Throughout Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the U.S. government proactively monitors foreign nations, individuals of interest, and its own employees to gather information pertaining to national security. These individuals and nations are unaware that the U.S. government collects information about them, and no party has explicitly given consent to have their actions and data collected. With their data, the U.S. government can accurately track the movements of individuals like Riri Williams, Shuri, and Okoye after the three meet to discuss the vibranium detector. In this movie, the U.S. government willingly tramples upon the rights of privacy whenever officials believe that certain information can provide a competitive advantage over other nations in the race for vibranium and vibranium technologies.

The U.S. government has also wiretapped communication devices used by their employees. When Everett Ross, a CIA agent, communicates with Wakanda through his kimoyo beads, the U.S. government wiretaps his conversations to collect evidence of treason. Agent Ross was completely unaware that his calls were being tracked, and the government's actions raise legal questions as the wiretapping had occurred without a warrant. Although the government invaded Ross' rights to privacy, he had committed treason by openly revealing state secrets to the Wakandans. The wiretapping of Ross' kimoyo beads showcases how governments are willing to invade privacy for the sake of national security. 

The U.S. government that is portrayed in Black Panther draws parallels to how the U.S. government operates in real-life. In 2013, Americans learned about a mass surveillance system that the NSA created to monitor the communication records of its citizens [1]. This system collected communication data from companies like Google, Apple, and Facebook to build a database that could be searched by investigators [1][2]. The NSA believed that this system could help with counterterrorist operations [2]. They hoped that building these profiles could help predict future threats from certain persons of interest. However, this system and the NSA's method of collecting phone records without consent was ruled illegal in 2015 [2]. The comparable approaches concerning privacy taken by the U.S. government in both cinematic portrayals and reality illustrate the extent to which nations will prioritize national security. These approaches prompt inquiries about the degree to which private data can be leveraged for the good of the public.