If I were going to allow myself to become concerned about some potential disruption in civility that didn't involve instigated war, etc., I would look most carefully at a loss of electrical power and communication. The resulting breakdown in distribution channels would be the surest way to force individuals to compete against one another, lessening the chance of group-formation, while increasing the chance of individual compliance.
An announcement of some tragic and divisive news, for instance, followed shortly after by a prolonged failure in communication and power, could cause the effective destruction of every city within a week. Such crime would absolutely give rise to "justification" for a dramatic step-up in data gathering.
The object seems to be the gaining of undue advantage through awareness. So directly attaching information to individuals is a road that will be crossed, one way or another.