Reset, by Ronald Deibert - Book Review
A decent book, in a growing number of books, explaining how our information society is heading towards totalitarian surveillance control. Mr. Deibert has the excellent credentials. His company, Citizen's Lab, in Toronto, https://citizenlab.ca/ is a leader in monitoring the abuses of power against people perpetrated through hi-tech.
We all know that people in power tend to concentrate their power, and often abuse that power. My favorite model of government, the American Constitution, is an example of how to prevent power from becoming concentrated and abused.
The tracking devices we carry around with us every day are giving enormous amounts of data to a very few powerful corporations. Mr. Deibert gives plenty of chilling examples of how governments are purchasing this information and utilizing it for violent suppression of individuals whom they see as threats. Of course, people in power also have a long history of eliminating all whom they see as threats to gaining more power. Ever wonder what happened to the "Arab Spring"? Remember that wonderful hopeful example of people regaining some control over their lives through the agency of social media? The governments of Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Libya, Egypt and Bahrain found private corporations to use the social media to identify the main organizers and shut them down, often with disturbing brutality.
I was hoping that Deibert, with his wealth of practical experience, would have practical suggestions. His main suggestion is "restraint". He points out that the US Constitution is a classic example of restraint. Perhaps it is my cynicism, but how can any of us now believe that the major IT companies will impose restraint on themselves.
This book is not a must-read, but good if you want more reasons to shut off your phone and consider how to change your internet habits.