Summary
Out of a ranking from 1-10, I get this book a 7. It’s pretty well written, concepts are easy to understand. Felt like it was a bit of a “all or nothing” approach when it comes to privacy. Geared toward people wanting absolute privacy.
Details
This book is a fairly good book, and goes very far in depth in some areas, and not so much in depth in other areas. The book covers wiretapping, encryption, privacy, the danger of cell phones, surveillance in multiple settings, and so on. I’d argue that this book is aimed at the general, non-technical, audience - but doesn’t talk about some more practical methods for staying anonymous online. In a way, it felt like there was too much reliance on the arrest, and how he messed up. So, if you really have something to hide, this book may be better suited for you.
The best takeaway from this book is that leakages between one’s persona can leak, unless you take special precautions to avoid it. This leakage is more applicable to the general consumer, because our browsing habits are tracked (cookies, 1px images, ads, etc) and our email addresses have been leaked. In other words, when people use the same user/pass in different places - then their accounts are compromised. When people don’t clear cookies/etc, their online activity is tracked. That if they’re logged into online services, they can - and do, track what people are doing and often times this information gets sold.
Another great takeaway is about physical computer security. Physical security. I think that physical security is largely an afterthought for a lot of people. This includes a very applicable, and important point - encryption. Encryption isn’t only a criminal thing. If one goes to a coffee shop and gets their device stolen, or someone takes their phone, and so on - their data is not secure unless encrypted properly.
Purchase Options
This book is available on Amazon, and Audible. I personally purchased the audible version.
