The Soft Cage Surveillance in America, From Slavery to the War on Terror
, by Parenti, ChristianNote: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
- ISBN: 9780465054855 | 0465054854
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 11/24/2004
On a typical day, you might make a call on a cell phone, withdraw money at an ATM, visit the mall, and make a purchase with a credit card. Each of these routine transactions leaves a digital trail for government agencies and businesses to access. As cutting-edge historian and journalist Christian Parenti points out, these everyday intrusions on privacy, while harmless in themselves, are part of a relentless (and clandestine) expansion of routine surveillance in American life over the last two centuries-from controlling slaves in the old South to implementing early criminal justice and tracking immigrants. Parenti explores the role computers are playing in creating a whole new world of seemingly benign technologies-such as credit cards, website "cookies," and electronic toll collection-that have expanded this trend in the twenty-first century.The Soft Cageoffers a compelling, vitally important history lesson for every American concerned about the expansion of surveillance into our public and private lives.