One thing many under surveillance notice is people frequently adjusting their rearview mirrors in the cars around them. It will seem statistically unlikely to think so many people might be driving around with mis-adjusted mirrors, and realizing the misadjustment only as you approach or drive away. This may occur as you pass them in traffic, approach them, or drive past them.
These are covert mirror cams, one early version available to civilians you can see at this link. I would assume as you go up the ladder toward the elites of the surveillance world in FBI Counter-Intel, and get the later generations, that mirror gets thinner, the wires are less noticeable, and the video resolution only gets better.
If dealing with private contractors, a clear sign of surveillance will be older model cars, which have neglected other upgrades, but which have what appear to be high-end, hard-wired, auto-dimming rear-view mirrors. Noticing a beat up 1985 Oldsmobile, with a mirror like the above, is a good reason to increase your surveillance awareness, and keep an eye open in the back of your head. If the occupant stops at a light opposite you, and adjusts the mirror to point at you, you might want to begin assuming surveillance is operative, and do a threat assessment.
It is no coincidence that the linked site is sold out of an older generation rear-view mirror cam with only 480TVL resolution that costs $2300, pre-install. Private contract surveillance is a booming business, in no small part because of the growing surveillance state which needs operators faster than they can be minted, and equipment faster than it can be stocked. People have no idea what is out there.
But surveillance applies in the civilian sector as well, and surveillance is getting more common as the prolific private sector machine, financed and built by government contracts, earns extra cash on the side with civilian jobs.
Does your company have a better mousetrap? Do you routinely undercut your competition? Do you relay on a trade secret to win out over your competitors? The losing competitor who is going to be evicted from his house unless he uncovers your secret will wonder about the reason you are winning, and he will do it obsessively. If he realizes that uncovering your secret could allow him to win, he will contract out a bit of surveillance to find it out. It is only common sense.
I have no idea how bad the collapse will be, but if it is as desperate as it appears it might be, professional criminal gangs may become a problem as well. If you have secured your family’s safety, lodging and feeding, you may become a target.
Any professional gang will run surveillance before attacking, and the most dangerous ones will do it right and use the appropriate tools. Knowing the little signs they will give off, the equipment they will use, and the techniques they will employ could be the difference between becoming a shallow depression in the ground out in the woods somewhere, or living to enjoy the fruits of your labors, and see your grandchildren play.
When the apocalypse comes, noticing a rearview mirror adjustment, turning the mirror to face you at exactly the right moment, might be just the spark you need to get on top of your surveillance and turn the tables on your adversary.
Apocalypse cometh™
