Monitored: Business and Surveillance in a Time of Big Data

Description

We are living in the midst of a profound contradiction: on the one hand, our lives as workers, consumers, and citizens have become ever more monitored by new technologies. On the other, big business and finance have become ever less regulated and controllable. What does this technocratic ideology and surveillance-heavy culture reveal about the deeper reality of modern society? Monitored investigates the history and implications of this contemporary paradox. Peter Bloom reveals pervasive monitoring practices—some familiar, others shocking—that shows how even as ordinary citizens are more tightly regulated than ever, the global elite remains socially and ethically out of control. This will only change, Bloom argues, if we demand that the systems that administer our lives, and the technology that powers them, be forced to become more responsive to the needs of individuals than to business and government, with true social liberation as our ultimate goal. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 7 Preface: Completely Monitored......Page 8 1. Monitored Subjects, Unaccountable Capitalism......Page 16 2. The Growing Threat of Digital Control......Page 42 3. Surveilling Ourselves......Page 66 4. Smart Realities......Page 101 5. Digital Salvation......Page 127 6. Planning Your Life at the End of History......Page 153 7. Totalitarianism 4.0......Page 177 8. The Revolution Will Not Be Monitored......Page 201 Notes......Page 218 Index......Page 260