The main conflict faced by Marcus in Cory Doctorow's Little Brother is the Department of Homeland Security falsely accusing him of involvement in a terrorist attack. Marcus is intensely interrogated by DHS agents for a week, and he is furious when upon his release they inform him they will be surveilling him because he is still a suspect. Marcus is angry at the violation of his privacy, and believes that this surveillance deprives him of the freedoms promised by the Bill of Rights. Marcus uses his skills in technology to thwart the attempts of the DHS to spy on him; for example, he creates a communication network with his friends using game consoles, which the state cannot access. When Marcus speaks to a reporter about the way the government had treated him, the DHS again puts him in custody and waterboards him. The police raid the DHS compound when they discover the actions of its agents, and Marcus is freed from government surveillance.