Very effective. Keeps the local yokels in check. Focuses their attention elsewhere rather than on those paid to 'protect' their sanctity. Create the monster then show the monster as pure evil. Joe shmoe sees only the evil monster but remains blind to its creator, the very ones who are paid to 'protect' them. Knowledge is a powerful weapon. As long as that knowledge is kept from the masses corruption reigns supreme. Corporate entities control Uncle Sam, not the politicos who ride the desk. Corporate entities are all about money, what it can do and who it can buy. Big money tells the three lettered agencies where to look and at whom. The quote above is their primary weapon and used to great effect. A country under siege? Oh yeah...but from within. Enterovirus #68 is a good example. All those children from South America allowed into the country...among them the virus that has already taken one life. Why did they come here? Easy...to escape the corruption down south ie the drug wars, slavery and what have you. To them...no choice. Ebola...here in three places already. Dallas, Boston and Cleveland. Lazy monitoring has seen to that, mistakes made and other nonsense. 

Ramble ramble.

Again...time to remind all....'bill of rights' affects 6% of the global population.

In real life it is meaningless and parochial.  The Internet is global...it is not an American Institution.

Whether or not the proposed intrusions into one's privacy is actually socially or morally wrong....that's the more relevant question....and in our modern times of innocents being publicly beheaded for the sexual gratification of slobbering retards on facebook....who really has a right to give a shit about 'personal privacy'?

The question of government agency sponsored (with our money) holes in our security to be exploited has relevancy to some. 

Put the affected hard drives on your machine and by extension, it has relevancy for you as well. It's your choice whether that's meaningful to you or not...others feel differently.

Warrantless or 'rubber stamped' warrants are a severe compromise of 6% of the world's population's (actually as many as use the software/drives) rights as guaranteed by that government.

You, and everyone else.  The fact that 'only 6% of the world's population has a bill of rights' is an indictment of the other 94, not an excuse to not give a shit.

.02, YMMV & all that.

Probably half of that 6% are on Facebook and twitter, et al and thus demonstrate they really don't care at all...

Jafo, there's a radical difference in what can be accessed by the government in your computer, cloud storage and external drives as well as your email accounts, etc. by having a 'backdoor' which they's never, ever access without a warrant (oh yeah), and a crumby facebook account.

Well, there IS that.