Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #108004 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 395 pages

Customer Reviews

Don't Read This Review, The NSA Might Be Snooping
If you think I'm being paranoid, I'm not. It is highly likely that this review & anyone who reads it online have been swept up into the data vacuum cleaner of the NSA for analysis. Though this book is largely about the US's National Security Agency, that eavesdrops on the world's electronic communications, it is as equally relevant to the UK with GCHQ (our NSA) being intimately involved with American eavesdropping.

Be aware, that in parts, this book can be quite technical, as the NSA use the world's most powerful supercomputers to sort through all the billions of e-mails & phone calls from around the world. You'll find out what a petaflop is! It also might make people who are supporters of George Bush hot under the collar as Bamford is clearly anti-Bush. However, it is a fascinating & frightening read about what they are already capable of doing & what they will soon be capable of- nothing less than the systematic profiling of the whole US population based on their web searches, telephone conversations, credit card purchases, etc. The NSA have developed an artificial intelligence that can basically tell how people think through these activities.

The NSA has too long been shrouded in secrecy; this is a timely drawing back of the curtain that updates into Bamford's back catalogue of books about the NSA. It is clear the NSA has a vital mission in fighting terrorism & espionage, but at what price to freedom & democracy?

I just wonder how long it is before there's a knock on the door....

Excellent book, relevant topic.
I am only 1/3 of the way through this book, and it is utterly fascinating. The book does dwell and over obsess on 9/11 to some degree, but I suppose you need to understand the lapses that allowed 9/11 to happen, in order to better understand the surveillance society we live in.

The more and more you read, the more fascinated you become by the NSA. Of particular note is Bamford's facts and figures, which help provide an idea of what we are dealing with.

Buy this book, it is possibly more relevant than any other book you will buy.