Craving intimacy is an evolved emotional weakness brought about by a species naturally selected drive to reproduce. Consider that carefully before responding including every answer driven by emotion (which when un-mastered is a self-control flaw). Species can have no other reason to exist but perpetuating the group. The individual exists for that and cannot exist for anything else or different for evolution is not a choice.

Craving intimacy results in a wide variety of psychological problems many of which result in toxic, often violent conduct including sexual assault (and often, homicide to conceal same).

Not everyone will get conventional intimacy and so pretending is a lie. Not everyone has the option to become desirable. Efforts to do so include damaging surgery for "looksmaxing".

That demonstrates the desire for intimacy is now a bug not a feature, as the grotesquely large global population also demonstrates by driving high poverty rates. Quality of life does not scale but the opposite.

Alternate options which produce the same result are useful and to the degree they succeed, effective.
They are harmless to others and pleasing to those so satisfied and sated. Sentimental objections should be seen for what they are, silly.

BTW I was (I'm now ancient and out of that game) conventionally attractive to both sexes and had a long, loving marriage until death did us part so none of this comment is motivated by butthurt at exclusion for I was not excluded.

Most of "humanity" is a collection of traits which do not benefit the individual and are often toxic (including drive to deny they're toxic). Redirecting drive for intimacy in those who would be silly to pretend it's an option is a kindness. I don't need it but my personal needs are irrelevant. I do not pretend others are me for projection is lazy thinking.

Society would be better served by contented, happy humans when that state can be easily afforded. Harmless technology could replace toxic, socially destructive gratification techniques like prostitution. Cravings exist and will continue to exist as they're not a matter of choice. Sating them in modern, less socially toxic ways WHICH DO NOT INVOLVE COMPETITION is the logical choice. Competition has many beneficial uses, but winners outnumber losers so best if the second can opt out. It really is that simple however intensely naive idealists object.

Wanting total internet connectivity is a sign of utter ignorance, and that ignorance is a choice.

Make ignorance shameful again.

Ban them for safety reasons.

Nicotine addicts have plenty of delivery options including lozenges.
Selling products intended for volatile substance abuse is illegal in the UK. Products inherently designed in a way that their normal real world disposal is dangerous make sense to regulate.

Not everything everyone wants to do makes sense for society to permit, including producing flammable products whose nature makes them into incendiaries when broken.

I inert all my expended lithium cells by destruction either in my welding shop or outdoors on my land, then dispose of the metallic slag safely with other mixed scrap metals. Small cells make impressive incendiaries so I'm not surprised cell disruption during recycling of objects containing them causes fires.

I use welding PPE so it's no risk to me and have ample water to flood cool spatter (which I do anyway after welding outdoors). I suggest other Slashdotters (the original techy sort who know how to safely break lithium cells which is quite simple) self-educate so they have direct experience of how powerful small cells really are.

If you're rocking tech money there are many good places to spend it. The metro area has some beautiful wealthy neighborhoods, especially in northern New Jersey, which have fine old housing stock with large plots and good schools. Many good boarding schools are in easy range of the metro area.

The news focuses on the usual urban hellholes but many metro areas were never heavily industrialized and remain surprisingly refined. Passenger rail is well developed and built the burbs long before automobiles were more than a curiosity.

Tech money can also buy into Pennsylvania which is in easy reach by rail. If you're a tech worker expecting to make bank I suggest not living IN NYC but in rail commuting range instead.
I quite enjoyed relaxing on the train vs. driving.

Many people want the US disarmed. Many others do not. Even wanting that data center there in the first place is bizarre.

Camera proctoring can reduce cheating.

Fantasy solutions must be ritually recited these days due to social fashion but humanity was never good which is why there is only technical, not "moral" progress (vanity is not progress).

Government is bad because humanity is bad and always was bad.
We are bestial apex predators who happen to be good at technology. Our race tends savage and stupid, intelligence being neuro-divergent. That dictates reality.

Having much of anything on one's phone is terrible security because spyware can easily exfiltrate it without user knowledge, so I don't do that.

Having stuff that matters on your phone is like storing drugs in your car, you can but nothing makes that smart. At most a phone used when crossing borders should be a distraction whose storage holds plausible files like ebooks and does not have an email client etc. If one must an alternative is storing encrypted, useful files elsewhere for later downloading with nothing on one's phone.

Making one's phone a central information repository is silly
with or without possibility of formal inspection. Wishful thinking is not security. The world was always a very bad place so choose wisely without passion.

In the US they're corrupt by nature and will only cooperate when terrified.

Coerce them to serve the people by any means necessary and without empathy, compassion or mercy. They are selling out the commons in return for power.

In a just society the public would use them to decorate lamp posts. The system is beyond fixing without pitiless aggression which I can only hope accelerates.