Nowadays the technology is here and governments control massive amounts of data about what you do.
They know how much is in your bank, can trace your whereabouts through your mobile phone, can put together a snapshot of your life by combining electronic transactions ... the list goes on.
All that is missing is a government's will to start spying on its own people.
And here I should say Western governments because there is no doubt nations like Russia, China, North Korea, dictatorships or one-party states use such technology every day to keep their hands on power.
What makes the West so appealing - despite all the faults - is our freedom. Our ability to stand up and say "No" to government. Our ability to criticise politicians and a free and an independent media that "keeps the buggers honest".
Unfortunately we now seem to be entering into a Dark Communications Age where our Government thinks it is okay to open the way for more spying on citizens.
Here I want to take terrorism out of the equation. If security agencies fear terrorists are working in this land then go ahead and spy your little hearts out with my blessing.
But we have had so many instances in recent times of John Key's Government dodgily, or heavy handedly, acting against law-abiding citizens that you have to wonder how much is going on that we do not know about.
For example the hunt for a leaker of a secret report on the Government Communications Security Bureau.
To find out who gave the report to journalist Andrea Vance, Parliamentary authorities tracked her electronic pass movements, then trawled through her phone records.
Both are bad enough, but then we find out her private emails were also accessed and investigated.
Considering there is no illegality in any of her actions it is outrageous political intrusion into private communications by actions sanctioned at very high levels.
And how about the whole Kim Dotcom debacle?
If a multi squillionaire can be treated like that - what about the rest of us?
If you think I'm getting too paranoid - remember back to the Teagate case during the 2011 national election.
John Key wanted to let National Party members know it was okay to vote for Act's John Banks and to do that he had a cup of tea with him.
It was a very public love-fest - with the media invited - and would have been forgotten about quickly had a cameraman not left his microphone on the table when leaving the cafe.
Key discovered it and was furious. The stuff that was on the tape was so mundane he shouldn't have worried but, instead, he called police in to investigate.
The cameraman's text messages were seized by police and they showed he had not meant to leave the recording device on the table.
But the police file was several hundred pages long which, to me, is not only a massive waste of police resources but shows lack of judgment over such a small matter.
Clearly this Government has got such high opinions of itself that it feels it can blatantly attack media freedom - and our ability to report important matters to the public - and that should be ringing alarm bells.
For if the Government is willing to try it on with the press - a group politicians take on very cautiously - how much are they doing to everyday Kiwis' lives without their knowledge?
It looks even bleaker when this very same Government is even now trying to pass a law making it easier for agencies to spy on residents of this country.
No matter what political persuasion you are we should all be very vocal in opposing more surveillance powers. They are too dangerous in the wrong hands.
By the way John Key, if you do go through my emails could you delete all the spam for me. There's a good lad.
richard@richardmoore.com
Richard Moore is an award-winning Western Bay journalist and photographer.
