Privacy: And How to Get it Back (Curious Reads) - Softcover

B.J. Mendelson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1912475014 ISBN 13: 9781912475018

Publisher: Curious Reads, 2017

Synopsis

In this forceful short book, technology guru and author of the best-selling Social Media is Bull (St. Martins Press) B.J. Mendelson exposes the crude reality behind the smiley face of internet networking: data trading. We are all auctioning our personal information, the book argues, to the highest bidder. Mendelson discusses the end of privacy from a contemporary perspective, including chapters on:

• Metadata and its uses
• Data auctions
• The Internet of Things
• The use of social media for surveillance and suppression
• Just how safe is Cloud technology
• The Big Business of Big Data
• How online retailers stalk, without permission, their customers
• Anonymous and web activism
• The internet's dark side: Silk Road, hacking, extortion
• EFF and other bodies promoting internet user rights

When we talk about the so-called 'end of privacy', we conjure up images of state-run agencies secretly monitoring and recording our every move. Whilst this is the case, the true perpetrator in this permeating culture of intrusion is not a third party; its our very selves. We willingly broadcast every moment of our lives in exchange for a moment's worth of virtual attention. Mendelson, artfully and through personal narratives and journalism, tells the story of how we have undermined one of our greatest societal assets.

About this title

Review

For readers who haven't engaged with the issue before and aren't aware of how their online data is being used by private companies for profit, Mendelson's book will be an eye-opener. - Publisher's Weekly

Edition details

• Publisher: Curious Reads
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1912475014
• ISBN 13: 9781912475018
• Binding: Paperback