Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Blown to Bits, Second Edition is the brilliant, plain-English guide to digital technology, how it's changing the world, and what you need to know to survive in tomorrow's digital world. A best-seller when it was first published in 2010, the issues it addresses are more crucial than ever. Now, its expert authors have thoroughly updated
Blown to Bits to demystify the social, political, and personal issues everyone is talking about: from social media and big data to fake news, cyberattacks, and privacy. Both authoritative and accessible, this guide doesn't just reveal the workings of the technologies that are central to your life: it also illuminates the policy decisions citizens need to make about these technologies... because you can try to ignore them, but they won't ignore you
Blown to Bits, Second Edition answers questions like:
- Who owns all that data about you? What (if anything) do they owe you?
- How private is your medical information?
- Is it possible to send a truly secure message? How close can you come?
- How do you figure out who to trust for accurate news these days?
- What should you know about free speech on the Internet?
- Who's watching you, what do they know about you, and what can they do with that knowledge?
- Do you have to say goodbye forever to privacy -- and even to your personal identity?
- How can you protect yourself against out-of-control technologies -- and the powerful organizations that wield them?
Synopsis
What you must know to protect yourself today
The digital technology explosion has blown everything to bits--and the blast has provided new challenges and opportunities. This second edition of Blown to Bits delivers the knowledge you need to take greater control of your information environment and thrive in a world that's coming whether you like it or not.
Straight from internationally respected Harvard/MIT experts, this plain-English bestseller has been fully revised for the latest controversies over social media, "fake news," big data, cyberthreats, privacy, artificial intelligence and machine learning, self-driving cars, the Internet of Things, and much more.
- Discover who owns all that data about you--and what they can infer from it
- Learn to challenge algorithmic decisions
- See how close you can get to sending truly secure messages
- Decide whether you really want always-on cameras and microphones
- Explore the realities of Internet free speech
- Protect yourself against out-of-control technologies (and the powerful organizations that wield them)
You'll find clear explanations, practical examples, and real insight into what digital tech means to you--as an individual, and as a citizen.