Hacking the Future
Privacy, Identity, and Anonymity on the Web
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
Is anonymity a crucial safeguard—or a threat to society? "One of the most well-informed examinations of the Internet available today" (Kirkus Reviews).
"The author explores the rich history of anonymity in politics, literature and culture, while also debunking the notion that only troublemakers fear revealing their identities to the world. In relatively few pages, the author is able to get at the heart of identity itself . . . Stryker also introduces the uninitiated into the 'Deep Web,' alternative currencies and even the nascent stages of a kind of parallel Web that exists beyond the power of governments to switch it off. Beyond even that is the fundamental question of whether or not absolute anonymity is even possible." —Kirkus Reviews
"Stryker explains how significant web anonymity is to those key companies who mine user data personal information of, for example, the millions of members on social networks. . . . An impassioned, rational defense of web anonymity and digital free expression." —Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Trying to achieve balance on the issue of web anonymity, Stryker, a media consultant in New York City and author of Epic Win for Anonymous, writes in his new book of a 2011 cautionary statement by former marketing director of Facebook, Randi Zuckerberg: "I think people hide behind anonymity and they feel like they can say whatever they want behind closed doors. " Stryker explains how significant web anonymity is to those key companies who mine user data personal information of, for example, the millions of members on social networks. When cyberpunks and hackers join the digital fray, no secret is safe, whether it's the Church of Scientology or Mexican drug cartels. Stryker argues that legislation in Congress, such as the Do Not Track provision, could stymie opponents of unregulated online identity. In the end, Stryker mounts an impassioned, rational defense of web anonymity and digital free expression in his smart, detailed primer.
