Conservatism in the US hypothetically is supposed to encompass the preservation of people's privacy from the interference from others - including by the government, individuals, and companies.
But I think it's very telling that when companies interests and individuals interests conflict, then the favor recently has been towards the "freedom" of the companies at the expense of the individual. It's a shame.
"Conservatives" in the US should not be confused with the actual definition of "conservative." Nor should the republican party be confused with people that care about Republican ideals.
American conservatism is conserving a different political history than you find in Europe. "Way back when", America was a constitutional republic with a distinct federal government with distinct separation of powers. That's the "good old days" that are conserved in America.
So it's not "silly" except that the same word "conservative" means different things in different contexts. Though that's true of the words "liberal", "democratic", "federal", and "republican" for that matter.
I think it's a little subtler than that. I think they believe that money == freedom, and the more money you have, the freer you are. Anything that gets in the way of making money prevents freedom.
This does not restrict your freedom because you can still encrypt your traffic and obfuscate your browsing history easily using free and open source software.
But I think it's very telling that when companies interests and individuals interests conflict, then the favor recently has been towards the "freedom" of the companies at the expense of the individual. It's a shame.