&gt; And it really was significantly harder for anyone except the government to listen in on phone conversations.<p>This is absolutely not true.  Outside everyone&#x27;s house was a box, and by hooking two wires there you could easily monitor phone calls.  There was similar security every where else along the way.<p>When wireless (not cellular) phones became common, you could get a scanner to listen them (I&#x27;m not sure they were legal to sell listening at that frequency but they were easily modified).<p>The POTS was simply not secure at all.