~Jesse A. Lambertson, "Careful, You're Being Watched: Surveillance and Privacy"
Laura Poitras, director of the Edward Snowden documentary Citizenfour, says "People are starting to understand that the devices we carry with us reveal our location, who we're talking to, and all kinds of other information." We already know that Google shows you ads, and that you can edit your settling to "control the ads that are delivered to you"; your Facebook NewsFeed also has ads targeted for your specific interests or demographic, and on January 26th Facebook announced that their Audience Network (FAN) would be expanding. Every time you download a new app for your phone, you give the app permission to access a lot of information from your device, and do you even know what the app is using the data for? Have you heard about the "Google Security Princess"? Her job is try to hack Google, to find flaws in the system before "blackhat" hackers do. There have been so many hacked sites in the last few years, from the Target fiasco of 2014 to the infamous Ashley Madison debacle last year - when you give sites your information, seems like you are always taking a risk.
What are you doing to protect your privacy and secure your information online? How is your password strength? PC World recommends controlling your digital footprint by checking your settings on social media and being careful about what you post; using different identities on different sites; and browsing privately. Also, the library has many items of interest, whether you want to know what the issues are right now or want to find out more about the history of surveillance.
Current titles
I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy by Lori Andrews
Dragnet Nation: A Quest for Privacy, Security, and Freedom in a World of Relentless Surveillance by Julia Angwin
Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single Superpower World by Tom Engelhardt
Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection by Jacob Silverman
The Rise of the American Corporate Security State: Six Reasons to Be Afraid by Beatrice Edwards
Privacy in the Age of Big Data: Recognizing Threats, Defending Your Rights, and Protecting Your Family by Theresa M. Payton and Theodore Claypoole
Inside the NSA: America's Cyber Secrets [DVD]
Inside the NSA: America's Cyber Secrets [DVD]
History of surveillance
The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency by Matthew M. Aid
The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom? by David Brin
The Watchers: The Rise of America's Surveillance State by Shane Harris
Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State by Dana Priest and William M. Arkin
The End of Privacy: How Total Surveillance is Becoming a Reality by Reg Whitaker
More Awesome Than Money: Four Boys and Their Heroic Quest to Save Your Privacy from Facebook by Jim Dwyer
How do you feel about surveillance, be it done in the interests of national security or by a corporation? Laura Poitras also says, "There are people who are always going to try to engage in activity that is illegal and they're going to try to subvert surveillance. But everyone should not give up their liberties and rights to privacy because some people are going to [do that]. We shouldn't stop or limit our basic liberties because some people are going to engage in criminal activities." The Pew Research Center has done a study that found "that there are a variety of circumstances under which many Americans would share personal information or permit surveillance in return for getting something of perceived value." Let us know your opinions in the comments.
For more books on this topic, try a subject search of "Privacy, Right of" and "Electronic Surveillance".
Aside from listing several technological
open-sourced projects built with privacy and anonymity at the core, this
site is also a reference for research related to Internet freedom.
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