Interestingly enough I went to a lecture by a Chinese lawmaker yesterday who said the exact same thing. When it’s codified in law, you know what they can and can’t do, and what they can and can’t use in court against you. When governments just do it covertly and subvert due process, your right to privacy suffers a lot more. She didn’t have to point out what Snowden uncovered about the NSA for everyone to know what she was referring to.