I'll start the discussion by just pointing out how Bloomberg and the NYT absolutely love to talk about China being a surveillance state, but hardly ever talk about the surveillance state that we live in here in the US (relative to how much China bashing they do)
Did you read the article? It obviously focuses on China, since that's the subject, but it ends with a non sequitur dig at the US for exactly what you're talking about: "Then again, when it comes to poor privacy protection, the United States seems to be doing its best to take on China."