Byron Tau on data brokers; US sanctions, indicts Chinese hackers

To be a person in the world today is to be incessantly tracked, your data collected and aggregated, and then sold off to the highest bidder. Many of us intuitively understand this, but the technologies, companies, and policies that make all of this possible remains something of a mystery. Journalist Byron Tau has done groundbreaking work to help us understand the privacy nightmare that is modern life, and his new book, Means of Control: How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government Is Creating a New American Surveillance State, is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the modern data economy. On this episode of Safe Mode, Tau sits down with host Elias Groll to discuss his reporting. Derek B. Johnson also joins the show to discuss recent sanctions and indictments targeting Chinese hackers accused of surveilling U.S. political officials and dissidents abroad. 

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Links:  

Means of Control: How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government Is Creating a New American Surveillance State | Bookshop.org

US and UK accuse China of cyber operations targeting domestic politics | CyberScoop