The Internet of Stings has stung users of a proprietary program for adjusting a certain telescopic rifle sight. The US has demanded the list of all the 10,000 or more people who have downloaded the app.

The investigation aims at possible illegal export of the telescopic sight. The goal seems valid to me, but seizing data about over 10,000 people to investigate the crimes of a few of them should not be allowed.

If the program had been free software, the issue would not even arise. Thus, one of the forms of surveillance attached to many proprietary programs is keeping track of who uses it.