I remember when people were afraid to discuss certain matters over the phone. In those times spying on all of us was technically infeasible; today it is not. They want to have that power. 
Discussion
I lived this for 20 years under the communist dictatorship, only to see that we are getting back there again in "democracy." What we see now is, for Eastern Europeans, a déjà vu and a significant wake-up call, so I hope they will be the ones to save what is left to be saved from Europe.