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The funny thing about democracy is that if you have a fairly egalitarian society, the government actually represents the views of, and works for the people. So the statement you quote is saying that the people, through their democratic system of represention, has control of the data. Local power structures like local government tend to be quite good.

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They have a copy, not control. Ranked from most abused to least abused, you have secret misuse and leaks, corporate misuse and leaks, and democratic misuse and leaks; and if they all get a copy you take their individual leak+misuse outputs and add them.

Metaphorically, you go from a criminal with a gun at your head to a criminal and a friend both with guns at your head.

The democratic majority is not your friend unless you are part of it. Think about anyone convicted of socially reprehensible crimes. The information that you used to be a pedophile will certainly make your life a living hell when it is used for the good of the people.

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