Means of Control: How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government Is Creating a New American Surveillance State
Language: English
Published by Random House USA Inc, 2024
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: World of Books Inc, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.World of Books Inc
AbeBooks seller since March 23, 2026
Condition: Used - Very good
£ 9.07
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
You are being surveilled right now. This "startling exposé" (The Economist) by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist reveals how the U.S. government allied with data brokers, tech companies, and advertisers to monitor us through the phones we carry and the devices in our home. "A revealing . . . startling . . . timely . . . fascinating, sometimes terrifying examination of the decline of privacy in the digital age."--Kirkus Reviews SHORTLISTED FOR THE SABEW BEST IN BUSINESS AWARD "That evening, I was given a glimpse inside a hidden world. . . . An entirely new kind of surveillance program--one designed to track everyone." For the past five years--ever since a chance encounter at a dinner party--journalist Byron Tau has been piecing together a secret story: how the whole of the internet and every digital device in the world became a mechanism of intelligence, surveillance, and monitoring. Of course, our modern world is awash in surveillance. Most of us are dimly aware of this: Ever get the sense that an ad is "following" you around the internet? But the true potential of our phones, computers, homes, credit cards, and even the tires underneath our cars to reveal our habits and behavior would astonish most citizens. All of this surveillance has produced an extraordinary amount of valuable data about every one of us. That data is for sale--and the biggest customer is the U.S. government. In the years after 9/11, the U.S. government, working with scores of anonymous companies, many scattered across bland Northern Virginia suburbs, built a foreign and domestic surveillance apparatus of breathtaking scope--one that can peer into the lives of nearly everyone on the planet. This cottage industry of data brokers and government bureaucrats has one directive--"get everything you can"--and the result is a surreal world in which defense contractors have marketing subsidiaries and marketing companies have defense contractor subsidiaries. And the public knows virtually nothing about it. Sobering and revelatory, Means of Control is the defining story of our dangerous grand bargain--ubiquitous cheap technology, but at what price.…
Seller Inventory # CIN0593443225VG
- Title
- Means of Control: How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government Is Creating a New American Surveillance State
- Author
- Byron Tau
- Publisher
- Random House USA Inc
- Publication year
- 2024
- Condition
- Very Good
- Binding
- Hardback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0593443225
- ISBN 13
- 9780593443224
"A revealing . . . startling . . . timely . . . fascinating, sometimes terrifying examination of the decline of privacy in the digital age."--Kirkus Reviews
SHORTLISTED FOR THE SABEW BEST IN BUSINESS AWARD
"That evening, I was given a glimpse inside a hidden world. . . . An entirely new kind of surveillance program--one designed to track everyone."
For the past five years--ever since a chance encounter at a dinner party--journalist Byron Tau has been piecing together a secret story: how the whole of the internet and every digital device in the world became a mechanism of intelligence, surveillance, and monitoring.
Of course, our modern world is awash in surveillance. Most of us are dimly aware of this: Ever get the sense that an ad is "following" you around the internet? But the true potential of our phones, computers, homes, credit cards, and even the tires underneath our cars to reveal our habits and behavior would astonish most citizens. All of this surveillance has produced an extraordinary amount of valuable data about every one of us. That data is for sale--and the biggest customer is the U.S. government.
In the years after 9/11, the U.S. government, working with scores of anonymous companies, many scattered across bland Northern Virginia suburbs, built a foreign and domestic surveillance apparatus of breathtaking scope--one that can peer into the lives of nearly everyone on the planet. This cottage industry of data brokers and government bureaucrats has one directive--"get everything you can"--and the result is a surreal world in which defense contractors have marketing subsidiaries and marketing companies have defense contractor subsidiaries. And the public knows virtually nothing about it.
Sobering and revelatory, Means of Control is the defining story of our dangerous grand bargain--ubiquitous cheap technology, but at what price?
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
World of Books Inc
Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since March 23, 2026
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Founded in 2002, World of Books is a leading online destination for buying and selling both preloved and new books, committed to making sustainable reading accessible to all. With a mission to help people read more and waste less, World of Books offers a huge range of affordable, high-quality books — giving both new and preloved titles a second life. The company also operates World of Books – Sell Your Books, an easy-to-use platform that allows customers to trade in unwanted books for cash, helping to keep books in circulation while promoting sustainability. As a Certified B Corp, World of Books is driven by a vision to become the world’s largest and most sustainable dedicated online bookstore. The company measures its success through the positive environmental impact it creates, the value it provides to customers, and its ability to operate profitably while supporting its sustainable mission …
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