EricCWelch

Also http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/11/anonymous-web-nsa-trail-janet-vertesi

"What's Kafkaesque, is when you enter a surreal world in which all your control patterns, all your plans, the whole way in which you have configured your own behaviour, begins to fall to pieces, when you find yourself against a force that does not lend itself to the way you perceive the world." Kafka Biographer

Professor Vertesi, sociologist at Princeton, in an experiment, tried to prevent marketing types from learning of her pregnancy by eliminating all references on social media and using cash exclusively. The ramifications were more than she bargained for.

Some quotes:  "The first is Melvin Kranzberg's observation that "technology is neither good nor bad; nor is it neutral". Our technologies have values built into them, which is why Vertesi in her talk cites someone's observation that "the iPod is a tool to make us moral" (because it encourages people to buy music rather than download it illicitly) and philosophers argue about whether surveillance encourages moral – ie socially approved – behaviour (think speed cameras)."

"You said you quit all Google products two years ago. What was the breaking point for you?