The Internet in Everything
Freedom and Security in a World with No Off Switch
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
A compelling argument that the Internet of things threatens human rights and security and that suggests policy prescriptions to protect our future
The Internet has leapt from human-facing display screens into the material objects all around us. In this so-called Internet of Things—connecting everything from cars to cardiac monitors to home appliances—there is no longer a meaningful distinction between physical and virtual worlds. Everything is connected. The social and economic benefits are tremendous, but there is a downside: an outage in cyberspace can result not only in a loss of communication but also potentially a loss of life. Control of this infrastructure has become a proxy for political power, since countries can easily reach across borders to disrupt real-world systems. Laura DeNardis argues that this diffusion of the Internet into the physical world radically escalates governance concerns around privacy, discrimination, human safety, democracy, and national security, and she offers new cyber-policy solutions. In her discussion, she makes visible the sinews of power already embedded in our technology and explores how hidden technical governance arrangements will become the constitution of our future.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
DeNardis (The Global War for Internet Governance), an American University communications professor, looks at cyberspace regulation in a thoughtful treatise which shows that issues around personal data are only the tip of the iceberg. She opens by discussing how, in a relatively short amount of time, the internet has grown from a communication system into a "control system connecting... every conceivable industry sector." No Luddite, DeNardis fervently believes that the internet of things, which comprises all of the everyday items connected to the web, has promise for "human advancement and economic development." But realizing that promise depends on trust, which, in turn, depends on forward-thinking legislators and regulators. For example, product liability laws must evolve to address 3-D home printing; hackers need not infiltrate the printer itself, she shows, but only need to rewrite files containing fabrication instructions in order to wreak havoc. Virtual reality technologies require regulation at a global level, which only complicates the issue. DeNardis embeds enough real-life examples to keep her thesis accessible, and to keep lay readers engaged. This is essential reading for policymakers and ordinary citizens alike.
