One is the EFF, which figures heavily in Digital Fortress . Every day, civilians have fewer and fewer secrets, and it's only going to get worse. The world has become a dangerous place, and our security is harder to protect. Criminals have access to the same technology we do. If we want the government to catch terrorists who use E-mail or cellular phones, we have to provide a means for them to monitor these types of communication.
Privacy is a hot issue everywhere.
Oddly, the Germans are furious with NSA right now over a system called Echelon, a European spying network crated by the U.S. and England. This does NOT mean selling or writing a spy novel. Let's talk about settings, for example. There are two things. First, the choice of setting is critical.