Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet

Yasha Levine

PublicAffairs, Feb 6, 2018 - Political Science - 384 pages

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.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - bfister - LibraryThing

Fascinating history showing the interconnectedness of military intelligence and the development of the internet and the companies that are so dominant today. Good journalism, great footnotes. The ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - willszal - LibraryThing

“Will—you want me to get you an invite to gMail?” “I’m not sure; I’m a little worried about the security implications.” The year is 2004, and my social studies teacher is trying to get me signed up ...

About the author

Yasha Levine is an investigative journalist for Pando Daily, a San Francisco-based news magazine focused on covering the politics and power of big tech. He has been published in Wired Magazine, the Nation, Slate, Penthouse, the New York Observer, Playboy, Not Safe For Work Corp, Alternet, and many others. He has also appeared on network television, including MSNBC, and has had his work profiled by the New York Observer, Vanity Fair, and the Verge, among others.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet
• Author: Yasha Levine
• Publisher: PublicAffairs, 2018
• ISBN: 1610398033, 9781610398039
• Length: 384 pages
• Subjects: Computers / Internet / Online Safety & Privacy; Political Science / Privacy & Surveillance; Political Science / Security (National & International)