View source for Mass surveillance

===History===
{{see also|The Lives of Others}}
Mass surveillance is a way of life under totalitarian governments and goes back a long way, one example of this is the [[communist]] [[German Democratic Republic|East German]] government with its "Ministry for State Security", or [[Stasi]].

State spying is also prevalent under authoritarian governments, particularly when they are increasingly moving leftward by the demand of their voters.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/12/news/la-pn-republicans-democrats-nsa-poll-20130612 |title=Republicans oppose, Democrats support NSA surveillance, poll says |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=June 12, 2013 }}</ref>