Secret Services are everywhere. They are part of out daily life. We just don't really care. We are not concerned at all.
In East Germany it was very normal for a woman to go out and work even if she had children. A few weeks after giving birth women would return to their normal working life. We never had housewives in East Germany.
There are also people who lived in either side of Germany, but who never had or have any relationship with the other side whether it was former East or former West Germany.
It's a historical fact that the Stasi did horrible things and that they monitored a lot of people in East Germany, but I find it very interesting to think about the importance of the Western secret services back then and still working today.
I'm not sure how it is in America, but for what I can say about Germany, most people give their information willingly to anyone who asks for it such as companies like Google. We just don't question it anymore.
Something very unique about Germany is that once you are suspected or accused of having worked for the Stassi, it doesn't matter if you were 18-years-old, or a child, or an adult back then. Even if you deny it you won't get rid of this suspicion.
