Data and Goliath is the title of a soon-to-be published book by Bruce Schneier, a well-known figure in cryptography and currently the Chief Technology Officer of Co3 Systems, a fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Center, and a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
Data and Goliath is about digital surveillance, its scope, implications and what you can do about it. You don’t have to be a tech-person to want to read this book. If you’re a participant in the digital age (who isn’t?), I think this is one book you’d want to read.
No, I haven’t obtained a preview copy. I just figured that out by reading the table of contents, which Bruce Schneier has published on his blog.
Here’s the complete table of contents.
Part 1: The World We’re Creating
Chapter 1: Data as a By-Product of Computing
Chapter 2: Data as Surveillance
Chapter 3: Analyzing our Data
Chapter 4: The Business of Surveillance
Chapter 5: Government Surveillance and Control
Chapter 6: Consolidation of Institutional Surveillance
Part 2: What’s at Stake
Chapter 7: Political Liberty and Justice
Chapter 8: Commercial Fairness and Equality
Chapter 9: Business Competitiveness
Chapter 10: Privacy
Chapter 11: Security
Part 3: What to Do About It
Chapter 12: Principles
Chapter 13: Solutions for Government
Chapter 14: Solutions for Corporations
Chapter 15: Solutions for the Rest of Us
Chapter 16: Social Norms and the Big Data Trade-off
The price for the hardcover book is currently set at $28.00, with the ebook at $15.00, but both prices are likely to drop a bit at publication time. Maybe I can get a free preview copy for a detailed review before it officially hits the digital shelves.
