In this forceful short book, technology guru and author of the best-selling Social Media is Bullshit (St. Martins Press) Brandon 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.
