--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We've become the most eavesdropped…" description: "\"We've become the most eavesdropped, monitored, spied on, photographed population in human history, dwarfing anything that was done by the Stasi state a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/chris-hedges-2131_done_we-ve-become-the-most-eavesdropped-monit_3175949.png" --- # We've become the most eavesdropped, monitored, spied on… ![“We've become the most eavesdropped, monitored, spied on, photographed population in human history, dwarfing anything that was done by the Stasi state and East Germany. And that's all been - you know, these are all the sacrifices that we supposedly have to make to make ourselves safe.” quote by Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/chris-hedges-2131_done_we-ve-become-the-most-eavesdropped-monit_3175949.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/chris-hedges-2131_done_we-ve-become-the-most-eavesdropped-monit_3175949.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/chris-hedges-2131_done_we-ve-become-the-most-eavesdropped-monit_3175949.png) > “We've become the most eavesdropped, monitored, spied on, photographed population in human history, dwarfing anything that was done by the Stasi state and East Germany. And that's all been - you know, these are all the sacrifices that we supposedly have to make to make ourselves safe.” [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Modern surveillance has become pervasive, eroding privacy under the guise of safety. **In simple terms:** We are constantly watched, losing privacy for security. Key Takeaway Guard your digital privacy. Themes privacy surveillance freedom Mood concerned critical Type political analytical When to use this quote - online browsing - public spaces - government policy - activism Key Concepts social contract state power technological control Questions to Reflect On - Do we trade privacy for safety? - How can societies balance security and freedom? A Different Perspective Security measures can be necessary, creating tension with liberty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Eavesdropped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eavesdropped-436835/) [Eavesdropped Monitored](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eavesdropped-monitored-5800353/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Monitored Spied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monitored-spied-5800351/) [Sacrifice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacrifice/) [Spied](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spied-583098/) [Ve Eavesdropped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ve-eavesdropped-5800352/) ## Related quotes > [“Alyosha,” she murmured again, “look out the door, see if mama is eavesdropping.” “Very well, Lise, I will look, only wouldn’t it be better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/alyosha-she-murmured-again-look-out-the-door-see-if-mama-is/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [Why did we not know that heads of state were being eavesdropped on, spied on? We are the intelligence committee and we didn't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-schakowsky/why-did-we-not-know-that-heads-of-state-were-being-eavesdropped-on/) [Jan Schakowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-schakowsky/) > [I grew up in a society where everything you did was eavesdropped on, recorded, snitched on. I had friends when we were kids getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-koum/i-grew-up-in-a-society-where-everything-you-did-was-eavesdropped-on/) [Jan Koum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-koum/) > [“For nearly sixty years I have eavesdropped with impunity on the lives of people who do not exist.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-setterfield/for-nearly-sixty-years-i-have-eavesdropped-with-impunity-on-the-lives/) [Diane Setterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-setterfield/) > [I shouldn't have eavesdropped, but sometimes, that's the only way to find out the truth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/i-shouldn-t-have-eavesdropped-but-sometimes-that-s-the-only-way-to/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [If we had known that one of those terrorist attacks was coming, could our government have electronically eavesdropped on the attackers without a warrant?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-du-pont/if-we-had-known-that-one-of-those-terrorist-attacks-was-coming-could/) [Pete du Pont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-du-pont/) > [“The doctor tapped my ribs and eavesdropped on my heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-doctor-tapped-my-ribs-and-eavesdropped-on-my-heart/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [As information technology becomes millions of times more powerful, any particular use of it becomes correspondingly cheaper. Thus, it has become commonplace to expect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaron-lanier/as-information-technology-becomes-millions-of-times-more-powerful-any/) [Jaron Lanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaron-lanier/) > [Are you asking if I ever spied on you while you were taking a shower?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-pike/are-you-asking-if-i-ever-spied-on-you-while-you-were-taking-a-shower/) [Christopher Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-pike/) > [The surveillance state has run amok. Technology that's enabled us to send selfies 24/7 - not that valuable - has also enabled us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-ohanian/the-surveillance-state-has-run-amok-technology-that-s-enabled-us-to/) [Alexis Ohanian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-ohanian/) > [For years they have been using the role of 'sex object' as a cover while they spied out the land.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-broyard/for-years-they-have-been-using-the-role-of-sex-object-as-a-cover/) [Anatole Broyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-broyard/) > [I stared up at the sky and raised my middle finger, just in case God was watching. I don't like being spied on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annabel-pitcher/i-stared-up-at-the-sky-and-raised-my-middle-finger-just-in-case-god/) [Annabel Pitcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annabel-pitcher/) > [The world is going to come to a place where we're all being spied on and nothing is private.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/princess-nokia/the-world-is-going-to-come-to-a-place-where-we-re-all-being-spied-on/) [Princess Nokia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/princess-nokia/) > [“To be GOVERNED is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, censured, commanded… noted,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-be-governed-is-to-be-watched-inspected-spied-upon-directed-law/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Without strong encryption, you will be spied on systematically by lots of people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitfield-diffie/without-strong-encryption-you-will-be-spied-on-systematically-by-lots/) [Whitfield Diffie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitfield-diffie/) ## More by Chris Hedges > [“the property that grounded the self in Romanticism was sincerity, and in modernism was authenticity, then in postmod ernism it is visibility.10”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/the-property-that-grounded-the-self-in-romanticism-was-sincerity-and/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Revolutionists who took part in uprisings in one part of the globe would often migrate to take part in uprisings in another. 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Take this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/a-democracy-survives-when-its-citizens-have-access-to-trustworthy-and/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [It is the cult of self that is killing the United States. This cult has within it the classic traits of psychopaths: superficial charm,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/it-is-the-cult-of-self-that-is-killing-the-united-states-this-cult/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Our march toward self-annihilation has already obliterated ninety percent of the large fish in the oceans and wiped out half of the mature tropical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/our-march-toward-self-annihilation-has-already-obliterated-ninety/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [No real journalist makes $5 million a year... 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