The Spy in the Coffee Machine
The End of Privacy as We Know It
Published on 25. April 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
280 pages
978-1-85168-554-7 (ISBN)
Description
We are entering a new state of global hypersurveillance. As we increasingly resort to technology for our work and play, our electronic activity leaves behind digital footprints that can be used to track our movements. In our cars, telephones, even our coffee machines, tiny computers communicating wirelessly via the Internet can serve as miniature witnesses, forming powerful networks whose emergent behaviour can be very complex, intelligent, and invasive. The question is: how much of an infringement on privacy are they? Exposing the invasion of our privacy from CCTVs to blogs, The Spy in the Coffee Machine explores what-if anything-we can do to prevent it from disappearing forever in the digital age, and provides readers with a much needed wake-up call to the benefits and dangers of this new technology.
Reviews / Votes
"Though the questions around CCTV, blogs and the internet, and RFID (radio frequency identification) are complex - and without easy answers - the authors cover much ground, always readably" * Professional Security Magazine * " A striking and readable book" * Retain Security * "While critics have variously demanded control over the internet, the practical means have been ignored; O'Hara and Shadbolt readdress this, offering detailed accounts of how technology that threatens privacy can be used to protect it." Catherine Humble * The Times Literary Supplement * "this book will give anyone concerned about the growing number of CCTV cameras in our streets or the way young people expose their secrets on Facebook a sound appreciation of the wider issues. * BBC Focus * "Timely and balanced, their book The Spy in the Coffee Machine is a scary treatise about the way technology has eroded privacy and continues to do so ... The chief lesson of this excellent and potent short book is that we have to learn how to live with these actualities." * New Scientist * "Shadbolt and O'Hara have kick-started a new debate about what we mean by privacy." * The Sunday Times *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
299 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-85168-554-7 (9781851685547)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
10/2014
1st Edition
Oneworld Publications
€24.72
Available for download
Persons
Kieron O'Hara is Senior Research Fellow in Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, UK. He is the author or co-author of nine other books about technology, politics and society, including Inequality.com: Power, Poverty, and the Digital Divide, also published by Oneworld.
Nigel Shadbolt is Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Southampton, UK, and was President of the British Computer Society in its 50th anniversary year 2006-2007. He is Chief Technology Officer of internet security firm Garlik, and a director of the Web Science Research Initiative. He is both a chartered psychologist and a chartered engineer, and sits on a number of UK national science and technology committees.
Nigel Shadbolt is Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Southampton, UK, and was President of the British Computer Society in its 50th anniversary year 2006-2007. He is Chief Technology Officer of internet security firm Garlik, and a director of the Web Science Research Initiative. He is both a chartered psychologist and a chartered engineer, and sits on a number of UK national science and technology committees.