Spychips - by Katherine Albrecht & Liz McIntyre (Paperback)

About the Book

Compiling massive amounts of research with firsthand knowledge, "Spychips" reveals the history and future of master planners' strategies to spy on Americans without their knowledge or consent.

Book Synopsis

Winner of the Lysander Spooner Award for Advancing the Literature of Liberty

As you walk down the street, a tiny microchip implanted in your tennis shoe tracks your every move; chips woven into your clothing transmit the value of your outfit to nearby retailers; and a thief scans the chips hidden inside your money to decide if you're worth robbing. This isn't science fiction; in a few short years, it could be a fact of life.

Spychips takes readers into the frightening world of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). While manufacturers and the government want you to believe that they would never misuse the technology, the future looks like an Orwellian nightmare when you consider the possibilities of surveillance and tracking these chips embody. Combining in-depth research with firsthand reporting, Spychips reveals how RFID technology, if left unchecked, could soon destroy our privacy, radically alter the economy, and open the floodgates for civil liberty abuses.

Review Quotes

Winner of the Lysander Spooner Award for Advancing the Literature of Liberty

"This is the first, and maybe the loudest, popular book on a crucial technology of our times; a masterpiece of technocriticism."--from the foreword by bestselling author Bruce Sterling

"One of the best privacy books in many years... The privacy movement needs a book. I nominate Spychips."--Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)

"The book makes a very persuasive case that some of America's biggest companies want to embed tracking technology into virtually everything we own, and then study our usage patterns 24 hours a day. It's a truly creepy book and well worth reading."--Hiawatha Bray, The Boston Globe

"Provocative... Albrecht and McIntyre have a knack for finding information, and developing sources that make them the envy of investigative reporters."--Chicago Sun-Times

"Paints a 1984-ish picture of how corporations would like to use RFID tags to keep tabs on you."--The Associated Press

"A chilling story about an emerging future in which spychips run amok as Big Brother and Big Shopkeeper invade our privacy in unprecedented ways."--Chicago Tribune

About the Author

Dr. Katherine Albrecht is the founder and director of CASPIAN, an international consumer group. Dubbed the "Erin Brockovich" of RFID by Wired magazine, she is one of the leading voices for privacy in today's fast-changing, high-tech world. Katherine holds a doctorate in education from Harvard University.

Liz McIntyre is an award-winning investigative writer with a flair for exposing corporate shenanigans and bureaucratic misdeeds. She serves as CASPIAN's communications director and has been the master strategist for many of the organization's most successful media campaigns.