Chris -- RFID sensors/readers everywhere, the increasingly advanced and capable A/V surveillance cameras, monitoring and recording all electronic communications (and tracking all mail, I believe they pretty much already do that), tracking/cataloging in real time all private transactions using cards of any sort (and soon enough even cash, I believe the EC is already chipping at least some Euro notes), all the rapidly evolving biometric technologies, AND all the other various private databases -- all of those and more we've barely thought of yet (I believe Florida has begun to chip prisoners, and some folks here and especially abroad are being chipped 'for their own security') are/will be the system's real-time sensors -- Carnivore, Echelon, TIA and their progeny are building the system itself which will take in, record and analyze all that real-time data and make that data and analysis immediately available to all our duly authorized protectors