This chapter presents how state surveillance was historically conducted in Hungary and Romania, starting from the establishment of their respective communist regimes through to contemporary times. It provides an overview of how state surveillance was, and continues to be, conducted in these two countries that embraced democratic regimes after the 1989 revolutions. The chapter makes two main contributions to the existing literature. On the one hand, it discusses the historical evolution of state surveillance in Hungary and Romania by underlining how the surveillance machinery was used during authoritarianism and then in the transition to democracy. On the other hand, it allows comparisons between Hungary and Romania by showing their similarities and differences in the field of state surveillance.