[zerox7felf]

Hard-power violence is mostly exclusive to governments, but don't underestimate the power of soft-power "violence" and coercion.

Another thing that sets the government and private sector apart is that the government is under (mostly, even if indirect) democratic control, or otherwise accountable to the public, whereas the private sector can get by with bad press, so long as they can continue to operate. As an individual of average wealth, it is far less difficult to influence government policy and politicians as opposed to doing the same to a private organization.

Really, this is not about choosing between "good" and "evil", it is about choosing which evil you are most likely to be able to contain.

[kjeetgill]

As an American who also feels that privacy from the government is more important from private corporations:

I'm not a hard disagree, but I think it's easier (though not easy!) to democratically will your government to regulate private companies than it is regulate itself.