From Publishers Weekly
The warning bell about our rapidly disappearing privacy is sounded again albeit none too stridently in this study of new technologies and their impact. Hunter, a vice-president at Gartner's Research organization, a business technology consulting group, wants to sketch out how the omnipresence of computers affects every last centimeter of modern human existence. His first chapter, "Why Won't They Leave Me Alone?" is most to the point, asking, on the subject of Internet commerce, "Is the convenience of being known everywhere worth the risk of being known everywhere?" More worrisome than having a digital signature follow you everywhere online he uses the example of 's ability to remember things you've bought or even just looked at is the ubiquity of surveillance in public and private spaces. One chapter addresses the tracking of cars, relating the story of a man who was fined $450 for driving his rental car over the speed limit. It wasn't the police that caught him it was a global positioning satellite system in the car. From there, Hunter assays such subjects as the Open Source debate (over making the source codes of commercial operating systems and applications available to the public) and Internet crime. While each of the chapters is useful by itself, Hunter's thesis gets progressively fainter as the book goes on. Very little is resolved by the end of this less-than-groundbreaking study, but it may still be interesting for those new to the subject. (May) Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Search for any book at Amazon.com and you will see a list of books that "customers who bought this book also bought." The technology that delivers this information is called data mining and it gives Amazon.com a competitive edge. It's part of an increasingly common phenomenon whereby literally everything we do is being watched and recorded to the point where anyone can find out anything about anybody. Hunter, director of security research at Gartner G2, poses the question, Is a "world without secrets" more scary than before and when is it all too much? In our desire for convenience, we voluntarily give away much of our privacy. Our credit cards, smart cars, and smart homes constantly spew out information about our actions. Cameras and facial recognition software were used recently at the Superbowl. Hunter points out that the ability to mine data gives power to those who own the data. When the government owns our data, Big Brother becomes a reality--"a complex, demanding and dangerous place, but not Hell." David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
"...the book is important — it contains fresh thinking, a rarity these days.... [Richard Hunter] is always provocative. He gathers impressions and conversations from a surprisingly broad array of sources. He assembles this material into something approaching a coherent whole.... [Richard Hunter's] [i]nsights...are well worth the price of admission to World Without Secrets." (New York Times, April 28, 2002)

World Without Secrets: Business, Crime and Privacy in the Age of Ubiquitous Computing by Richard Hunter delivers a first-rate explanation of the impact of technology on the public, government, business and communities. Hunter, who is vice president and director of security research for GartnerG2, a division of the world's largest technology research firm, writes expertly and urgently about the panoply of internet-related problems each of these diverse groups will face in the years ahead. "There's way too much information-about everything-out there now, and it's going to get a lot worse," Hunter argues. Because technologies arrive at different times, their impacts are cumulative. We don't see the true effects of a technology's use until long after that technology has invaded our everyday world. Looking forward, Hunter describes a world in which loss of privacy, technological terrorism and the heist of artistic rights are a foregone conclusion. This is an important book which sheds thought-provoking light on the slippery slope we are descending when it comes to Internet technology. (BookPage, August 2002)

"...I would however definitely recommend this book as it certainly is an interesting, if not a little chilling, read..." (M2 Best Books, 5 September 2002)

"...an excellent introduction to contemporary attitudes towards and policies of surveillance..." (Free Pint, 31 October 2002)

"...written with a mixture of eloquence and frivolity that makes the book hard to put down...it is carefully crafted from numerous interviews with people...to create a well-rounded and multi-faced story..." (The Times Higher Educational Supplement, 15 November 2002)


Review
"...the book [World Without Secrets] is important — it contains fresh thinking, a rarity these days" (New York Times, April 28, 2002)

"delivers a first-rate explanation...writes expertly and urgently about the panoply of internet-related problems.... This is an important book which sheds thought-provoking light..." (BookPage, August 2002)

"...I would however definitely recommend this book as it certainly is an interesting, if not a little chilling, read..." (M2 Best Books, 5 September 2002)

"...an excellent introduction to contemporary attitudes towards and policies of surveillance..." (Free Pint, 31 October 2002)

"...written with a mixture of eloquence and frivolity that makes the book hard to put down...it is carefully crafted from numerous interviews with people...to create a well-rounded and multi-faced story..." (The Times Higher Educational Supplement, 15 November 2002)


Free Pint, 31 October 2002
"...an excellent introduction to contemporary attitudes towards and policies of surveillance..."


Book Description
The future of computing-the future of business
Rapid technological innovation is moving us towards a world of ubiquitous computing-a world in which we are surrounded by smart machines that are always on, always aware, and always monitoring us. These developments will create a world virtually without secrets in which information is widely available and analyzable worldwide. This environment will certainly affect business, government, and the individual alike, dramatically affecting the way organizations and individuals interact. This book explores the implications of the coming world and suggests and explores policy options that can protect individuals and organizations from exploitation and safeguard the implicit contract between employees, businesses, and society itself. World Without Secrets casts an unflinching eye on a future we may not necessarily desire, but will experience.


Book Info
Learn how to protect your business from information crime, seize emerging opportunities, and survive and succeed in a new environment that is as dangerous as it is promising.


From the Inside Flap
WORLD Without SECRETS Unique, international personal identifiers . . . near- instantaneous data mining . . . biometric face printing . . . intelligent embedded devices everywhere that record, interpret, and transmit virtually everything you say and do. It’s not science fiction. Much of this technology is already in place and the rest is on the way. By the end of the current decade we will inhabit a man-made environment of ubiquitous computing in which everything is recorded and nothing is forgotten. World Without Secrets explores the realities and implications of a world in which anyone who wants badly enough to know anything about you, your business, or anything else will be able to get that information. It examines the information-gathering technologies that are and will be deployed–on our streets, in our offices and public buildings, even in our homes and cars–and explains their benefits as well as potential serious abuses. This bone-chilling exposé investigates the likely impact of ubiquitous computing on every aspect of our business, personal, political, and cultural lives. Will we be safer and our property more secure? When everything is known, how will we decide what’s most important to know? Will there be any way to keep confidential information confidential? How will business protect intellectual capital? World Without Secrets also takes you into the "shadow world" of state and private-sector criminals whose livelihood is based on illicit use of growing mountains of information. It offers strategies for surviving and succeeding in a world that is rife with opportunity but dangerous for the wary and unwary alike. And it suggests policy options that can protect individuals and organizations from exploitation and safeguard the implicit contract between employees, businesses, and society itself. Peppered with uncommonly sharp insights into the way we understand information, conduct business, and try to control our surroundings, World Without Secrets breaks new ground in describing the impact of new technologies on the way we live and work. This comprehensive guide to the immediate future is compelling and necessary reading for anyone who wants to prepare personally and professionally for the enormous changes soon to come. For more information, please visit www.worldwithoutsecrets.com


Back Cover Copy
"Richard Hunter has seen the future, and its really scary. If you ever plan to do anything wrong, you need to read this book. If you suspect that someone will ever try to do anything wrong to you, you also need to read it. I believe that covers pretty much all of us." —Thomas H. Davenport, Director, Accenture Institute for Strategic Change, Distinguished Scholar, Babson College "Like a laser, Hunter gets directly to the heart of the issues for business and society in computer security. He understands and delineates issues and nonissues of cybercrime and cyberwar and provides provocative thought on new social structures affecting current and future security issues. A strongly recommended read for anyone concerned about cybersecurity and the coming cyberwars." —Dr. Bill Hancock, CISSP, Vice President, Security and Chief Security Officer, Exodus, a cable and wireless company To some its a dream come true; to others its the stuff of nightmares–a world of ubiquitous computing in which human beings are surrounded by smart, aware, always-on machines that monitor, record, and analyze most or all of what goes on around them. World Without Secrets takes you on a chilling tour of the near future and the hard realities of whats to come, from the home without secrets to the Network Army, from mentats to the exception economy. Dont enter the future unprepared. Read World Without Secrets and learn how to protect your business from information crime, seize emerging opportunities, and survive and succeed in a new environment that is as dangerous as it is promising.


About the Author
RICHARD HUNTER is Vice President, Security Research, GartnerG2, the strategic business growth division of Gartner, Inc., the world’s largest technology research firm. Hunter is internationally renowned for his expertise in technology and security, cybercrime, information management, and privacy. He was formerly Vice President and Director of Research for Applications Development at Gartner. Hunter earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University with a concentration in music and is also a world-class harmonica virtuoso. He works in Gartner’s headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, and lives nearby.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Unique, international personal identifiers ... near-instantaneous data mining ... biometric face printing ... intelligent embedded devices everywhere that record, interpret, and transmit virtually everything you say and do. It's not science fiction. Much of this technology is already in place and the rest is on the way. By the end of the current decade we will inhabit a man-made environment of ubiquitous computing in which everything is recorded and nothing is forgotten.

World Without Secrets explores the realities and implications of a world in which anyone who wants badly enough to know anything about you, your business, or anything else will be able to get that information. It examines the information-gathering technologies that are and will be deployed -- on our streets, in our offices and public buildings, even in our homes and cars -- and explains their benefits as well as potential serious abuses.

This bone-chilling expose investigates the likely impact of ubiquitous computing on every aspect of our business, personal, political, and cultural lives. Will we be safer and our property more secure? When everything is known, how will we decide what's most important to know? Will there be any way to keep confidential information confidential? How will business protect intellectual capital?

World Without Secrets also takes you into the "shadow world" of state and private-sector criminals whose livelihood is based on illicit use of growing mountains of information. It offers strategies for surviving and succeeding in a world that is rife with opportunity but dangerous for the wary and unwary alike. And it suggests policy options that can protect individuals and organizations from exploitation and safeguard the implicit contract between employees, businesses, and society itself.

Peppered with uncommonly sharp insights into the way we understand information, conduct business, and try to control our surroundings, World Without Secrets breaks new ground in describing the impact of new technologies on the way we live and work. This comprehensive guide to the immediate future is compelling and necessary reading for anyone who wants to prepare personally and professionally for the enormous changes soon to come.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly