You're being spied on constantly by businesses and the government.
If you refuse to cooperate with the government's efforts to collect your private information--especially financial information such as KYC/AML identification, crypto trades, cash/gold purchases--you can be punished severely.
Here's an incomplete list of the many ways you're being spied upon and/or required to divulge private information:
Every bank, credit card company, and financial service provider is required to collect Know Your Customer / Anti-Money Laundering (KYC/AML) information from all of their customers. Such data has been leaked many times.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-tax-report/wealthy-taxpayers-alerted-to-leaked-data-years-after-irs-breach
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/probably-the-largest-kyc-data-leak-in-history-demonstrates-the-importance-of-bitcoinThe government secretly investigates financial services firms that service legal businesses (porn studios, gun dealers, etc) that are allegedly at high risk of fraud and/or money laundering:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Choke_Point
https://www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2023/03/22/the-reality-behind-the-crypto-banking-crackdown-operation-choke-point-20-is-here/Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allows the NSA to force businesses to provide access to their communications equipment:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/04/us-senate-and-biden-administration-shamefully-renew-and-expand-fisa-section-702-0Law enforcement issues gag orders on businesses to force them not to tell you that you are being spied upon:
https://www.wired.com/2010/08/nsl-gag-order-lifted/Law enforcment can force you to unlock your phone (with face / thumbprint):
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/04/cops-can-force-suspect-to-unlock-phone-with-thumbprint-us-court-rules/4If you refuse to unlock your phone for US border guards you may be indefinitely detained, and your phone seized:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/02/what-could-happen-if-you-refuse-to-unlock-your-phone-at-the-us-border/Almost all modern printers print tracking dots that allow law enforcement to identify who printed what on which printer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_Identification_CodeIf you forget the password to your encrypted hard drive, a judge may imprison you for up to 4 years:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/02/man-who-refused-to-decrypt-hard-drives-is-free-after-four-years-in-jail/USPS photographs and stores photos of all of your mail on behalf of law enforcement.
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/04/us/monitoring-of-snail-mail.htmlNSA spies capture “nearly everything a user does on the Internet” including emails, social media posts, web sites you visit, addresses typed into Google Maps, files sent, and more.
https://www.propublica.org/article/nsa-data-collection-faqYour browser can be uniquely identified by its "fingerprint". So your browsing history can linked to you even if you refuse cookies and use Tor/VPN.
https://restoreprivacy.com/browser-fingerprinting/All of the information collected about you from any source: government, phone apps, location data, bank, insurance, hospitals, etc is compiled into a massive single dossier of you and your habits by data brokers, and then sold back to businesses and governments.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2018/04/05/the-data-brokers-so-powerful-even-facebook-bought-their-data-but-they-got-me-wildly-wrong/?sh=3d88daed3107Almost every modern computer has secret backdoors built into the hardware that allow the NSA to remotely control and observe your computer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Management_EngineYour phone is used to track your position to within a meter every time it is turned on. Police can retrieve this information without a warrant, as you've probably agreed to allow your mobile provider and/or apps to collect and sell this information.
https://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/police-can-track-your-cell-phone-location-history-without-a-warrant-1170152The microphone of your smart phone/TV/assistant/etc can be turned on remotely, and used to listen and record your conversations.
https://www.cnet.com/news/fbi-taps-cell-phone-mic-as-eavesdropping-tool/If you create software that can be used to anonymously exchange cryptocurrency, you can be prosecuted for violating money laundering / money transmitter laws:
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/04/24/samourai-wallet-founders-arrested-and-charged-with-money-laundering/
https://techcrunch.com/2022/08/12/suspected-tornado-cash-developer-arrested-in-amsterdam/Buy more than $10 K of anything with cash, and your purchase is almost certainly reported to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on Form 8300. If you make deposits _under_ $10 K, they might also be reported if they look "suspicious".
If you refuse to give up the location of your cash/gold, you might go to prison for 14 years:
https://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=8101209&page=1Try to transfer more than $10 K worth of cash / precious metals in or out of the US without reporting it on FinCEN form 105 may result in prosecution:
https://expattaxpartners.com/2020/03/12/expats-and-precious-metals-traveling-abroad-with-currency-silver-and-gold-what-you-need-to-knowTry to leave the country with more than $2.5 K in precious metals without declaring it (“Shipper’s Export Declaration” form) to the US Census Bureau and your precious metals may be seized:
https://expattaxpartners.com/2020/03/12/expats-and-precious-metals-traveling-abroad-with-currency-silver-and-gold-what-you-need-to-knowIf you sell 25 or more of the following gold coins to a dealer in one transaction, the dealer must report it to the IRS (Form 1099-B):
1-oz Gold Maple Leafs
1-oz Krugerrands
1-oz Mexican Onzas
pre-1965 U.S. coins (over $10 K)
Oddly, reporting requirements do not apply to American Gold Eagles, no matter the quantities. ):
https://fisherpreciousmetals.com/resources/general-market-info/truth-precious-metals-reporting/
Department of Homeland Security claims the authority to stop and search your car without a warrant within 100 miles of the US border:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_search_exceptionThe Coast Guard can also search your boat without a warrant:
https://www.thelog.com/news-departments/ask-a-maritime-attorney-can-the-coast-guard-stop-and-search-my-boat/In many states, all firearms purchases must be reported to the state. That data (including home addresses) has been published via interactive maps:
https://mashable.com/archive/google-gun-mapAll porn producers are required to obtain proof of age for every model they shoot, and retain those records. See United States Code of Federal Regulation 2257 Regulations (C.F.R. Part 75). Such data has been leaked several times:
https://www.vpnmentor.com/blog/report-pussycash-leak/NYPD paid $30 million to Microsoft for a comprehensive surveillance system that "... incorporates more than 3,500 cameras in public places, license-plate readers at every major Manhattan entry point, fixed and portable radiation detectors, real-time alerts transmitted from the 911 emergency system and a trove of Police Department data, including arrests and parking summonses."
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/nyregion/new-york-citys-police-surveillance-technology-could-bring-in-money.html