Surveillance Valley

The Secret Military History of the Internet

By: Yasha Levine

Narrated by: LJ Ganser

The Internet is the most effective weapon the government has ever built.

In this fascinating book, investigative reporter Yasha Levine uncovers the secret origins of the Internet, tracing it back to a Pentagon counterinsurgency surveillance project.

A visionary intelligence officer, William Godel, realized that the key to winning the war in Vietnam was not outgunning the enemy but using new information technology to understand their motives and anticipate their movements. This idea - using computers to spy on people and groups perceived as a threat, both at home and abroad - drove ARPA to develop the Internet in the 1960s and continues to be at the heart of the modern Internet we all know and use today. As Levine shows, surveillance wasn't something that suddenly appeared on the Internet; it was woven into the fabric of the technology.

But this isn't just a story about the NSA or other domestic programs run by the government. As the book spins forward in time, Levine examines the private surveillance business that powers tech-industry giants like Google, Facebook, and Amazon, revealing how these companies spy on their users for profit, all while doing double duty as military and intelligence contractors. Levine shows that the military and Silicon Valley are effectively inseparable: a military-digital complex that permeates everything connected to the Internet, even coopting and weaponizing the antigovernment privacy movement that sprang up in the wake of Edward Snowden.

With deep research, skilled storytelling, and provocative arguments, Surveillance Valley will change the way you think about the news - and the device on which you read it.

©2018 Yasha Levine (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Please control this government!

I truly loved and recommend this title to anyone who cares about the great American experiment!

A shock that will stick with you

This is one of those books that you start and can’t stop. it will stir in your head long after you finish it.

Good history, sometimes spun

Great book overall. My only gripe is that it's told from such a radical leftists point of view it may turn off many people who don't share the authors perspective. I worry that if I recommend the book to others, they may miss the message through his commentary and tilt of the narrative.

Stirring, but disturbing.

Very insightful, while I thought I understood the history of the Internet - I didn't fully. The true history of it's creation and how it was (is) created from military programs is stirring, but ultimately disturbing. Everyone loves to read about secret military technology and programs, but when you begin to merge big technology companies and the Federal government one should be concerned.

A Vital Deepdive

The book paints a thorough picture of the internet as it is, and always has been: a tool built by military and intelligence agencies to serve as a means of surveillance and control, coopted and cofunded by corporate power structures seeking to consolidate power and maximize profits, despite the costs to humanity and personal privacy. A must read.