconvenient.