"Big tech" knows all your secrets and sells them to the highest
bidder--this guide for the everyday tech user explains how it happens,
why it matters, and how to protect yourself and your most precious
commodities, your identity and privacy.
THE GUIDE TO USING EVERYDAY TECH--FROM GOOGLE SEARCHES AND AMAZON TO
GPS AND FACEBOOK--WITH EYES WIDE OPEN.
What if somebody knew everything about you? Your . . .
- relationships: work, social, and private
- family history, finances, and medical records
- even your exact location . . . at any time of the day
- personal preferences and purchases
Somebody does. That somebody is "Big Tech."
Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft know more about you than
you do.
And they make billions of dollars by cashing in on your private
data.
Our personal data, which Big Tech companies get for free, is the engine
that drives the unregulated, free-for-all, Wild West world called the
digital marketplace. These corporate giants may bring us information and
entertainment, convenience and connection, but they also do a lot of
harm by:
- threatening our privacy, discovering and disseminating our personal
information.
- spreading dangerous misinformation from foreign governments and bad
actors.
- manipulating our behavior, affecting what we see, buy . . . even who
we vote for.
So, what can we do about it?
This eye-opening book provides vital information that has been out of
reach to those who need it most--the millions of Facebook, Google,
Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft users who have come to love and depend upon
these digital products. Veteran consumer advocate Jane Hoffman makes the
complex world of Big Tech simple to grasp as she reveals exactly how Big
Tech uses--and abuses--your personal information. And she proposes a
bold blueprint for reforming these corporate behemoths--including a data
dividend.
Your Data, Their Billions is a guidebook to everything at stake in our
digital society, from Big Tech's overreach into our daily lives to its
practices that threaten our democracy. Knowledge is power--and it starts
here.
