Wow! eBook
The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom?
Author(s): David Brin (Author)
- Publisher: Perseus Books
- Publication Date: 1 May 1998
- Language: English
- Print length: 378 pages
- ISBN-10: 020132802X
- ISBN-13: 9780201328028
Book Description
The best-selling author of
Editorial Reviews
From the Author
I like privacy! But freedom is paramount.
The opening line (above) is just a little misleading. I don’t argue against privacy. If we remain a free, cantankerous and sovereign people, we’ll be able to demand a little privacy, no matter how pervasive the technologies of surveillance become. My emphasis in the book is that freedom must come first in our list of priorities. And history shows that only one tool has enabled people to maintain liberty. That tool is accountability — the power to make sure the mighty (whether governments, aristocrats or any other elite) must answer questions and reveal their schemes. In other words, we have one answer to Juvenal’s old question: ‘Who will watch the watchmen?’ The answer must be… us.
The opening line (above) is just a little misleading. I don’t argue against privacy. If we remain a free, cantankerous and sovereign people, we’ll be able to demand a little privacy, no matter how pervasive the technologies of surveillance become. My emphasis in the book is that freedom must come first in our list of priorities. And history shows that only one tool has enabled people to maintain liberty. That tool is accountability — the power to make sure the mighty (whether governments, aristocrats or any other elite) must answer questions and reveal their schemes. In other words, we have one answer to Juvenal’s old question: ‘Who will watch the watchmen?’ The answer must be… us.
This topic is just beginning. Let’s argue like a free people, and don’t fall for easy assumptions. In the long run, light will protect us better than secrecy or masks. END
About the Author
David Brin has a Ph.D. in physics, but is best known for his science fiction. His books include the New York Times bestseller The Uplift War, Hugo Award-winner Startide Rising, and The Postman. He lives in Encinitas, California.
