I agree - but technology is just a tool here. The Stasi famously had a network of human informants to notice and collect information.

Going forward it would be nice if we stopped letting these mobs grab power but it's too late, so maybe the effort should be focused on using tools like this to our advantage. Surely there must be some value to the populous to track their oppressors and those that control them - have you considered building a citizen-powered system so you can watch the watchers?

> so you can watch the watchers

Watch in what way? And would it matter seeing as they have the full force of the government behind them anyway?

The Stasi network was infamous because of how enormous it was, not its mere existence. And it likely had a crippling effect on their economy. They were also drowning in information, and the information was very poor because anyone with a bone to pick just made up some bullshit about the other person.

Today, tools created by US intelligence make the data collection trivial, but more importantly, the data analysis is trivial as well.