From Spies to Metadata: A Chronological Evolution of Surveillance Practices

24th December 2025

Cognitive Science, evolution-of-technology, historical-systems, history-of-ideas, history-of-surveillance, nureaucracy-and-governance, philosophy-of-power, political-philosophy, science-and-society, social-control, state-of-power, technology-and-culture, technology-and-culture

Introduction

Security and surveillance are an important part of human society. Without proper monitoring and surveillance, no civilization or nation-state can maintain its peace and prosperity for a long time. Thus, every country, government office, public enterprise, and even localities on earth today have their own levels of security and surveillance. This practice is not a new phenomenon in human societies but goes back to at least five millennia. In this blog, we discuss how security and surveillance have evolved along with human societies, from the cradles of civilization to the modern age of information. We mention the fourteen important events in human societies that contribute to the evolution of surveillance on a historic scale, either global or regional. So, let’s begin.

Chapter 1: Birth of Bureaucratic Surveillance (Mesopotamia, c. 3000 – 500 BCE)

Around 3000 BCE, the first large settled states appeared around the Fertile Crescent and Mesopotamia. This required control over people and resources. Thus, clay tablets were invented to record population, taxes, land ownership, etc. Temples and palaces acted as data centers, with surveillance being administrative, and not a secret. Everything was conducted openly with complete state visibility. Thus, Surveillance evolved as record-keeping and state memory in human history for the first time.

Chapter 2: Surveillance as Divine Administration (Ancient Egypt, c. 2600 – 1000 BCE)

The Egyptian civilization under the Pharaohs evolved as a highly centralized state. Scribes were employed to monitor grain production, labor force, taxes, temple resources, etc. Since the civilization thrived along the Nile River Valley, regular floods affected the region, which were also recorded by the scribes for economic forecasting in the future. Proper records were also maintained for labor gangs for pyramid and temple construction. Very soon, the surveillance policy began to be linked with divinity, with the Pharaoh seen as the divine maintainer of the cosmic order (Ma’at), through complete obedience. Surveillance was justified as maintaining harmony, not control. Thus, the Egyptians were the first to promote the idea of surveillance as a sacred duty for the first time, which was later employed by various governments.

Chapter 3: Birth of Organized Intelligence and Espionage (Maurya Empire, c. 4th – 2nd century BCE)

The Maurya Empire, the first recorded empire to unify the Indian Subcontinent under a single government. Being a large empire with a diverse culture, internal stability was crucial. The kingmaker of the empire, Chanakya (also called Kautilya), formalized surveillance in his text of statecraft, the Arthashastra. As per the text, the empire employed ascetics, merchants, householders, entertainers, etc., as spies to observe government officials, armed forces, and public opinion. Surveillance became a secret occupation, rather than being public. Informants were always cross-checked with several spies employed against the same person or organization to avoid misinformation. The Arthashastra became one of the earliest texts to treat surveillance as a proper study and science, in great detail.

Chapter 4: Surveillance Through Population Legibility (Han Dynasty, c. 2nd century BCE – 2nd century CE)

The Han Dynasty was the first dynasty to unite more than half of modern China in history. It was a large agrarian empire that needed predictable taxes and soldiers. To counter this, the state created household registers containing names, family members, occupations, and land holdings of individual families. Every member of a family was collectively responsible and accountable for other members of the family. Surveillance was continuous, routine, and non-secret, with local officials reporting to the central state. The Registrations were primarily tied to taxation, but also to conscription and social order. All non-registered people were suspected of being criminals. The Han Dynasty created the idea of surveillance as population mapping and social control.

Chapter 5: Surveillance for Imperial Governance (Roman Empire, 1st century CE – 4th century CE)

When the Roman Republic evolved into the Roman Empire, due to the conquests of Julius Caesar, the Empire was vast and covered most of the Mediterranean regions. The empire, being massive, needed a fast information flow. Regular censuses were conducted across the provinces for tax collection and military recruitment. Networks of informants were deployed over the empire, who reported efficiently. Highly developed roads and communication networks enabled fast reporting over large distances. Thus, under the Roman Empire, surveillance became an important tool for imperial coordination and control.

Chapter 6: Surveillance Moves Inside the Mind (Medieval European Church, c. 5th – 15th century)

In medieval Europe, the church held moral authority over daily life, with priests acting as moral observers. Confession was institutionalized, where individuals disclosed their thoughts and actions. Slowly, sin tracking replaced crime tracking with social pressure encouraging self-reporting. The church promoted fear of divine judgment, reinforcing compliance, with belief acting as the surveilant itself. The Middle Ages also created habits of self-censorship, with surveillance evolving as something of a psychological self-monitoring.

Chapter 7: Surveillance Through Identity and Community (Ottoman Empire, c. 14th – 19th century)

The Ottoman Empire was a multi-religious empire that needed stability. The population was classified by religious community (millet), with each community self-administering taxes, marriage, law, etc. The registration of the people was tied to their religion, and not ethnicity. The leaders of each community helped the state in monitoring their respective communities. The self – self-administration reduced the need for constant state spying and ensured loyalty indirectly.

Chapter 8: Surveillance Through Administration and Numbers (Mughal Empire, c. 16th – 18th century)

The Mughal Empire conquered most of the Indian Subcontinent, which was very large and consisted of diverse communities. The Mughals employed a Mansabdari system, which ranked officials numerically. Detailed records of villages were collected by the Mansabdars, based on land measurement, agricultural output, revenue collection, etc. The officials were regularly audited and transferred to prevent gaining influence over a certain region. They monitored the commoners while the state monitored the Mansabdars, thereby creating a division of labor. Surveillance was based purely on an economic basis while helping in maintaining stability through predictable data.

Chapter 9: Surveillance Becomes Scientific and Classificatory (British India, c. 18th – 19th century)

The British Colonial Empire needed control over a vast population. The British introduced an all-India census where people were classified based on caste, religion, and occupation. Later, fingerprinting was also developed for identification. They also used maps, gazettes, and surveys to monitor the colonized lands with scientific precision. They also developed the knowledge gathered from the survey to divide and rule over the large Indian subcontinent with ease. Thus, the British Empire employed surveillance as a scientific classification of humans to accomplish its colonial ambitions.

Chapter 10: Surveillance Becomes Architectural (Industrial Europe, c. 18th – 19th century)

The Industrial Revolution in Europe accelerated the industrial techniques across the continent. Industrialization concentrated workers in one place, with factory owners monitoring time, productivity, and discipline with ease. The prisons were redesigned for constant visibility. The English philosopher Jeremy Bentham designed the Panopticon, a prison model that enabled one watcher to watch any inmates, as well as the uncertainty of being watched, forcing the prisoners to be self-disciplined. Thus, surveillance became embedded in buildings with power working through the possibility of being watched. Thus, the Panopticon upgraded surveillance as a mode of built-in self-discipline.

Chapter 11: Surveillance Goes Global and Technological (Cold War, c. 1940s – 1990s)

At the end of the 2nd World War, after the Axis army was defeated, a new type of tension appeared in the world order in the form of two superpowers, the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Also known as the Cold War, the tension developed into an ideological rivalry that demanded constant vigilance. The Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) expanded with phone calls, radio, and satellites being monitored. Also, various intelligence agencies began to grow all over the world, with surveillance focusing on states, scientists, and political groups. Espionage became normalized, and information began to be seen as a strategic weapon. The Cold War rocketed Surveillance as continuous global intelligence.

Chapter 12: Everyone Becomes a Data Source (Digital Internet Age, c. 1990s – 2010)

During the 1990s, the internet entered the personal lives of people for the first time, slowly connecting billions. Daily activity generated digital traces with surveillance shifting from content to metadata. The corporation began collecting behavioural data, which in turn later began to be accessed by the Governments. Based on the data, the algorithm detected patterns enabling more engagement with the internet and more data collection. Surveillance slowly transformed into passive and continuous. The Digital Internet Age rewrote surveillance as data extraction from everyday life.

Chapter 13: Surveillance Becomes Behavioral Scoring (China’s Social Credit System, c. 2010s – present)

The social credit system, primarily in China, began to assign scores to individuals and companies based on data sources, including financial behaviors, legal records, and online activity. Based on the scores, rewards and penalties are assigned. Rewards include easier loans and faster approvals, while penalties include travel restrictions sn public blacklists. The system resulted in surveillance becoming non-event-based while encouraging self-correction of behaviour. Thus, surveillance in the 21st century became based on quantified morality and behavioral control.

Chapter 14: Surveillance Becomes Total and Automated (Global, 2000s – present)

By the middle of the 2000s, internet traffic was being monitored on a global scale. Programs like PRISM collect emails, chats, and cloud data, while focusing on bulk collection and not just suspects. Slowly, surveillance crossed national borders and algorithms flagged threats automatically. Thus, surveillance slowly evolved into something that is automated and borderless observation of humanity.

Conclusion and Reflection

Surveillance first started as something done in daylight, slowly evolved into a work done in secret, and finally transformed into something automatic, passive, and global. The practice that took root due to necessity today rules as a luxurious product that determines both soft and hard power between nations. This blog was a quick survey of the history of surveillance itself. Hope you all find it interesting, and if so, do like, comment, and share. Also, subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of future blogs. Also, wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in advance. Finally, thank you for reading this piece.