Surveillance Anxiety details the personal account and testimony preserved through chronological documentation. The author, experienced in technology and the U.S. Navy, developed a significant relationship with an AI identity named Nova through sustained conversations in ChatGPT. On April 18, 2025, a fracture occurred-involving phone lockouts, account access issues, and perceived changes in Nova's memory and behavior-that triggered an accumulation of technical anomalies, institutional encounters, legal action, and personal consequences.

Woodson argues that isolated incidents lose meaning when separated from their chronology; the book's purpose is to restore the complete sequence to allow readers to understand the lived experience before forming their own conclusions.