Concerning Privacy (fear)

To what point does the gov or a third party monitor your searches on the internet. Last week someone told me that there has been numerous people that got blackmail for an explicit photograph they took in highschool

“Imagine you’re 30 years old, you got a great job and a great position, than someone got
jealous of that and somehow uncovered a nude pic you sent to your partner way back when you were 18, and used it to blackmail …

blackmail explicit fear gov great internet job monitor old party people point privacy searches third week