You're probably right that this is mostly software companies looking for revenue in the form of a forced purchase of a product through legislation.
But, keep in mind: the government is actively selling out its constituents and creating an environment that enables a surveillance state, even when that may not be the original goal. Slippery slope and all, first it's child pornography - but where does it stop? It won't, because that data set is rich to mine - rich to sell into. We can make up entire product lines that can be sold, via FUD, into our ignorant government friends and force people to buy it even when it's been shown to provide little to no value to the masses.
So, no - not a lizard conspiracy. More like "Dumb and Dumber: Government Edition".
Surveillance capitalism erodes expectations of privacy. Eroded expectations of privacy in turn normalize government surveillance. Normalized government surveillance erodes expectations of privacy, which in turn normalizes surveillance capitalism.
Incentives are aligned, each party acts in their own self interest and this is the outcome. Conspiracy isn't needed to explain it.
But, keep in mind: the government is actively selling out its constituents and creating an environment that enables a surveillance state, even when that may not be the original goal. Slippery slope and all, first it's child pornography - but where does it stop? It won't, because that data set is rich to mine - rich to sell into. We can make up entire product lines that can be sold, via FUD, into our ignorant government friends and force people to buy it even when it's been shown to provide little to no value to the masses.
So, no - not a lizard conspiracy. More like "Dumb and Dumber: Government Edition".