I am going towards a FTL communications system, in time. this would be tied in with gravitational survey theory, jump drives, and gate construction. say the Gravitational Survey theory not only opens up the idea of jump points, places where matter can transit huge distances, but the idea that non mass data streams can do the same thing, but because of their lack of mass it is a lot less restrictive. But early tech starts large, maybe a bit too big to put on "small ships" (under 10k tons to start) so it would be a planet to planet thing at first. Earth and Mars can build data or comm gates for instantaneous transfer of communications and data, but for a ship to carry one it would have to be over that 10K limit. with the research into jump drives and gate construction they become smaller, soon all non-fighter star ships could carry one, though the nessesity of everyone having one would be impracticable, it would be like every single person having their own ISP server rather than using a provider, which im sure many would enjoy.
However from a government POV if two houses had their own data-gates it would be almost Impossible to intercept the data and transmissions without bugging the terminals because they could connect directly together. if we maintain a data node, say each planet has one gate or a few gates, then they would have to travel through spots where the government could collect and look for threats such as terrorists actions, espionage, ETC. the technology could in theory shrink to the point of cell phones, each one able to connect across the galaxy without help from any other system, a truly free system of communication, and a somewhat frightening aspect for those in an intelligence community.