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Your Face Belongs to Us

The Secretive Startup Dismantling Your Privacy

Kashmir Hill author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Simon & Schuster Ltd

Published:6th Jun '24

Should be back in stock very soon

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Your Face Belongs to Us cover

This gripping narrative explores the implications of facial recognition technology, revealing how Your Face Belongs to Us challenges our perceptions of privacy and surveillance.

In Your Face Belongs to Us, award-winning journalist Kashmir Hill embarks on a compelling investigation into the alarming world of facial recognition technology. The narrative begins when Hill discovers Clearview AI, a startup with a powerful app capable of identifying individuals from mere snapshots. This revelation opens a Pandora's box of privacy concerns, as the app not only retrieves names and social media profiles but can also lead to personal information such as home addresses. The implications of such technology are profound, raising questions about surveillance and the erosion of anonymity in our daily lives.

The book delves into the origins of Clearview AI, founded by Hoan Ton-That and Richard Schwartz, and explores the company's rapid rise to prominence. Hill highlights the involvement of controversial figures and the app's adoption by billionaires and law enforcement agencies. As the narrative unfolds, readers are confronted with the ethical dilemmas posed by facial recognition technology, including the inherent biases that can exacerbate issues of racial and gender inequality. The chilling potential for misuse in policing and surveillance, as seen in countries like China and Russia, is a stark warning of a future that could be more dystopian than imagined.

Ultimately, Your Face Belongs to Us serves as a wake-up call about our complex relationship with technology. Hill masterfully intertwines a gripping true story with a cautionary tale, urging readers to consider the consequences of unchecked technological advancement. In a world where our faces can be commodified and exploited, the book powerfully advocates for the need for regulation to protect our fundamental rights to privacy and anonymity.

'The dystopian future portrayed in some science-fiction movies is already upon us. Whether you like it or not, your face has already been scraped from the internet, stored in a giant database, and made available to law enforcement agencies, private corporations, and authoritarian governments to track and surveil you. Kashmir Hill’s fascinating book brings home the scary implications of this new reality'  -- John Carreyrou, author of 'Bad Blood'
'I loved this. A dark and gripping story, meticulously researched and stylishly told' -- Jenny Kleeman, author of 'Sex Robots & Vegan Meat'
A gripping account . . . [Hill] writes with great clarity about the dangers of facial recognition technology’ * New Statesman *
'A haunting portrait of sci-fi darkness in the real world' * Kirkus *
'A breezy, compelling dive into the alarming use of face matching and the enormous consequences for privacy and civil liberties . . . an engrossing cautionary tale'

  * Literary Review *
Startling, if not terrifying . . . the author does a great job of explaining the ins and outs of facial recognition in the book . . . Be very, very careful, Hill says again and again. If we’re not, we might all face the reality of Beijing today' * Cybernews *
'So gripping' -- Taylor Lorenz, author of 'Extremely Online', on Twitter
‘I’m loving this book - you’ll laugh, you’ll recoil, you’ll learn about the sordid history of eugenics and where facial recognition tech fits into said history’  -- Brian Merchant, author of 'Blood in the Machine', on Twitter
Sharply reported . . .  The saga is colorful, and the characters come off as flamboyant villains; it’s a fun read. But the book’s most incisive contribution may be the ethical question it raises’  * Atlantic *
‘A most timely contribution to a much needed debate about the implications for personal privacy  * TLS *
Gripping . . . illuminating. The scope and sophistication of the technology is striking. A walk down the street will not feel quite the same again’ * The Economist *
‘Combining vivid reportage with a chilling overview of facial recognition technology’s capabilities, this unnerves’  * Publishers Weekly *
‘In a gripping — and sometimes creepy — book Hill explores the repercussions of this new technology and finds out who is behind it' * The Times, '5 Best Technology Books of 2023' *
'Kashmir Hill all but invented the tech dystopia beat, and no one is a more exuberant and enjoyable guide to the dark corners of our possible future than she is. Reaching deep into the past to paint a terrifying portrait of our future, Hill’s thorough, awe-inspiring reporting and compelling storytelling paint a fascinating tale of tech’s next chapter. This is the most fun you can have reading a real-life nightmare'  -- Garrett Graff, author of 'The Only Plane in the Sky'
‘In its focus on the ambiguous duality of technology, a parable for our times

  * Financial Times, 'Best Books of 2023 – Technology' *

ISBN: 9781398509207

Dimensions: 198mm x 130mm x 21mm

Weight: unknown

352 pages