Synopses & Reviews
Review
"The public conversation about surveillance in the digital age would be a good deal more intelligent if we all read Bruce Schneier first." Gil Press Forbes
Review
"Bruce Schneier has written a hugely insightful and important book about how big data and its cousin, mass surveillance, affect our lives, and what to do about it. In characteristic fashion, Schneier takes very complex and varied information and ideas and makes them vivid, accessible, and compelling." Malcolm Gladwell
Review
"Schneier did not need the Snowden revelations, as important as they are, to understand the growing threat to personal privacy worldwide from government and corporate surveillance--he's been raising the alarm for nearly two decades. But this important book does more than detail the threat; it tells the average low-tech citizen what steps he or she can take to limit surveillance and thus fight those who are seeking to strip privacy from all of us." Jack Goldsmith, former head of the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice under George W. Bush
Review
"A pithy, pointed, and highly readable explanation of what we know in the wake of the Snowden revelations, with practical steps that ordinary people can take if they want to do something about the threats to privacy and liberty posed not only by the government but by the Big Data industry." Emily Parker Washington Post
Review
"Schneier exposes the many and surprising ways governments and corporations monitor all of us, providing a must-read User's Guide to Life in the Data Age. His recommendations for change should be part of a much-needed public debate." Richard A. Clarke, former chief counterterrorism adviser on the National Security Council under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and author of Cyber War
Review
"As it becomes increasingly clear that surveillance has surpassed anything that Orwell imagined, we need a guide to how and why we're being snooped and what we can do about it. Bruce Schneier is that guide--step by step he outlines the various ways we are being monitored, and after scaring the pants off us, he tells us how to fight back." Steven Levy, editor-in-chief of Backchannel and author of Crypto and Hackers
Review
"A judicious and incisive analysis of one of the most pressing new issues of our time, written by a true expert." Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of The Better Angels of Our Nature
Review
" is sorely needed. On top of the ongoing avalanche of stories of cyberwarfare, data breaches, and corporate snooping, the Snowden revelations have left many people confused and cynical about protecting their own privacy. My hope is that Bruce Schneier's new book will empower people to join the conversation in the courts and elsewhere about how to think seriously and honestly about our current digital surveillance state and more importantly, how to build a digital society run by the consent of the governed." Cindy Cohn, Legal Director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Review
"The internet is a surveillance state, and like any technology, surveillance has both good and bad uses. Bruce Schneier draws on his vast range of technical and historical skills to sort them out. He analyzes both the challenge of big brother and many little brothers. Anyone interested in security, liberty, privacy, and justice in this cyber age must read this book." Joseph S. Nye Jr., Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and author of The Future of Power
Review
"Bruce Schneier is the most consistently sober, authoritative, and knowledgeable voice on security and privacy issues in our time. This book brings his experience and sharp analytical skills to important and fast-evolving technology and human rights issues. Much has been said about the way our government, financial institutions, and online entities gather data, but less is said about how that seemingly infinite ocean of data is used, or might be used. In the face of a vast spectrum of possibility, clouded in secrecy, Bruce's book is a voice of steady reason." Xeni Jardin, co-editor of BoingBoing
Review
" is the indispensable guide to understanding the most important current threat to freedom in democratic market societies. Whether you worry about government surveillance in the post-Snowden era, or about Facebook and Google manipulating you based on their vast data collections, Schneier, the leading, truly independent expert writing about these threats today, offers a rich overview of the technologies and practices leading us toward surveillance society and the diverse solutions we must pursue to save us from that fate." Yochai Benkler, Berkman Professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School and author of The Wealth of Networks
Review
"Data, algorithms, and thinking machines give our corporations and political institutions immense and far reaching powers. Bruce Schneier has done a remarkable job of breaking down their impact on our privacy, our lives, and our society. should be on everyone's must read list." Om Malik, founder of Gigaom
Review
"When it comes to what government and business are doing together and separately with personal data scooped up from the ether, Mr. Schneier is as knowledgeable as it gets.... Mr. Schneier's use of concrete examples of bad behavior with data will make even skeptics queasy and potentially push the already paranoid over the edge. Mr. Schneier writes clearly and simply about a complex subject." Jonathan A. Knee
Review
"Lucid and compelling." The New York Times
Review
"Lucid and fast-paced.... Schneier describes with dismay the erosion of privacy, then lays out a strategy for turning the tide." Neal Stephenson, author of Reamde
Review
"[T]hought-provoking, absorbing, and comprehensive." Hiawatha Bray Boston Globe
Synopsis
You are under surveillance right now.
Description
Your cell phone provider tracks your location and knows who’s with you. Your online and in-store purchasing patterns are recorded, and reveal if you're unemployed, sick, or pregnant. Your e-mails and texts expose your intimate and casual friends. Google knows what you’re thinking because it saves your private searches. Facebook can determine your sexual orientation without you ever mentioning it.
The powers that surveil us do more than simply store this information. Corporations use surveillance to manipulate not only the news articles and advertisements we each see, but also the prices we’re offered. Governments use surveillance to discriminate, censor, chill free speech, and put people in danger worldwide. And both sides share this information with each other or, even worse, lose it to cybercriminals in huge data breaches.
Much of this is voluntary: we cooperate with corporate surveillance because it promises us convenience, and we submit to government surveillance because it promises us protection. The result is a mass surveillance society of our own making. But have we given up more than we’ve gained? In Data and Goliath, security expert Bruce Schneier offers another path, one that values both security and privacy. He shows us exactly what we can do to reform our government surveillance programs and shake up surveillance-based business models, while also providing tips for you to protect your privacy every day. You'll never look at your phone, your computer, your credit cards, or even your car in the same way again.
Video
About the Author
Bruce Schneier is "one of the world's foremost security experts" (Wired) and the best-selling author of thirteen books. He speaks and writes regularly for major media venues, and his newsletter and blog reach more than 250,000 people worldwide. He is a Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School and the CTO of Resilient Systems, Inc.