J. B. Branch at Issues in Science and Technology:
If you’ve ever felt a creeping unease—Could I get in trouble for this?—after asking Alexa a question, texting a friend something deeply personal, walking past a Ring camera, or searching a sensitive question online, Andrew Guthrie Ferguson’s Your Data Will Be Used Against You is the book for you. More accurately, it is the book that may finally explain why your unease is justified and why our world increasingly feels like an episode of Black Mirror.
Modern life puts most of us in the middle of a strange contradiction. Americans recognize that they are being tracked constantly—by corporations, advertisers, platforms, apps, smart devices, cameras, vehicles, and often one another—yet most people still do not fully understand how that data ecosystem functions, who can access it, or how easily it can be weaponized. Surveillance used to be associated with the work of trench-coated government agents conducting wiretaps from vans. It now hides inside sleek packaging, personalized recommendations, and the jargon-laden user agreements people are essentially compelled to sign before using software or devices.
Ferguson, a law professor at George Washington University Law School and one of the country’s foremost scholars on policing and surveillance technologies, understands that modern surveillance is built through convenience.
More here.
Enjoying the content on 3QD? Help keep us going by donating now.