Just to put this level of paranoia in some perspective, Stalin's purges hit a massive 1% of the population. 8 million is 2.5%.
This is so paranoid that it is hard to comprehend. If you think that 2.5% of the population is out to get you, then you should probably be very carefully considering the possibility that the problem is actually you.
His purges, yes. But that is far more extreme than keeping a file on someone, so I don't think it's a good comparison.
But consider the political monitoring - certainly a vastly higher number were likely considered potential risks to be registered "just in case" under Stalins regime as wel.
I don't know if there are any estimates of the number of people under active surveillance and "on lists" in the Soviet Union, but consider the East German Stasi, which at one point at least had 2.5% of the population of DDR acting as informants (this is a reasonably conservative estimate), and had files on about 1/3 of the total population of the DDR.
And? Rioting is not the sole source of "threats to national security".
Indeed older people often form the intellectual leadership for all sorts of movements/organisations, good and bad. Especially in cultures that have maintained their respect for elders.
This is so paranoid that it is hard to comprehend. If you think that 2.5% of the population is out to get you, then you should probably be very carefully considering the possibility that the problem is actually you.