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This is a free, online textbook.  "Wherever you go‚ whatever you say, write, photograph, or buy‚ whatever prescriptions you take, or ATM withdrawals you make you are generating information. That information can be captured, digitized, retrieved, and copied ‚ anywhere on Earth, instantly. Sophisticated computers can increasingly uncover meaning in those digital traces‚ understanding, anticipating, and influencingyou as never before. Is this utopia? Or the dawning of a 1984/Brave New World horror world? Whatever you call it, it’s happening. What kind of world are we creating? What will it be like to live there? Blown to Bits offers powerful and controversial answers to these questions‚ and give you the knowledge you need to help shape your own digital future, not let others do it for you. Building on their pioneering joint MIT/Harvard course, the authors reveal how the digital revolution is changing everything, in ways that are stunning even the most informed experts. You’ll discover ten paradoxical truths about digital data, and learn how those truths are overturning centuries-old assumptions about privacy, identity, and personal control."

Selected exerpts from each chapter can be read here or the complete chapter can be downloaded in pdf format.

"Every day, billions of photos, stories, songs, TV shows, and emails are being scattered around the world as sequences of zeroes and ones: bits. We cannot escape this explosion of digital information, the technology has enabled unprecedented innovation, entertainment, collaboration, and democratic participation. Can you control who sees all that personal information about you? Blown to Bits offers provocative answers to this question and tells intriguing real-life stories."

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