Description

"A timely, compelling, and expertly researched passport to the tech companies that rule today's digital landscape."—Blake Harris, bestselling author of Console Wars and The History of the Future.

In this provocative book about our new tech-based reality, political insider and tech expert Alexis Wichowski considers the unchecked rise of tech giants like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Tesla—what she calls “net states”— and their unavoidable influence in our lives. Rivaling nation states in power and capital, today’s net states are reaching into our physical world, inserting digital services into our lived environments in ways both unseen and, at times, unknown to us. They are transforming the way the world works, putting our rights up for grabs, from personal privacy to national security.  

Combining original reporting and insights drawn from more than 100 interviews with technology and government insiders, including Microsoft president Brad Smith, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the former Federal Trade Commission chair under President Obama, and the managing director of Jigsaw—Google’s Department of Counter-terrorism against extremism and cyber-attacks—The Information Trade explores what happens we give up our personal freedom and individual autonomy in exchange for an easy, plugged-in existence, and shows what we can do to control our relationship with net states before they irreversibly change our future.

About the Author

ALEXIS WICHOWSKI is the deputy chief technology officer for the  City of New York, and an adjunct professor of technology, media, and communications at Columbia University. A widely recognized technology expert, Wichowski spent the past two decades working at the intersection of technology, media, and government, most recently at the State Department and the United Nations. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, TechCrunch, Foreign Affairs, and Wired, which published her viral piece, “Net States Rule the World: Ignore Them at Your Peril.”

Praise For…

"Alexis Wichowski is a wonderfully tireless investigator of the Internet's Great Powers, what she calls 'net states.' But as she follows the money (and the power), she also illuminates the fundamental questions of digital life: Who are we, really, when we are online? And how are we changing?" — Scott Malcomson, author of Splinternet

"[an] eye-opening debut...Wichowski’s detailed reporting and careful attention to the big picture make for a quick and thought-provoking reading experience. This erudite analysis should be required reading for tech CEOs, policy makers, and everyone concerned about the ubiquity of a handful of companies in their daily lives — Publishers Weekly

"Eminently accessible, deeply researched.”  — Kirkus Reviews

"A timely, compelling, and expertly researched passport to the tech companies that rule today's digital landscape. With accessible real-world examples and clever connect-the-dots analysis, Wichowski pinpoints the causes responsible for the ever-increasing effects that these companies are having on our daily lives." — Blake Harris, bestselling author of Console Wars and The History of the Future