The Surveillance State Is a Reality

Surveillance cameras at a petrol station near Gotha, Germany in 2017.

Photographer: Sean Gallup/Getty Images Europe

It’s really not a question of whether surveillance states are starting to take hold. Many civil-rights advocates say it’s already happened.

The debate has been intensified by the proliferation of tracing apps during the Covid-19 pandemic and protests that followed the death of George Floyd.