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Dragnet Nation: A Quest For Privacy, Security, And Freedom In A World Of Relentless Surveillance (2014)

by Julia Angwin(Favorite Author)

3.75 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0805098070 (ISBN13: 9780805098075)

languge

English

genre

Science Fiction

publisher

Times Books

review 1: Other, more eloquent, reviewers have pointed out that the author equivocates government surveillance and commercial tracking of Internet purchases. More problematic--to me at least--is the author's ridiculous scare tactics throughout the book. My favorite of these is when she explains she doesn't post videos of her kids on YouTube because she's afraid that it might keep her kids from getting a job someday. Seriously? There are actual real issues with the first amendment going on--let us stick to actual facts and constitutional problems, not silly conjecture.
review 2: I found myself skipping through parts of this book that I thought were pretty obvious or a little drawn out. Overall, though, it was a very informative read. The book details what exactly it means... more to be living in a dragnet nation. Most of us live our lives knowing we're never in complete privacy, but it becomes sort of the norm. While not all surveillance is necessarily bad, we must be proactive in also monitoring those who surveil us, particularly the government and online data collectors. The book mentioned some constructive but, of course, never 100% foolproof ways to better protect yourself, like making passwords that are harder to hack. I myself am guilty of using basically the same variations of different passwords because of my laziness and bad memory. I have downloaded my Twitter history before, which proved to be highly entertaining. Every click and keystroke is pretty much recorded somewhere. It was interesting reading about data protection services like Disconnect and Ghostery that supposedly lighten your online trail. The point is that you never really know who to trust. It's a conversation that citizens need to keep going, and we shouldn't be complacent with current laws. European nations are much farther ahead than the U.S. in terms of privacy laws. I appreciated Angwin's comparison of privacy invasion to pollution and environmental destruction. Those administering the dragnet in abusive ways must be held more accountable for their actions. less

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