> Imagine an organized government subversion cell that is willing to harm civilians to further its objectives and is skilled at hiding in public (one doesn't ha

> Imagine an organized government subversion cell that is willing to harm civilians to further its objectives and is skilled at hiding in public (one doesn't have to try very hard given the nature of asymmetric warfare in the 21st century). That cell harming people you want to imagine would be some other government agency acting as part of a covert operation after a long time of planning and preparation, with plenty of spies deep in the government. And they don't actually harm people all that much, not the point, they do just a few acts of terror with a few deaths for war propaganda. But once they are caught on surveillance it's already too late, it means they are ready to approach the head of police and start using serious military weapons, and plenty of people are already on the wrong side of war propaganda. > where sufficiently-organized individuals use modern technology to harm innocent people and government cannot stop them Such things don't really happen anymore, governments are too authoritarian already and really like their monopoly on harming people. The only way sufficiently-organized people can coexist with the government is for them to subvert law enforcement or to originate from law enforcement. Governments can deal with either case by replacing everyone or by letting them have their corruption in exchange for being loyal to the government. Basically surveillance is not the tool for anything you talk about, it's role is the exact opposite: to keep people from disobeying the government, the ruling class, the whole systems, no matter how much harm they do to the people.