American Spies: Modern Surveillance, Why You Should Care, and What to Do About It

Jennifer Stisa Granick is the director of Civil Liberties at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. Her new book, American Spies: Modern Surveillance, Why You Should Care, and What to Do About It, provides a legal perspective on the shortcomings of privacy laws in the age of mass surveillance. Granick argues that protections haven’t kept pace with the advances of modern surveillance and explains why developments such as the Internet of Things pose unprecedented risks. Her work explains why the topic is more important than ever and ultimately will inform the debate around what’s to be done about it.

“American democracy cannot survive modern surveillance.”

From American Spies:  “U.S. intelligence agencies—the eponymous American Spies—are exceedingly aggressive, pushing and sometimes bursting through the technological, legal and political boundaries of lawful surveillance. Written for a general audience by a surveillance law expert, this book educates readers about how the reality of modern surveillance differs from popular understanding. Weaving the history of American surveillance—from J. Edgar Hoover through the tragedy of September 11th to the fusion centers and mosque infiltrators of today—the book shows that mass surveillance and democracy are fundamentally incompatible. Granick shows how surveillance law has fallen behind while surveillance technology has given American Spies vast new powers. She skillfully guides the reader through proposals for reining in massive surveillance with the ultimate goal of surveillance reform.”

A must read for anyone concerned about the future of privacy and its implications for our democracy.

Read the Ars Technica review.

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Available at LOAKL, request it here.