From the Publisher
"A cerebral, cautionary tale. Credible and scary."—Vint Cerf, Google Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist and one of the "Fathers of the Internet""At last, computer science has its equivalent to Scott Turow. Shumeet Baluja not only tells a compelling story, but as an expert in data mining, he also knows his stuff. His story shows how powerful and far-reaching modern search technology can be, and hence, potentially dangerous if not properly controlled. A techno-thriller with a disturbing message."—Keith Devlin, author of The Unfinished Game: Pascal, Fermat, and the Seventeenth-Century Letter that Made the World Modern"Clever and prophetic. The Silicon Jungle will be required reading from Silicon Valley to Washington, DC."—Marc Rotenberg, Electronic Privacy Information Center"The Silicon Jungle is an engaging and welcome addition to the literature of dystopia. The connections drawn between people, places, products, and internet usage, as well as the data-mining scientists in this suspenseful and alarming novel, show us that the decline of individual freedoms can occur not through weapons and coups, but through profiles germinated from algorithmic seeds."—Gary T. Marx, author of Undercover: Police Surveillance in America"This novel will open your eyes to issues of privacy on the internet and to the hazards of placing uncritical, blind trust in the people overseeing this vast enterprise. Baluja tells a story about something that could happen to any of us—if you're even modestly concerned about information privacy, this is an important book to read."—Roy Maxion, Carnegie Mellon University"The Silicon Jungle expertly explores a major 'what if' that should interest anyone who has ever used a cell phone or Wi-Fi connection, or typed a keystroke on a computer connected to the internet. The story is intriguing, well researched, well written, and frighteningly probable. A delightfully entertaining and thought-provoking read for all."—Retired Senior Official, National Security Agency"This novel does an excellent job of introducing the ideas behind data mining and provides greater insight into the process than anything I have seen in fiction. The book presents a number of important issues, both technical and social."—Joseph D. Sloan, Wofford College
