I was actively involved in Cold War Electronic Warfare / low level Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and was also involved in Kosovo... Your analysis is a bit of a way off the mark i am afraid... We were far more advanced than you thought, our capabilities and indeed our enemies of interest used some pretty advanced tech. However, in essence your developmental timeline is correct..
EW & SIGINT are touchy subjects, so i will leave it there.
These days we have however, as Edward Snowden stated, got the ability to 'capture' everything and when needed, delve into the depths for a complete analysis. This can and will be used against anyone who crosses the line of the law, then a patch of association can be back-tracked. Essentially linking and building a web of evidence, right the way up to your 'crime'.
Yes there have also been many 'experiments' on the public too, seeing how they will react etc.... Its a worrying trend and one which we are all embroiled in.
If people are un-aware of this in todays era, then they are sleepwalking.
Good Post dude!