Means of Control by Byron Tau

MEANS OF CONTROL by Byron Tau traces “How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government Is Creating a New American Surveillance State.” Tau is an investigative journalist who specializes in law, courts, and national security; he formerly wrote for The Wall Street Journal and has spent years researching this text which is based on “more than 350 interviews and tens of thousands of pages of documents.” Tau conveys a sense of honesty and integrity to his readers even with the disturbing information he shares: “The truth is that no consumer or citizen can know what data is being collected about them or how it's used, let alone consent.” He writes roughly chronologically and divides the text into four parts. The first begins around 9/11 and describes the evolution of consumer data brokers and their early contributions to national security. The second is about early efforts to monitor social media as it grew. The third part focuses on advertising data, smartphones, and geographic tracking. Finally, he looks at more recent “increasingly weird world of esoteric data that without even knowing it we're all generating…” Throughout, Tau comments on civil rights, especially privacy, and writes at length about the “partnership” between - and motivations of - corporate and government entities. MEANS OF CONTROL received a starred review from Publishers Weekly (“A chilling chronicle …. filled with shocking revelations and first-rate reporting…”). Kirkus said that Tau’s “explanations of how surveillance techniques have evolved in the 21st century … are exceptionally clear and unsettling.” The writing style is very accessible and MEANS OF CONTROL deserves a wide readership.