The Spy in the Coffee Machine

Abstract

We are entering a new state of global hypersurveillance. As we increasingly
resort to technology for our work and play, our electronic activity leaves
behind digital footprints that can be used to track our movements. In our
cars, telephones, even our coffee machines, tiny computers communicating
wirelessly via the Internet can serve as miniature witnesses, forming
powerful networks whose emergent behaviour can be very complex, intelligent,
and invasive. The question is: how much of an infringement on privacy are
they?

Exploring the invasion of our privacy from CCTVs to blogs, O'Hara explores
what-if anything-we can do to prevent it from disappearing forever in the
digital age, and attempts to find the right balance between the benefits and
dangers of this new technology.

Short version

The Spy in the Coffee Machine, subtitled “The End of Privacy as We Know It”, is a new book about the implications of privacy in today's increasingly web-based world. It is written by Nigel Shadbolt and Kieron O'Hara, two prominent figures in the realm of Web Science.

With chapters titled “They Snoop to Conquer” and “A Man's Best Friend is his Blog”, the book treats a serious subject in a refreshingly light-hearted and accessible way.

We are delighted to have one of the book's co-authors, Kieron O'Hara, as our Christmas speaker.
Kieron will talk about the issues raised in the book and the implications for us and the generations to come.

Kieron O'Hara

Kieron O'Hara is a senior research fellow in Electronics and Computer
Science at the University of Southampton. He researches into the philosophy,
politics and sociology of technology, focusing on Web Science, the Semantic
Web and digital memories. He is the author of a number of works, including
“The Spy in the Coffee Machine” (with Nigel Shadbolt), “A Framework for Web
Science” (with Tim Berners-Lee et al), “inequality.com” (with David Stevens)
and “Trust: From Socrates to Spin”. He has worked on a number of Foresight
projects for the Office of Science and Technology, including on Cyber Trust
and Crime Prevention.

Committee owner: Adrian Walmsley