Surveillance Valley

An exceptional survey of the origins of Internet that goes beyond the privacy violation stories peddled by mainstream media.

Started to enjoy immediately after starting to read. But after a while in the middle part, it gets too boring. Especially if you are non US citizen or for those who are not familiar with 60s to 90s sociopolitical scenario of US.

An explanation of how the internet came into being. The internet has become a daily part of our lives.

Most people know that the tech companies - Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple use surveillance on their customers. While surveillance may be not all be bad, for a democratic oversight of society, it has been continuously used for political gain to threaten nations and our freedom.The internet has always been about surveillance and control and the people need to wake up and find alternatives.

Interessantíssima a história da evolução da Internet, desde seu início no começo da década de 60 (!). É um livro que deve ser lido por todos que se interessam por questões ligadas à privacidade e segurança online. Obrigatório!!

People are starting to see the internet as a failed utopia - but the story Yasha tells as he draws a history of the internet is that there was never a utopia.Those who want to dismiss the book will sneer that everyone knows the military history of the internet - in the same way that everyone knows that Tor is funded by the US military establishment, and that this is somehow irrelevant.But if you read the book you will find a well researched counter narrative - a third version of story most people don't know - the thinking within DARPA that was about counter insurgency, asymmetrical war, and surveillance.Previously untold stories, like the privatization of the internet (that warrant multiple volumes of discussion in their own right) form the better part of a chapter mid way through this book - a critical narrative when you consider that wealthy internet moguls are our modern day railroad barons, and their success is based largely on public investment.Anyone who has a developed understanding of imperialism, and the US as a modern imperialist power, will find the chapters on Tor and the crypto movement particularly entertaining - cyber libertarians who rail against the state, while cashing state department checks and thinking they are smart ones, meanwhile being used as a part of a soft power regime change strategy.

In the 1960s, when the public first gained knowledge of the plans for the independently interconnected network of servers that we now refer to as the "Internet", grave concerns about the expansion of government surveillance on society in general and dissidents in particular were loudly voiced.50 years later and we're living in a Brave New World, merrily providing various governments and corporations all kinds of data about ourselves, our likes/dislikes, political leanings, sexual proclivities, etc. I'm more concerned than ever...