> But more or less you realized that state capacity is quite limited From what I remember (it's been a while) this was actually also the case in the book. It's

> But more or less you realized that state capacity is quite limited From what I remember (it's been a while) this was actually also the case in the book. It's not like Big Brother watched you every time, and most of the time he didn't. But he could be watching anytime. That was the whole point of it. I lived under Stasi and yes, the means where limited, but just the threat alone was enough for most people to be cautious. If you are a target and your phone is recorded 1% of the time, you will get caught eventually, it is just a matter of time. A few relatives of mine requested their Stasi-documents and there were quite a lot of personal episodes and details in these protocols. Who visited whom when or what they talked about. And as another commenter mentioned, Stasi had your neighbours, friends and family too. That's actually harder to leave than your banking apps. Especially if you can't even leave the country.