165 Charlotte Twight is a professor of economics at Boise State University. The Independent Review, v.IV, n.2, Fall 1999, ISSN 1086-1653, Copyright © 1999, pp. 165–200 Watching You Systematic Federal Surveillance of Ordinary AmericansCHARLOTTE TWIGHT I magine for a moment a nation whose central government mandated ongoing collection of detailed personal information—individually identified—recording each citizen’s employment, income, childhood and subsequent educational ex-periences, medical history (including doctors’ subjective impressions), financial trans-actions (including copies of personal checks written), ancestry, living conditions (including bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom facilities), rent or mortgage payment, household expenses, roommates and their characteristics, in-home telephone service, automobile ownership,...