These problems of scale aren't unique to recent leaps in technology, or even to automation or technology at all. Government intelligent agencies can, given cert

These problems of scale aren't unique to recent leaps in technology, or even to automation or technology at all. Government intelligent agencies can, given certain goals and management, do a great deal of harmful and disturbing things without using any secret or advanced technology. A team of 1,000 people with, say, basic PC office equipment from the early 2000s, could do a great deal if they were competently trained and managed and told to, say, investigate and attempt to undermine some group that the agency doesn't like for whatever reason. In my opinion the technology has little to do with the problem, even though the potential for harm is unique to the scale of resources dedicated to it, and even though they would be a lot less effectively if they didn't have that technology (i.e. imagine if they no longer had access to personal computers at the office).