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Containing Big Tech: How to Protect Our Civil Rights, Economy, and Democracy
Nonfiction Book Awards Gold Medal
The path forward to rein in online surveillance, AI, and tech monopolies
Technology is a gift and a curse. The five Big Tech companies—Meta, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google—have built innovative products that improve many aspects of our lives. But their intrusiveness and our dependence on them have created pressing threats to our civil rights, economy, and democracy.
Coming from an extensive background building Silicon Valley–based tech startups, Tom Kemp eloquently and precisely weaves together the threats posed by Big
• the overcollection and weaponization of our most sensitive data
• the problematic ways Big Tech uses AI to process and act upon our data
• the stifling of competition and entrepreneurship due to Big Tech’s dominant market position
This richly detailed book exposes the consequences of Big Tech’s digital surveillance, exploitative use of AI, and monopolistic and anticompetitive practices. It offers actionable solutions to these problems and a clear path forward for individuals and policymakers to advocate for change. By containing the excesses of Big Tech, we will ensure our civil rights are respected and preserved, our economy is competitive, and our democracy is protected.
The path forward to rein in online surveillance, AI, and tech monopolies
Technology is a gift and a curse. The five Big Tech companies—Meta, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google—have built innovative products that improve many aspects of our lives. But their intrusiveness and our dependence on them have created pressing threats to our civil rights, economy, and democracy.
Coming from an extensive background building Silicon Valley–based tech startups, Tom Kemp eloquently and precisely weaves together the threats posed by Big
• the overcollection and weaponization of our most sensitive data
• the problematic ways Big Tech uses AI to process and act upon our data
• the stifling of competition and entrepreneurship due to Big Tech’s dominant market position
This richly detailed book exposes the consequences of Big Tech’s digital surveillance, exploitative use of AI, and monopolistic and anticompetitive practices. It offers actionable solutions to these problems and a clear path forward for individuals and policymakers to advocate for change. By containing the excesses of Big Tech, we will ensure our civil rights are respected and preserved, our economy is competitive, and our democracy is protected.
264 pages, Hardcover
Published August 22, 2023
About the author
Tom Kemp
1 book16 followersTom Kemp is a Silicon Valley–based CEO, entrepreneur, and investor. Tom was the founder and CEO of Centrify (renamed Delinea in 2022), a leading cybersecurity cloud provider that amassed over two thousand enterprise customers, including over 60 percent of the Fortune 50. For his leadership, Tom was named by Ernst & Young as a finalist for Entrepreneur of the Year in Northern California. Tom is also an active Silicon Valley angel investor, with seed investments in over a dozen tech start-ups. In addition, Tom has served as a technology policy advisor for political campaigns and advocacy groups, including leading the campaign marketing efforts in 2020 to pass California Proposition 24 (the California Privacy Rights Act) and advising and contributing to the passage of state privacy laws in 2023 such as California SB 362 (the California Delete Act) and Texas SB 2105. Tom writes extensively on technology policy on his blog (tomkemp.ai) and has been interviewed by the Guardian, Politico, the Washington Post, CNBC, Fox News, and others. Tom holds a bachelor of science degree in computer science and in history from the University of Michigan. You can follow Tom on Twitter at @TomKemp00.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
October 25, 2023
Real Rating: 4.5* of five, rounded up because it's too important not to shout about it
The Publisher Says: The path forward to rein in online surveillance, AI, and tech monopolies
Technology is a gift and a curse. The five Big Tech companies—Meta, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google—have built innovative products that improve many aspects of our lives. But their intrusiveness and our dependence on them have created pressing threats to our civil rights, economy, and democracy.
Coming from an extensive background building Silicon Valley–based tech startups, Tom Kemp eloquently and precisely weaves together the threats posed by Big Tech:
the overcollection and weaponization of our most sensitive data
the problematic ways Big Tech uses AI to process and act upon our data
the stifling of competition and entrepreneurship due to Big Tech’s dominant market position
This richly detailed book exposes the consequences of Big Tech’s digital surveillance, exploitative use of AI, and monopolistic and anticompetitive practices. It offers actionable solutions to these problems and a clear path forward for individuals and policymakers to advocate for change. By containing the excesses of Big Tech, we will ensure our civil rights are respected and preserved, our economy is competitive, and our democracy is protected.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: We are, as a society, in serious danger. A lot of things that were once difficult to find effective ways to influence and manipulate are becoming trivially easy to do. The perpetrators of this violation of our essential freedom to be safe in our own heads have, in eight concise chapters, each been named and shamed, their tactics analyzed and the consequences of them sketched out, by one of their own.
True, it wasn't like any of them were trying to fly under the radar about this...for a famous example, Jeff Bezos clearly said he wanted to control ecommerce way back when, but really only accidentally:
When his goals did slip out, they were improbably grandiose. Though the startup’s focus was clearly on books,
(source: The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone)
What this immense ambition created was The Literal Everything Store, used by everyone even marginally online at some point for something they need or want. They might not even realize it's Amazon they're doing business with...how many of even the most committed Amazonphobes know who hosts their online commercial interactions? or where bricks-and-mortar stores buy their stock?...but their data is in some way harvested by Amazon. The other members of Big Tech's five brothers are dealt similar serious blows to their frequently protested innocence of maleficent intent and wrongdoing in the moral if not the legal sense.
It's part of their business plans to amass a chillingly immense digital dossier on every internet user by the entire tech industry. The purpose is to make them incomprehensible piles of money; they then use that money, extracted directly and indirectly from your pockets, to influence the course of world events on political and economic stages to benefit themselves and themselves alone. Refer back to 1953, when the famous kludged-up quote "What’s good for General Motors is good for America" was supposedly said by a GM exec being vetted by the Senate for a senior government job. (The truth is more nuanced, if less punchy.) The usual course of a person interested in the US's economic health is to consult the newspaper or equivalent's reporting of the stock market's performance. How this casino capitalism came to be conflated with the country's overall economic health is outside the book's or this review of it's scope, but is part of the larger picture painted herein of the actions taken by the surveillance economy's owners and drivers.
The means of information gathering and opinion-sharing are increasingly in the hands of the same few corporate entities that harvest your data and the windfalls it generates. The AI revolution we're relentlessly being told is coming has lifted the increasingly fragile casino economy's entirely notional values into new superstratospheric heights. Go look at Nvidia's stock prices then its history to see what I'm talking about. The way to make people believe something is inevitable is to tell them over and over again that it is, and that includes the inevitability of Big Tech's dominance. In these eight chapters, the author presents a very good case for what each player in the surveillance capitalism/totalitarian state apparatus's purpose is in pursuing its goals. In the appendices he outlines the personal, as well as the societal, steps one can take to corral the presently untrammelled ability these corporate actors have to present only information and opinion positively inclined towards them and their agenda.
A book that blares alarms at you without offering actionable items to prevent or mitigate the warnings taking place or effect isn't doing a service but simply further harm. I think the author here is doing a great service by performing both the warning function about the problems we're facing and the directions they're approaching us from, and outlining potential solutions on actionable on multiple fronts.
I'd like to stress that my use of "actionable" with such regularity is intentional and meant to convey my personal sense of urgency in addressing these issues. I think reading this book will convince many to stop wondering if it's even worth paying attention to these issues of surveillance and manipulation, and start taking steps to mitigate the harms being caused by the overreach of an identifiable coterie of bad actors.
That means I'd really like you to read it. Get it from the author's website linked above. Get it from Amazon, they sell it. Get your local library to buy one or two and check one out. Just get it and its ideas in your heads.
It's not exaggerating to say that, if the AI future being drummed into us as inevitable comes to pass, we're going to need the checks and balances in this book to survive with even a whisper of autonomy intact.
*my blogged review contains links to sources
The Publisher Says: The path forward to rein in online surveillance, AI, and tech monopolies
Technology is a gift and a curse. The five Big Tech companies—Meta, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google—have built innovative products that improve many aspects of our lives. But their intrusiveness and our dependence on them have created pressing threats to our civil rights, economy, and democracy.
Coming from an extensive background building Silicon Valley–based tech startups, Tom Kemp eloquently and precisely weaves together the threats posed by Big Tech:
the overcollection and weaponization of our most sensitive data
the problematic ways Big Tech uses AI to process and act upon our data
the stifling of competition and entrepreneurship due to Big Tech’s dominant market position
This richly detailed book exposes the consequences of Big Tech’s digital surveillance, exploitative use of AI, and monopolistic and anticompetitive practices. It offers actionable solutions to these problems and a clear path forward for individuals and policymakers to advocate for change. By containing the excesses of Big Tech, we will ensure our civil rights are respected and preserved, our economy is competitive, and our democracy is protected.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: We are, as a society, in serious danger. A lot of things that were once difficult to find effective ways to influence and manipulate are becoming trivially easy to do. The perpetrators of this violation of our essential freedom to be safe in our own heads have, in eight concise chapters, each been named and shamed, their tactics analyzed and the consequences of them sketched out, by one of their own.
True, it wasn't like any of them were trying to fly under the radar about this...for a famous example, Jeff Bezos clearly said he wanted to control ecommerce way back when, but really only accidentally:
When his goals did slip out, they were improbably grandiose. Though the startup’s focus was clearly on books,
Davis recalls Bezos saying he wanted to build “the next Sears,” a lasting company that was a major force in retail. {An investor who was also a} kayaking enthusiast...remembers Bezos telling him that he envisioned a day when the site would sell not only books about kayaks but kayaks themselves, subscriptions to kayaking magazines, and reservations for kayaking trips—everything related to the sport. “I thought he was a little bit crazy,” says {the investor}.
(source: The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone)
What this immense ambition created was The Literal Everything Store, used by everyone even marginally online at some point for something they need or want. They might not even realize it's Amazon they're doing business with...how many of even the most committed Amazonphobes know who hosts their online commercial interactions? or where bricks-and-mortar stores buy their stock?...but their data is in some way harvested by Amazon. The other members of Big Tech's five brothers are dealt similar serious blows to their frequently protested innocence of maleficent intent and wrongdoing in the moral if not the legal sense.
It's part of their business plans to amass a chillingly immense digital dossier on every internet user by the entire tech industry. The purpose is to make them incomprehensible piles of money; they then use that money, extracted directly and indirectly from your pockets, to influence the course of world events on political and economic stages to benefit themselves and themselves alone. Refer back to 1953, when the famous kludged-up quote "What’s good for General Motors is good for America" was supposedly said by a GM exec being vetted by the Senate for a senior government job. (The truth is more nuanced, if less punchy.) The usual course of a person interested in the US's economic health is to consult the newspaper or equivalent's reporting of the stock market's performance. How this casino capitalism came to be conflated with the country's overall economic health is outside the book's or this review of it's scope, but is part of the larger picture painted herein of the actions taken by the surveillance economy's owners and drivers.
The means of information gathering and opinion-sharing are increasingly in the hands of the same few corporate entities that harvest your data and the windfalls it generates. The AI revolution we're relentlessly being told is coming has lifted the increasingly fragile casino economy's entirely notional values into new superstratospheric heights. Go look at Nvidia's stock prices then its history to see what I'm talking about. The way to make people believe something is inevitable is to tell them over and over again that it is, and that includes the inevitability of Big Tech's dominance. In these eight chapters, the author presents a very good case for what each player in the surveillance capitalism/totalitarian state apparatus's purpose is in pursuing its goals. In the appendices he outlines the personal, as well as the societal, steps one can take to corral the presently untrammelled ability these corporate actors have to present only information and opinion positively inclined towards them and their agenda.
A book that blares alarms at you without offering actionable items to prevent or mitigate the warnings taking place or effect isn't doing a service but simply further harm. I think the author here is doing a great service by performing both the warning function about the problems we're facing and the directions they're approaching us from, and outlining potential solutions on actionable on multiple fronts.
I'd like to stress that my use of "actionable" with such regularity is intentional and meant to convey my personal sense of urgency in addressing these issues. I think reading this book will convince many to stop wondering if it's even worth paying attention to these issues of surveillance and manipulation, and start taking steps to mitigate the harms being caused by the overreach of an identifiable coterie of bad actors.
That means I'd really like you to read it. Get it from the author's website linked above. Get it from Amazon, they sell it. Get your local library to buy one or two and check one out. Just get it and its ideas in your heads.
It's not exaggerating to say that, if the AI future being drummed into us as inevitable comes to pass, we're going to need the checks and balances in this book to survive with even a whisper of autonomy intact.
*my blogged review contains links to sources
August 14, 2023
Tom Kemp’s “Containing Big Tech” is an excellent book for anyone interested in learning about the threats posed by the practices and procedures of firms like Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and even relative newcomer TikTok.
Mr. Kemp has delivered a well-researched, clearly written treatise. While it grants that “Big Tech” brings us many benefits, it also warns of, among other things, the monopoly-like power enjoyed by these firms, their data mining and collection efforts, their digital surveillance of us all, their relationships with data brokers, and their development of and commitment to Artificial Intelligence (AI); all of which may be harmful to our economy, our privacy, and even our democracy.
Mr. Kemp also reviews the state of international and federal, state, and local laws regulating these areas and advocates for improvements and tougher government oversight. Most helpfully, he includes an appendix explaining some of the steps users can take to lessen their online footprints and better protect their privacy.
I’m not all that tech-savvy, so there were times when some material seemed over my head. Nevertheless, I had no trouble understanding Mr. Kemp's main points. And I came away from “Containing Big Tech” believing I’d learned important information.
My thanks to NetGalley, author Tom Kemp, and publisher Greenleaf Book Group for providing me with an electronic ARC. The foregoing is my independent opinion.
Mr. Kemp has delivered a well-researched, clearly written treatise. While it grants that “Big Tech” brings us many benefits, it also warns of, among other things, the monopoly-like power enjoyed by these firms, their data mining and collection efforts, their digital surveillance of us all, their relationships with data brokers, and their development of and commitment to Artificial Intelligence (AI); all of which may be harmful to our economy, our privacy, and even our democracy.
Mr. Kemp also reviews the state of international and federal, state, and local laws regulating these areas and advocates for improvements and tougher government oversight. Most helpfully, he includes an appendix explaining some of the steps users can take to lessen their online footprints and better protect their privacy.
I’m not all that tech-savvy, so there were times when some material seemed over my head. Nevertheless, I had no trouble understanding Mr. Kemp's main points. And I came away from “Containing Big Tech” believing I’d learned important information.
My thanks to NetGalley, author Tom Kemp, and publisher Greenleaf Book Group for providing me with an electronic ARC. The foregoing is my independent opinion.
November 16, 2023
I won this book in a goodreads drawing.
The title says it all. Where the author lost points is in his section on misinformation and conspiracy theories. While the author claims to be against conspiracy theories, he believes in a few himself. He also doesn't actually know what disinformation is, either. Very strange.
The title says it all. Where the author lost points is in his section on misinformation and conspiracy theories. While the author claims to be against conspiracy theories, he believes in a few himself. He also doesn't actually know what disinformation is, either. Very strange.
September 6, 2023
It's not unusual to come across an article about big tech and privacy. It's another story to find a book that walks through the various big tech companies and all the ways they vacuum up your data and share it with other companies, like data brokers. Containing Big Tech is illuminating, and considering all the ways one's personal data is captured, parsed, analyzed, and propagated is frankly overwhelming. That said, ignorance isn't bliss and better to know than not.
Containing Big Tech also goes into related topics like online safety, identity theft, as well as extremism and disinformation. Sadly, big tech companies often realize they're creating opportunities for extremism and disinformation but rationalize it away by focusing on (their) business benefit of increased engagement.
After learning all the ways one's data is accessed and used, the appendices offer relief via ways to protect one's online privacy and ingredients for a comprehensive U.S. privacy law. A few states have passed data privacy legislation but generally laws haven't kept up with data privacy risks.
This was an interesting read and I highly recommend it.
Containing Big Tech also goes into related topics like online safety, identity theft, as well as extremism and disinformation. Sadly, big tech companies often realize they're creating opportunities for extremism and disinformation but rationalize it away by focusing on (their) business benefit of increased engagement.
After learning all the ways one's data is accessed and used, the appendices offer relief via ways to protect one's online privacy and ingredients for a comprehensive U.S. privacy law. A few states have passed data privacy legislation but generally laws haven't kept up with data privacy risks.
This was an interesting read and I highly recommend it.
September 4, 2023
Containing Big Tech by Tom Kemp is a well-researched and well-written treatise on the threats posed by companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and TikTok. The book discusses the monopoly-like power, data mining, digital surveillance, data brokers, and AI commitments that may harm the economy, privacy, and democracy. It reviews international and federal laws regulating these areas and advocates for improvements and tougher government oversight. The book includes an appendix explaining steps users can take to reduce their online footprints and protect their privacy.
Thank you #netgalley, #Tom Kemp, and #Greenleaf Book Group for this advanced copy for an honest review.
Thank you #netgalley, #Tom Kemp, and #Greenleaf Book Group for this advanced copy for an honest review.
October 23, 2023
I found this book to be very informative. It is obvious that the author has done a very detail research of the topic, citing many sources and is obviously very familiar with the topic. Unlike many ‘discovery’ books, the author provides actual specific action steps designed to address the problems identified in the book. Well written, easy to understand, with a good level of detail, I think this book will provide readers with much to think about and consider as they consume all the “free” online content. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.
November 24, 2023
Fascinating and important concept, but the delivery was dry and boring. This isn't a hard topic to make engaging, and given the audience this really needs to reach, I wish the author had spent some time making this more enjoyable to read.
January 5, 2024
Great eye-opener about how pervasive tech companies are in people's personal lives. Even for someone like me that works in tech, this book was a good reminder about how much personal data tech companies collect about us to track our activities and resell. The "containing" tech aspects of the book are limited to regulatory options. Wished there was some exploration into tech options like decentralization and self-governed identity management.
August 15, 2023
Important information. I sometimes feel like I'm screaming into the void when I have conversations with people about big tech, and it's really great to have a well-written, accessible book to recommend.
December 4, 2023
If you have an account on Facebook or Instagram, READ THIS BOOK! If you use Google, READ THIS BOOK! If you order from Amazon, READ THIS BOOK! If you have an iPhone or an Android phone, READ THIS BOOK! If you use the Internet at all, READ THIS BOOK!
Author Tom Kemp gives a very readable account of how "Big Tech" records so much data about each of us that we have dangerously lost our privacy. The European Union is way ahead of the United States in trying to legislate curbs on data gathering and sharing. Although some members of Congress have introduced bills to set limits on Meta and the other big tech firms, these bills go nowhere in our dysfunctional political legislature.
Kemp documents his comments well and offers solutions for what must be done. California has taken some steps, but only for its state. Now that artificial intelligence (AI) is widely used in numerous industries, we must pass laws regulating its safety and use. It's imperative.
August 27, 2023
A quick, yet informative read. I greatly appreciated the nuanced discussion of Section 230, and felt I learned a lot about how much data (particularly health data) is unknowingly shared with third-parties. Would highly recommend!
October 7, 2023
What an incredible read! 'Containing Big Tech' is the book we need right now. Tom Kemp has put together an incredibly well-researched, comprehensive, and well-written overview of how Big Tech has gone too far with detailed, actionable steps of what can be done to mitigate its monopoly control. Of all the books I've read on online privacy, social media, etc., it by far proposes the most realistic solutions that make it feel like change is possible.
I especially loved the section at the end about how to protect your own online privacy and how Tom Kemp detailed the specific steps to take on each platform to minimize how much data Big Tech is collecting. Incredibly important! Will be recommending to anyone I know!
I especially loved the section at the end about how to protect your own online privacy and how Tom Kemp detailed the specific steps to take on each platform to minimize how much data Big Tech is collecting. Incredibly important! Will be recommending to anyone I know!
August 21, 2023
Tom Kemp's CONTAINING BIG TECH grabbed my attention and never let it go in a powerful, convincing, fact-based discussion of the questionnable power of the huge companies that support our lives and undermine them at the.same time. The detailed information and insider perspective made the book a must-read for this tech-innocent person. I'd love to see the book and its premise gain greater discussion and start the important, boundary-setting actions we need to make as individuals and communities to use what serves us and discard the rest. I received a copy of this book and these opinions are my own, unbiased thoughts.
July 17, 2023
Thank you to both #NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group/Fast Company Press for providing me an advance copy of Tom Kemp’s #nonfiction work, Containing Big Tech, in exchange for an honest review.
#ContainingBigTech is essentially an extended journal/research article about how #BigTech has and continues to infiltrate our lives. The text serves as a high-level overview for laypersons who are interested in learning more about the tech landscape, or as a general refresher for subject matter experts.
While not novel to anyone who follows tech, the work manages to explain difficult concepts in a simplistic way, covering everything from digital surveillance to artificial intelligence. The author also offers two appendixes after the conclusion—one that briefly touches upon how consumers can quickly update their privacy settings on various Big Tech services, and the other regarding the crucial provisions needed for a federal privacy law.
For a space that moves at a rapid clip, the author was able to provide fresh examples. There were only a few instances where a case has already been decided or additional laws have passed. So, bravo!
My one pet peeve was the number of times the phrase “for example” was used. Again, I received an advance copy. Thus, the work may be edited before it is officially released. In other words, don’t let that stop you from reading it.
#ContainingBigTech is essentially an extended journal/research article about how #BigTech has and continues to infiltrate our lives. The text serves as a high-level overview for laypersons who are interested in learning more about the tech landscape, or as a general refresher for subject matter experts.
While not novel to anyone who follows tech, the work manages to explain difficult concepts in a simplistic way, covering everything from digital surveillance to artificial intelligence. The author also offers two appendixes after the conclusion—one that briefly touches upon how consumers can quickly update their privacy settings on various Big Tech services, and the other regarding the crucial provisions needed for a federal privacy law.
For a space that moves at a rapid clip, the author was able to provide fresh examples. There were only a few instances where a case has already been decided or additional laws have passed. So, bravo!
My one pet peeve was the number of times the phrase “for example” was used. Again, I received an advance copy. Thus, the work may be edited before it is officially released. In other words, don’t let that stop you from reading it.
February 12, 2024
Thought provoking book on the effects of tech companies and the ways they've affected every aspect of our lives and how it sends ripples through our government and lifestyle
January 25, 2024
A solid read that shares how really big (and quite terrifying) the big 4 Technology companies have become (Amazon, Apple, Google, and Meta).
The world has gone through three industrial revolutions: steam, electricity and then the internet. We are about to face the fourth Industrial Revolution in our society, which will be Artificial intelligence. Tech is investing big into AI, and we as the human race should be concerned.
Tom Kemp explains in a thorough and researched way on how these tech companies are stealing our attention spans, selling our data to anybody, and polarizing our society.
With the new Industrial Revolution ahead, it’s important to set regulations and boundaries to how “big” tech can really get.
If you’re into technology and learning the policies being built to regulate tech, this one is for you!
The world has gone through three industrial revolutions: steam, electricity and then the internet. We are about to face the fourth Industrial Revolution in our society, which will be Artificial intelligence. Tech is investing big into AI, and we as the human race should be concerned.
Tom Kemp explains in a thorough and researched way on how these tech companies are stealing our attention spans, selling our data to anybody, and polarizing our society.
With the new Industrial Revolution ahead, it’s important to set regulations and boundaries to how “big” tech can really get.
If you’re into technology and learning the policies being built to regulate tech, this one is for you!
November 5, 2023
Great read with a ton of information.
September 10, 2023
Ebook received for free through NetGalley
I ended up listening to the audiobook rather than reading the book but overall it sounded like it was written well. Overall a good listen.
I ended up listening to the audiobook rather than reading the book but overall it sounded like it was written well. Overall a good listen.
August 22, 2023
Tom Kemp's new book about the dangers of the five Big Tech companies is several books in one volume: It is a detailed history on how Microsoft, Google, Meta/Facebook, Amazon and Apple have become the tech powerhouses and near-monopolists with their stranglehold on digital services, at the same time threatening our privacy. It is a reference work for consumers who are concerned about what private information is shared by these vendors, and how to take back control over their data. It is also an operating manual for business IT managers and executives who are looking to comply with privacy regs and also to prevent their own sensitive data from leaking online. And it is a legislative to-do list for how to fashion better data and privacy protection for our digital future. It is a fascinating and somewhat terrifying read, and should be the operations manual for both consumers and business IT managers alike.
December 15, 2023
Tom does a great job of opening your eyes of not just what data the big tech companies are gathering about you, but how they do it and more importantly, what you can do in order to limit it. Tom has been at the forefront of advocating data privacy for all of us and his passion comes through in this book. You find out how all of the things these companies play off as a convenience for you are really a way for them to get more of your data and all of the ways those hooks stay there unless you do something about it. We are really behind here in the U.S. on this type of data privacy compared to Europe and need out politicians to start paying attention to it. There's a proper balance between privacy and convenience and these data collectors have put us way out of balance and go out of their way to protect that. I'm hopeful this book and the attention it is getting will help us effect change!
February 26, 2024
Tom Kemp was my old boss as the CEO of Centrify, so he knows a thing or two about cybersecurity. This book is a must-read for every citizen. If you own a smartphone or use a computer, you emit a digital exhaust. This exhaust is hoovered up, packaged and resold to marketers in a gross violation of your privacy and civil rights.
Tom Kemp is making measurable progress in helping citizens opt out of having their digital exhaust monetised, with new legislation in effect in California and he is working with a number of national groups to make an impact at the national level.
Do yourself a favour and one for your families and read this book, then help your loved ones better protect their privacy.
Tom Kemp is making measurable progress in helping citizens opt out of having their digital exhaust monetised, with new legislation in effect in California and he is working with a number of national groups to make an impact at the national level.
Do yourself a favour and one for your families and read this book, then help your loved ones better protect their privacy.
August 26, 2023
This book is a must-read for anyone who works in tech and cares about the ethics of the work they are doing. Additionally, those who do not understand what all tech is capable of or already do, and are concerned, will find value in this book.
Kemp goes through different companies and ways that they are controlling the world and expanding so quickly. It contains practical ways to stop or contain technology.
I found a lot of the insights helpful as I am developing products and practices in tech companies.
Kemp goes through different companies and ways that they are controlling the world and expanding so quickly. It contains practical ways to stop or contain technology.
I found a lot of the insights helpful as I am developing products and practices in tech companies.
November 14, 2023
I liked this book and it really open my eyes to the amount of information that big tech is gathering on all of us. It’s a little overwhelming actually. At the end of the book, the author has a section on things you can do to protect yourself, and I did perform many of those tasks. It does feel as though the government has caught on and will establish rules to regulate these guys, with Europe taking the lead on legislation.
I would not say that the author is a polished writer, I found his style to be pedantic and repetitive at times. But the information was very good and worth the read.
I would not say that the author is a polished writer, I found his style to be pedantic and repetitive at times. But the information was very good and worth the read.
August 24, 2023
I loathe social media and am very fearful of big tech. I've read and reviewed several books on this topic and feel TK did a great job.
The information is presented in an easy-to-understand way and I recommend anyone take time to learn about these companies and how they are exploiting you, your children, your internet searches and your privacy. We should all take caution with how much more power we wish to give them.
Thanks netgalley for my ARC
The information is presented in an easy-to-understand way and I recommend anyone take time to learn about these companies and how they are exploiting you, your children, your internet searches and your privacy. We should all take caution with how much more power we wish to give them.
Thanks netgalley for my ARC
August 27, 2023
Containing Big Tech
The answer isn’t in this book. This book looks at what is/has happened and bores you with unnecessary numbers. There are few times when a legitimate solution is proposed. Instead, the author just keeps showing why we need protected without explaining how to fix it.
#GoodreadsGiveaways
The answer isn’t in this book. This book looks at what is/has happened and bores you with unnecessary numbers. There are few times when a legitimate solution is proposed. Instead, the author just keeps showing why we need protected without explaining how to fix it.
#GoodreadsGiveaways
September 29, 2023
The book gave a good introduction to privacy concerns with big tech companies to those who are unfamiliar with this topic. However, I wish there were more examples from countries in the Global South and went more in depth about how people from developing nations are exploited into the development of technologies from the Global North.
October 23, 2023
Myopic Silicon Vally CEO Parroting Pablum. Since this was prominently positioned in an airport bookstore I guess they were trying to influence a specific audience.
October 24, 2023
Fascinating. Disturbing and not at all surprising.
Thank you Netgalley.
Thank you Netgalley.
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