The Secret Life of Data. Navigating Hype and Uncertainty in the Age of Algorithmic Surveillance

Translated from the English by Grigory Ivanov. – Moscow: Gaidar Institute Press, 2027. – 424 p.

ISBN 978-5-93255-730-3

In The Secret Life of Data, Aram Sinnreich and Jesse Gilbert explore the many unpredictable, and often surprising, ways in which data surveillance, AI, and the constant presence of algorithms impact our culture and society in the age of global networks. The authors build on this basic premise: no matter what form data takes, and what purpose we think it's being used for, data will always have a secret life. How this data will be used, by other people in other times and places, has profound implications for every aspect of our lives – from our intimate relationships to our professional lives to our political systems.

Unlike most books about data and society that focus on the short-term effects of our immense data usage, The Secret Life of Data focuses primarily on the long-term consequences of humanity's recent rush toward digitizing and data analysis, offering “slow solutions”: new laws and regulations, ethics and aesthetics, and production models for a data-driven society. The book clearly shows how readers can actively participate in shaping the way digital technologies affect their lives and the world as a whole.