Is the Internet a vehicle for democracy and progress or a tool of surveillance? The archives are true: states have long spied on their citizens, with the broad support of the IT industry. Investigative journalist Yasha Levin examines the history of the relationship between IT giants and US intelligence—from the first uses of network technologies during the Vietnam War to the sinister collaboration between Google, Amazon, Facebook, and other companies and the government. How secure is our personal data, correspondence, and search history? How is the Tor proxy system connected to the US National Security Agency? Why did students in the 1970s protest the Internet, and who came up with the idea to whitewash its reputation? Whose interests are Snowden and Assange acting in? Who is protecting whom: the CIA protecting Google, or vice versa? The book 'The Internet as a Weapon' opens eyes to the true history of Silicon Valley, which is usually hidden.

Author: Yasha Levin
Publishing House: Individuum
Year: 2019
Number of pages: 360
Cover type: Paperback
Translator: Maxim Leonovich, Elena Napreenko
Age group: 18+