But I suppose the transition from snap shut flip phones to smart phones was kind of the slow burn that kind of made it not heavily thought up.

I recall that when smartphones were first coming into existence, there was a fair amount of pressure to legally require them to make camera noises when a picture was taken, for fear that someone might have their picture taken without their knowledge.

It's like technically I know that anyone I talk to, could have a concealed carry permit and may have a gun hidden on their person... but I'd feel far more unsafe being around someone with an AR15 strapped on him.

This is an excellent additional example of the effect I was thinking about.