I don't have any extensive knowledge of the situation, but it seems to me, in the modern world, the only governments NOT using software to spy on political opponents are governments that aren't competent enough. The only ones that you hear about are the ones that are competent enough to do it, but not quite competent enough to hide it.<p>Having been raised in the 80 and 90s when we still considered Watergate to be a scandal, I find this kind of spying to be an undemocratic abuse of power. But it's the reality we live in now. Most wars these days are wars of knowledge and spying on opponents is, unfortunately, no longer a scandal, but the reality of modern power struggles.