The verge of the Cold War

Written on the verge of the Cold War, 1984 was a fictionalised critique of hardcore communist regimes. Back at that time, Chairman Mao was on the rise, the communists were seizing Czechoslovakia, and the internet was after all four decades away. Today, the world has changed dramatically. No longer solely a ''top-down'' prospect, surveillance has spread horizontally, infiltrating our work and social lives. Numerous ''Little Brothers'' now monitor us - some profit-driven companies, some fellow citizens. The political power Orwell imagined is in different hands too: during neo-liberalism has gained ground globally, capitalism has taken some unexpected blows; communism endures in just five nations, and the Muslim terrorist is the West's new bogyman.

The September 11 terror attacks

After the September 11 terror attacks, anxiety loomed large. ''Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists,'' said George W. Bush - and surveillance was swiftly enlisted to clarify the distinction. Western governments co-opted the byword of ''security'' to boost their surveillance powers - even, sometimes, illegally. The US Patriot Act increased the FBI's surveillance powers, however in 2005 the Bush government was caught eavesdropping on citizens' phone-calls and emails without warrants. The domestic wiretap program was quickly rebranded the ''Terrorist Surveillance Program'', yet in 2006 a Federal Court ruled that whatever its name, it breached the constitution.

In 2006, police and spy agencies acquired new powers to access stored data, and to wiretap ''B-party'' communications - the phone calls, SMS or emails of anyone corresponding with a ''person of interest'', knowingly or not.

The monitoring of a person's data trail

Clustering personal information across databases enables greater ''dataveillance'' - the monitoring of a person's data trail. The Movements System Database tracks individuals' travel across Australian borders; CrimTrac's National Names Index contains cross-jurisdictional data on ''persons of interest''; telcos and internet service providers must submit clients' details to the Telstra-managed Integrated Public Number Database, searchable by emergency services, law enforcement, certain researchers and producers of public number directories.

Our data is as well crossing international borders, thanks to cloud computing and new biometric scanning technologies. The US government recently introduced full-body scanners at airports, and will before long trial portable DNA testers in the same setting. Last year a male worker at London's Heathrow airport received a police warning for harassment afterwards photographing a female colleague passing through a full-body scanner.

As governments claim greater spying rights, they are coyly retreating from scrutiny themselves. In Australia, accountability for wiretapping has weakened, with most warrants now issued by salaried tribunal members, not independent judges. The Privacy Commissioner is excluded from the Australian Communications and Media Authority's Law Enforcement Advisory Committee. In early March, the Senate passed laws expanding ASIO's operational powers, enabling it to directly share personal information with a range of agencies outside the intelligence community - including data about an individual's movements, associations, business activities and finances - in accordance with an undefined ''national interest'' clause, without having to disclose the identity of these agencies. ASIO staff may as well be deployed to interview people on behalf of those agencies.