Survival Under Surveillance

Never before has so much been known about so many. CCTV cameras, TSA scanners, NSA databases, big data marketers, predator drones, "stop and frisk" tactics, Facebook algorithms, hidden spyware, and even old-fashioned nosy neighbors—surveillance has become so ubiquitous that we take its presence for granted. While many types of surveillance are pitched as ways to make us safer, almost no one has examined the unintended consequences of living under constant scrutiny and how it changes the way we think and feel about the world. In Under Surveillance, Randolph Lewis offers a highly original look at the emotional, ethical, and aesthetic challenges of living with surveillance in America since 9/11. Taking a broad and humanistic approach, Lewis explores the growth of surveillance in surprising places, such as childhood and nature. He traces the rise of businesses designed to provide surveillance and security, including those that cater to the Bible Belt's houses of worship. And he peers into the dark side of playful surveillance, such as eBay's online guide to "Fun with Surveillance Gadgets." A worried but ultimately genial guide to this landscape, Lewis helps us see the hidden costs of living in a "control society" in which surveillance is deemed essential to governance and business alike. Written accessibly for a general audience, Under Surveillance prompts us to think deeply about what Lewis calls "the soft tissue damage" inflicted by the culture of surveillance.

Published on the occasion of the the exhibition "Laura Poitras: Astro Noise," at the Whitney Museum of American Art, February 5 - May 15, 2016.

The challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, the first detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called "surveillance capitalism," and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior. In this masterwork of original thinking and research, Shoshana Zuboff provides startling insights into the phenomenon that she has named surveillance capitalism. The stakes could not be higher: a global architecture of behavior modification threatens human nature in the twenty-first century just as industrial capitalism disfigured the natural world in the twentieth. Zuboff vividly brings to life the consequences as surveillance capitalism advances from Silicon Valley into every economic sector. Vast wealth and power are accumulated in ominous new "behavioral futures markets," where predictions about our behavior are bought and sold, and the production of goods and services is subordinated to a new "means of behavioral modification." The threat has shifted from a totalitarian Big Brother state to a ubiquitous digital architecture: a "Big Other" operating in the interests of surveillance capital. Here is the crucible of an unprecedented form of power marked by extreme concentrations of knowledge and free from democratic oversight. Zuboff's comprehensive and moving analysis lays bare the threats to twenty-first century society: a controlled "hive" of total connection that seduces with promises of total certainty for maximum profit -- at the expense of democracy, freedom, and our human future. With little resistance from law or society, surveillance capitalism is on the verge of dominating the social order and shaping the digital future -- if we let it.

A world of "smart" devices means the Internet can kill people. We need to act. Now. Everything is a computer. Ovens are computers that make things hot; refrigerators are computers that keep things cold. These computers—from home thermostats to chemical plants—are all online. The Internet, once a virtual abstraction, can now sense and touch the physical world. As we open our lives to this future, often called the Internet of Things, we are beginning to see its enormous potential in ideas like driverless cars, smart cities, and personal agents equipped with their own behavioral algorithms. But every knife cuts two ways. All computers can be hacked. And Internet-connected computers are the most vulnerable. Forget data theft: cutting-edge digital attackers can now crash your car, your pacemaker, and the nation’s power grid. In Click Here to Kill Everybody, renowned expert and best-selling author Bruce Schneier examines the hidden risks of this new reality. After exploring the full implications of a world populated by hyperconnected devices, Schneier reveals the hidden web of technical, political, and market forces that underpin the pervasive insecurities of today. He then offers common-sense choices for companies, governments, and individuals that can allow us to enjoy the benefits of this omnipotent age without falling prey to its vulnerabilities. From principles for a more resilient Internet of Things, to a recipe for sane government regulation and oversight, to a better way to understand a truly new environment, Schneier’s vision is required reading for anyone invested in human flourishing.

NOMINATED FOR THE CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL 2019 SHORTLISTED FOR THE RED TENTACLE AT THE KITSCHIES 2017 A gripping and powerfully relevant thriller set in a reimagined London where constant surveillance is the norm, We See Everything simmers with tension and emotion. From internationally bestselling author William Sutcliffe, this is perfect for fans of Patrick Ness and Malorie Blackman. Lex lives on The Strip – the overcrowded, closed-off, bombed-out shell of London. He's used to the watchful enemy drones that buzz in the air above him. Alan's talent as a gamer has landed him the job of his dreams. At a military base in a secret location, he is about to start work as a drone pilot. These two young men will never meet, but their lives are destined to collide. Because Alan has just been assigned a high-profile target. Alan knows him only as #K622. But Lex calls him Dad.

Four hundred scenarios from all of the bestselling books in the series—with dozens of new entries—from being kicked by a zebra to breakup texts. With over 10 million copies sold worldwide, the Worst-Case Scenario series has been preparing readers for dangers of all kinds for more than a decade. This handsome compendium is truly the ultimate guide for handling life’s inevitable Worst-Case Scenarios, collecting—for the first time—hundreds of the best and most crucial scenarios from across the entire 26-book series, along with dozens of all new and expanded scenarios, charts, and expert tips. Topical, tabloid-style pages explore more than 100 subjects, from storms to stampedes to technology failures and beyond, with special sections highlighting critical information on starting fires, animal encounters, emergency signals, “Can I eat that?” questions, and more. Packed with expert advice and sturdy enough to stop a tiger bite, this gifty tome will keep longtime fans and new initiates safe and entertained in equal measure. Praise for the Worst-Case Scenario Survival series “What this book lacks in spiritual enlightenment, it more than makes up for with the practical advice you thought you’d never need. Yet it’s only when you read about how to deliver a baby in the back of a taxi, surviving quicksand and mastering awkward lift silences that you realize just how handy a book like this could come in. Some day.” —The Irish Times “There is something for everyone. It has a wide range of scenarios from dangerous to just downright irritating . . . It is fun, witty, entertaining and you learn something along the way too.” —Quill Quotes

Survival Driving: Staying Alive on the World’s Most Dangerous Roads, Second Edition was written to inform and protect: to keep people alive by making them more situationally aware. Any person is a potential target, either from a criminal or a terrorist threat, depending on your profession and the type of environment you live and work in. Driving is the most important part of a person’s security program, whether the person is traveling alone or the executive being moved by his or her security detail. The book is written in plain, easy to understand language providing straight-forward guidance that outlines tools to ensure security whenever in transit in a vehicle. This includes making themselves a hard target in order to avoid attack. While most terrorist or criminal attacks are difficult to predict, the majority of attacks take place when a person is in transit. By providing tools such as rout analysis, identifying choke points, learning where safe havens are located along a route, individuals are able to predict the places that are most vulnerable, and take steps to ensure safety. VIPs, executives, those working in—or traveling to—volatile regions of the world, and those hired to protect such individuals will equally learn how to detect surveillance when it is targeted against them, when they are the potential target. Failing this, the book also provides the tools a person needs to break contact and escape when an attack against them while moving in their vehicle occurs. The book covers basic and advanced driving skills and instructs on how to best understand the transport vehicle and its capabilities. Key Features: Instructs readers on how to recognize and anticipate potential attack sites during movement Illustrates how to properly maintain a vehicle at peak performance in different environments so it will work as required when needed Describes vehicle dynamics and, specifically, how a vehicle can be used as a tool to protect, and aid escape, when under attack Outlines the ways individuals can become more situationally aware in their movements Maps out key security driving elements such as steering, braking, vehicle dynamics, and evasive maneuvers to escape amidst a threat By raising situational awareness, increasing knowledge of the attack cycle, and outlining the nature of threats, Survival Driving can transform any reader from a soft target to an informed hard target who threat actors will want to avoid.