Data and Goliath

The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World

By: Bruce Schneier

Narrated by: Dan John Miller

Data is everywhere. We create it every time we go online, turn our phones on (or off), and pay with credit cards. The data is stored, studied, and bought and sold by corporations and governments for surveillance and for control. "Foremost security expert" (Wired) and best-selling author Bruce Schneier shows how this data has led to a double-edged Internet - a Web that gives power to the people but is abused by the institutions on which those people depend.

In Data and Goliath, Schneier reveals the full extent of surveillance, censorship, and propaganda in society today, examining the risks of cybercrime, cyberterrorism, and cyberwar. He shares technological, legal, and social solutions that can help shape a more equal, private, and secure world. This is an audiobook to which everyone with an Internet connection - or bank account or smart device or car, for that matter - needs to listen.

©2015 Bruce Schneier (P)2015 Recorded Books

Great information

I work in the IT world and I knew a lot of this was going on. This book really helped understand a lot more of what is going on with data collection and what we can do about it. It is a very interesting read.

A great book for our time!

Overall loved it. Great examples and sources for follow up. Schneier's text reads more like a peer reviewed work than a run of the mill book. He methodically outlines his thesis, which falls somewhere in the middle of perfect privacy and perfect surveillance. Carefully enumerating the reasons why his approach is both morally correct and practical to apply. Regarding the latter he builds on the work of others in outlining a true course.

I used the bookmark feature to note the many memorable moments in the audiobook. From references to Japanese internment and McCarthysism to the logical summation from FDR the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

This was my first audiobook. The narrator's voice was crisp and welcoming. I started the book last night and finished it this afternoon, thanks to both the subject matter, style of writing and clear articulation. Another note for users of the audible android app is to try the speed playback. I initially started at 1.0x, by the middle I was able to play at 2.0x and gradually increased until I got to 3.0x. For most of the time I was listening to the book I was also multitasking doing household chores. I hope all the narrators are as good.

Worth it..

This review requires at least 20 words, 8 words remaining, now three, no two. UNO!

Wow

This book had so much information it has open my eyes to so much, being online will never be the same.

Solid, slightly annoying narration

What about Dan John Miller’s performance did you like?

Miller was clear and easy to follow. However, something about his delivery was a bit too singsong, and grated on my nerves after a while.

Any additional comments?

Solid book. Nothing new (in that if you have read widely on privacy and cyber issues, you likely have had most of this covered), but if you need a primer, you could do worse. Caveat: Schneier has definite opinions on the proper course of things, on the rightful balance between security and privacy, and his opinion is not tempered. He does not really set forth everything objectively to let the reader make up their own mind (this isn't hidden, so isn't as problematic as it could be). I typically prefer books that are a bit more balanced, but on the plus side Schneier is able to take complex technical information and make it easily digestible to lay audiences, the overview is wide but too long, and a reader leaves fairly well-informed about the basic issues related to data in the modern world.