I'm hoping driver less cars free me from the need to own The damned things.

You're right about the tin foil, but wrong about the pipes and beatings. Only a subpoena is needed. There's really no point in pretending like the trick is keeping the NSA out when a subpoena is all they require to get in.

But if you register your bicycle won't it be easier for the government to come and take it away?

The knee jerk reaction would be to call such a reorganization a failure. It wouldn't necessarily be one. If a breakup worked as intended with each unit succeeding it could be a model that apple and google might be day follow.