I believe that this is actually a good thing because when the government is infringing on the rights it is what brings resistance to life.
If you really think about it, if the government can collect the data that means some entity is ALREADY collecting that data which more often than not goes to advertisers.
Another benefit is that it creates real use-cases for things such as I2P, (god forbid) crypto currency and matrix. I know crypto can be a hot topic and lacking in terms of true decoupling from the government these days, but coins like TRX have been great at this especially in china where yuan is an extremely controlled currency. Although it seems that most of the usage is in illegal activities rather than liberty or/and activist reasons.
And lastly, if the government can't get their hands on the data neither can the hackers and state sponsored entities.
You’re saying that it’s a good thing that the government is infringing on people’s rights because it might motivate activists to convince them to stop doing so?
It's more accurate to say that it gives legitimacy to using things that government has limited to no control over.