{"product_id":"the-soft-cage-9780465054855","title":"The Soft Cage","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn a typical day, you might make a call on a cell phone, withdraw money at an ATM, visit the mall, and make a purchase with a credit card. Each of these routine transactions leaves a digital trail for government agencies and businesses to access. As cutting-edge historian and journalist Christian Parenti points out, these everyday intrusions on privacy, while harmless in themselves, are part of a relentless (and clandestine) expansion of routine surveillance in American life over the last two centuries-from controlling slaves in the old South to implementing early criminal justice and tracking immigrants. Parenti explores the role computers are playing in creating a whole new world of seemingly benign technologies-such as credit cards, website cookies, and electronic toll collection-that have expanded this trend in the twenty-first century.  The Soft Cage  offers a compelling, vitally important history lesson for every American concerned about the expansion of surveillance into our pub","brand":"Basic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48884143784279,"sku":"9780465054855","price":999.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-soft-cage-9780465054855","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}