Reviews

Technology Creeps On

Jesmine Cham

In the last few years—through Edward Snowden’s disclosure of NSA’s email surveillance practices and Wikileaks’s release of intelligence documents—the public has been alerted to governments’ habit of spying on people. Yet we remain unaware of how much everyday technology can exploit our most private information, leaving us vulnerable to our neighbours’ and corporations’ prying eyes. In Technocreep (OR Books/Greystone Books), Thomas P. Keenan seeks to enlighten citizens about the dangers of invasive technology, providing fascinating examples such as Google Glass’s covert photo/video-taking feature and 3D printers’ ability to make copies of almost anything, like car keys and armed weapons. Keenan astutely notes that we’re slowly conditioning ourselves to publicly relinquish intimate details of our lives in exchange for discounts and, contradictorily enough, quicker access to more information, and that in turn, a refusal to comply with this new social agreement is now viewed as suspicious. Much of the book, however, rides a fine line between necessary consumer education and simply scaremongering, with extrapolations on how current technology can be used against you in the future. You may be tempted to fashion yourself a protective tinfoil cap, but before you do so, consult the final chapter on how to guard yourself against unwanted attention. And if you are the type to liberally share and tag personal photos on Facebook, read this book to understand how technology is taking advantage of you.

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