My thinking before Snowden was the sheer resources it would take to actually record, catalog and index all that information, let alone into something useful. I thought some people were just a bit too paranoid. Then I learned they did have/spend/use the resources needed for this. It just feels crazy, but true.

Since then, combined with the ability to use AI patterns against video streams and even deep fake capability. My trust in most things is pretty much broken at this point.

> I wonder how much that was any given person, or just that the availability of such surveillance has increased dramatically.

The UK introduced (public) mass surveillance long before Snowden was on the scene.