While there are some legitimate uses of monitoring (say, placing a legal wiretap on a suspect's phone, collecting intel as a private detective or undercover cop, etc.) privacy laws and heavy regulation usually require it be disclosed or in plain view (but never in a private space such as a bathroom). However, what's legal and what isn't doesn't concern characters on the unsavory end of the spectrum—criminals, Peeping Toms, captors, hackers, stalkers, cyberbullies, blackmailers, or other characters who operate outside the law. This entry focuses on these character types.

Betrayals and Violations of Trust

CONTROLLING THE MINDS OF OTHERS, GASLIGHTING OR BRAINWASHING SOMEONE, PLOTTING REVENGE

A SECRET BEING REVEALED, BEING ATTACKED, BEING UNSAFE, DISCRIMINATION, GOVERNMENT, PERSECUTION

Having to keep people at arm's length so their activities are not discovered
Being torn over monitoring another if feelings become involved
Developing an obsession that takes over their life
Being unable to have genuine relationships (due to a fear of discovery)
Needing to pretend to be someone they're not to fit in or get close to a target
Not seeking help for mental and emotional conditions that may be lurking beneath the surface
A disconnect from reality because the focus is the lives of others
Being ruled by paranoia (at being caught, or having their own privacy violated)
Feeling disconnected from people and the world as empathy and compassion diminishes

Avoiding friendships and personal connections
Having a secure area to plan and store items needed to monitor (computers, hard drives, etc.)
Taking precautions to stay undetected and not raise suspicions