IF you’re a law-abiding citizen reading about government surveillance, you might just shrug and think: ‘I’ve got nothing to hide.”

But every right-minded person should be very afraid of the power of modern spies and the tech industry’s array of intrusive digital spy gadgets.

This week, Wikileaks released documents which claimed the CIA was able to hack smart televisions and use them to spy on their owners.

If you’re not cooking up improvised explosive devices in your lounge or growing cannabis in your kitchen, you might think this is nothing to be worried about.

Sadly, you are wrong.

Your phone is already tracking your movements, whilst Google records every search you make – gaining an extraordinary and unprecedented insight into your day to day existence.

Extraordinarily, billions of us have opted to share every moment of our waking lives with Facebook or upload naked images of ourselves to Apple’s iCloud.

    

These tech firms say they can be trusted with all this data and, to a certain extent, they’re right because few hackers have the know-how to beat Silicon Valley’s top security bods.

Yet all this data could turn the digital dream into a real life nightmare.

We are about to see an explosion of web connected devices which talk to each other as part of the “internet of things”.

This could have a dramatic effect on human freedom.

Smartphones can already track our every move using motion detectors and geo-location technology.

Hackers are starting to work out how to watch and listen to us using our phone’s cameras or microphones – and upcoming technology will even allow the devices to monitor our blood sugar levels to heart rate.

Do we really trust spooks, cops bureaucrats and advertisers with these tools?

Unless we’re very careful, society could be sleepwalking into a nightmare which would make George Orwell shudder in his grave.

In his novel 1984, oppressed humans had no choice about whether to be watched by the surveillance state.

In reality, we’ll probably choose to invite surveillance devices into our homes and agree to share ever more information with firms like Facebook and Google in exchange for the ability to do little more than share selfies more effectively.

Here are five nightmare scenarios which could easily happen in the coming years.

But, as Crimewatch used to say: “Don’t have nightmares, sleep well.”

These are only hypothetical scenarios – for now.

The boss from hell

The micro-managers of today will soon get their hands on the tools of tomorrow.

British firms are already using spy devices to monitor their employees to make sure they don’t slack off and employing automatic filters to screen their emails.

Some have even bugged staff and began recording their words in a bid to discover which employees use positive language and which are negative.

If you seek power, then it’s a fair bet you’ve got a personality disorder or two.

Just imagine what will happen if bosses start to ask for “volunteers” to use a new wearable surveillance gadget which tracks staff, records their speech and monitors their heartrate to detect stress.

Will you be brave enough to say no or will you simply agree to the surveillance and say goodbye to sickies, cigarette breaks or any of the little joys of working life?

You’ll probably seek an easy life and go with the herd, but it will be a mistake you’ll come to regret once your boss totally dominates your working day – and your weekends too.

Digital dictatorship

You might trust the government right now, but there’s no guarantee that democracy will prevail forever.

An evil government might take over Britain or another Western nation and decide it wants to eliminate political enemies just like Josef Stalin did in the dark days of 20th century Russia.

This would be a very easy thing to do for a modern oppressor – particularly if they have grabbed power in a country which used to be free.

All this digital dictator would need to do is look at people’s search history or social media posts to identity anyone who’s flirted with the “wrong” political ideology.

Perhaps you’re a man living under extreme feminist leaders. All they need to do is highlight that “inappropriate” tweet you wrote in 2009 and you’re finished.

Maybe you’re a virtue signalling leftie like JK Rowling, who uses social media to bang on about refugees all the time.

If a mad right wing lunatic takes power and decides everyone who’s ever said anything nice about refugees needs to be slung in prison, he’s probably going to want to have a word in your ear.

If you’re an evil leader looking for a tenuous excuse to lock someone up, the internet is the answer.

The Pornopocalypse

    

Most clever people know that you need to cover up the cameras on your phone and laptop.

Mark Zuckerberg covers his with a sticker – and so does the Pope.

Criminal “sextortion” gangs are now targeting 30 Brits every day by tricking them into recording sexual footage and then threatening to release it.

Yet it’s conceivable that in the future, whole pornographic sites could be rigged up and made to film the people who visit them.

Porn sites and Google also hold a huge amount of information on the sexual predilections of their users.

If this information is hacked – or simply released – it could prove hugely damaging.

Are you a politician or professional who once watched sordid porn? Your secrets will never be safe.

One day, someone might decide to expose your filthy habits and there’s nothing you’ll be able to do to stop them.

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Many of us have already installed Amazon Echo or Google Home gadgets in our houses.

These clever gadgets record your spoken orders and beam them back to base, where they are stored away.

This has already prompted claims that the devices are always listening to us, because they wouldn’t hear your orders otherwise.

It’s not hard to imagine insurers one day offering to reduce people’s payments if they agree to install microphones in their homes, which listen out for signs that the policy holder is unhealthy or angry and adjust the premiums.

If it hears lots of swear word and shouting, for instance, a computer somewhere might decide you’re probably likely to be a dangerous driver and whop up your monthly bill.

Car insurance firms are already doing this and will drop monthly payments if motorists agree to install a small device in their car which monitors

Will people agree to let them go one step further and start recording the comings and goings in their houses?

Thought crime

    

If the CIA really is listening through your telly, you might not be immediately worried.

After all, there’s absolutely no way its agents have time to listen to everyone’s boring conversations.

But what if they start to listen in using software which wakes up when it hears keywords like “bomb” or “drugs”?

You might be sat at home, swigging martinis with your chums and fondly recalling the misty events of a Bomb the Bass rave way back in the 1980s, when suddenly it hears some dodgy words and you’re automatically put on a police watch list.

We already know it’s quite difficult to get off these lists once you’re on them.

British cops, for instance, keep lifelong records of all the minor crimes you committed after the age of 18 – and employers can get their hands on these records very easily.

When we have dozens of surveillance devices in our houses, it’s not hard to imagine spooks listening in to hear what we’re saying and then flagging you on a list without your knowledge.

Once they’ve got any information on you, they’re not going to give it up lightly.

Could an innocent conversation in your own home land you in trouble with the law? We’ll probably find out soon enough.