People use the internet all day, every day, through all sorts of devices, such as their computer, laptop, net-book, tablet, or their smart phone, and the internet is a wonderful gift to the consumer of such, for it allows one to communicate, to research, to get directions, to get information, and to engage in all sorts of activities. That said, there is a general sense for most people that the internet is somewhat similar to a conversation that is between two friends, in which, even if there are other people present, if one modulates their voice or positions themselves just so, that they can still have a real conversation with an absolute minimum amount of that conversation or the substance of it, being compromised.
However, unfortunately, the internet is different, and even those that have taken measures to obscure, anonymize, or to protect their presence, are in actuality up against foreign as well as domestic enemies that have unseemly amounts of money, power, intelligence, knowhow, and desire to obtain whatever that it is that you are doing on the internet. In addition to those foes, there are "friends" or even neighbors, that are tempted to want to know the activities that you are doing on the internet, and the bottom line is that if all, or the majority of your emails, chats, photos, videos, social media posts, website visits, are being noted, collated, and analyzed, your entire life, as to who and what you actually are, has basically been disclosed, and as information is most certainly a form of power, one has become compromised.
This really means that the most salient thing about the internet is not all the wonderful things it can do for you, but in actuality, to recognize how your sovereign life has, for all intents and purposes, been reduced to living under the constant monitoring of entities that have powers deeper and more intrusive than you could ever conceive of. That said, while it is difficult to turn back the sands of time, that is to say, the prying of the state into the privacy of their citizens, it can be done, if the people along with their representatives, judicial system, and the corporations that currently aid and abet the state in their desires, fight back against the mindset that all are guilty and those that process and collect such data, have the right to do so against their own citizens.
For most people, the internet is so important to them, even if they suspect that most of their data is subject to being monitored, they would continue to utilize it, because it is an integral part of their life, just like breathing. While on the one hand there are laws that protect citizens from snooping by other citizens, on the other hand, our present-day government seems immune to such laws, and consequently collects everything on everyone, even though the government is reluctant to admit such, and when pushed to edge calls upon the egregious excuse of the need to protect and to defend our national security, while in reality, recognizing that such a tool essentially allows the state to monitor and to exploit its population for its benefit, along with the mega conglomerate corporations that enable them in their ways.