Well, I'd say "mere citizen" is worse. Spain owes nothing to Evo Morales. But the only reason why Prime Minister has his job and why he's not just a random Joe from the street is because citizens put him there and entrusted him with enormous power. Abusing this power against the very citizens who are supposed to be the source of it is much graver crime than disrespecting a foreign dignitary to whom you owe nothing, it strikes right at the heart of the whole concept of democratic society. If citizens become routinely abused by the government, why should they keep giving it their consent? And if government has no citizen's consent, what is it but a pure tyranny?

I agree with you but the sad fact is this, as long as this abuse only happen to a few 'others', majority of people don't really much care especially with abstract issue such as digital surveillance.

A lot of people will simply accept that these massive digital dragnet is a necessary evil to protect them from the evil terrorists.

edit: I am based in Cairo and you know what? Those bloody crackdowns against Muslim Brotherhood protesters are popular in the country. The sit-ins have been labeled as terrorists sit-ins.