(Alternative link.)

This paper is about surveillance under Italian Fascism, but I chose this title because the sheer lengths that the Fascists went to monitor untrustworthy Italians is arguably the most disturbing revelation.

However, in the [Central Political Records] there are records on Italian migrants who lived in non‐European countries such as Australia, the USA and Canada, proving that the fascist espionage machine functioned all over the world.

According to Iacovetta and Ventresca (1996), the [Central Political Records] contains, for instance, at least 111 dossiers on Italians who resided in Canada in the interwar era. The information contained in the biographical files includes the year and reasons for leaving Italy as well as occupation, physical description, political affiliation, etc.

As mentioned earlier, the rôle played by consular officials in implementing the surveillance apparatus outside the country was significant. It is worth noting that the prefects of the provinces, namely the direct agents and representatives of the Italian provinces, were also particularly important as the [Central Political Records] officials turned to them in order to obtain information about the expatriates’ political affiliations before leaving Italy.

[…]

Migrants attracted the attention of the authorities for reasons that were not always related to anti‐fascist activities (i.e. anarchist clubs, proselytism of communist ideas, activities as agitators, etc.). Whoever did not take part in the Consular’s celebrations was classified as ‘subversive’ based on a generalized suspicion that led to mass political surveillance even in very remote regions.

(Emphasis added. On a side note, it may be worth reminding everybody that Karl Marx himself was a victim of police surveillance.)