So I was on the celebrity list too.

I remind you that Predator is not only a call monitoring system, but also gives you control over the camera and microphone – that is, the ability to record, film and photograph even the most intimate and personal moments of the victim, his family and children. The breach of the victim’s privacy is huge and much larger than the traditional methods of monitoring via telephone networks.

That is why the use of such software is typical for totalitarian regimes. Debate about their role in democratic regimes ranges from calls for a total ban to arguments that they should be allowed to be used under close supervision against serious criminals, foreign agents of hostile powers, and terrorists.

When you find out that you could have been the victim of such an incident, the first feeling you experience is surprise. When the first Sunday list came out, I didn’t believe it. This did not come from sources I personally read or trust. To me, as a moderate who admires much of what the current government has achieved, the level of corruption presented seemed unrealistic.

When I saw my name on the second list, I was numb. Why me; Due to my professional ability in a large foreign technology company, in recent years, I have worked to solve many problems that Internet users face, including online tracking. At the same time, I have acquaintances and friends who belong to that tiny ball of multi-colored threads of similar length, which we call the “home elite”.

But I am not a party official, a member of the press circle, or a business owner with close ties to the government. My name was out of place on the list. The only thing that could be stranger than actually being on such a list is that someone made up my inclusion.

The second emotion is fear. Greece may not be East Germany, but the fear, helplessness, and loneliness experienced by those who find themselves in such a position are reminiscent of the testimonies of citizens of totalitarian regimes. God, what could they see and take? Will they use something in the future to blackmail me? Who was there and what was he doing when he was probably watching my most intimate moments?

You feel infected with a digitally transmitted disease that makes you toxic and unwittingly dangerous to those around you.

You look back at meetings with partners, revelations of friends on the phone, photos of everyday moments on the couch, professional meetings. You feel infected with a digitally transmitted disease that makes you toxic and unwittingly dangerous to those around you. You feel a general malaise that you cannot clearly identify. Until you understand what it is about: this feeling, unprecedented for you, is the feeling of the possibility of existence at the absolute voyeuristic command of an arbitrary and nameless force.

Then comes anger. Such things should not happen in our country – Western democracy, with its own problems, but with a strong democratic tradition. Today it could be you, tomorrow it could be anyone. You expect the state to actively support you. Friends with access to public discourse will use their voices to strongly express their opposition to such forms of violation of individual rights. Justice will move smoothly, helping you reach the truth. Collective intelligence and the desire for progress will surpass party spirit.

You contact other potential victims, turn to sources you trust. You feel embarrassed. “I’ll tell you personally…” they tell you, before hurriedly hanging up. “I found a bad link!” some triumphantly exclaim before their voices begin to tangle again. – What should I do alone? “I would do it, but my position does not allow it.” Loneliness and complicity breed and perpetuate arbitrary power.

You hear about raids that never happened and the destruction of official documents. You read to yourself that the state took away from citizens the right to information about a possible connection up there when the first victim came out, and now refuses to restore it before the expiration of three years.

You are disoriented somewhere. But what happened to the rule of law with all its trappings that you thought you grew up with? Where are the voices that support truth, individual rights and justice beyond partisan instincts, self-promotion or self-defense?

And you’re waiting for the feeling of hope to finally come. That the progressive part of the government will take the side of potential victims and present a bill that looks not only to the future, but also to the past. That the prime minister will do the obvious and do everything in his power so that none of the defendants in the case remains above the law. That liberal intellectuals will emerge from the phobic shadow of 2015 and call things, if they seem true, by their proper names—a flagrant violation of human rights, as well as the conditions of democracy itself.

* Ms. Artemis Sifford is a political scientist and lawyer. Worked in the field of cybersecurity.