Reset: Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society

How can we comprehend and restrain the negative impact of the internet on politics, the economy, the environment and humanity? Reset is a fast-paced, compelling expose and a rallying call for clear change. Drawing on the cutting-edge research of Citizen Lab, the world-renowned digital security research group he founded, Ronald J. Deibert exposes the influence of the communications ecosystem on society. He tracks a mostly unregulated surveillance industry, innovations in technologies of remote control, superpower policing practices, dark PR firms and highly profitable hack-for-hire services feeding off rivers of poorly secured personal data. He also unearths how dependence on social media and its expanding universe of consumer electronics creates immense pressure on the natural environment. Determined to find solutions, Deibert has written a unique, readable and forward-looking book. In order to combat authoritarian practices, environmental degradation and rampant electronic consumerism, Deibert argues for a set of very specific restraints on tech platforms and governments to reclaim the internet for civil society. It's time for us to push RESET.

About the Author :
Ronald J. Deibert is professor of Political Science and founder and director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto. The Citizen Lab undertakes interdisciplinary research at the intersection of global security, information and communications technologies, and human rights. The research outputs of the Citizen Lab are routinely covered in global media, including more than two dozen reports that received exclusive front-page coverage in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other global media over the last decade. Deibert is the author of Black Code: Surveillance, Privacy, and the Dark Side of the Internet, as well as numerous books, chapters, articles, and reports on internet censorship, surveillance and cybersecurity.

Review :
'No one has done more than Ron Deibert and his lab to expose the enemies of the internet ... Reset is the definitive narrative of where we went wrong and a last chance to make things right.' Edward Snowden - 'Deibert is a rare hybrid who combines an advanced understanding of computer technology with a rich background in political science. He is also a legend in security and tech circles.' Misha Glenny, McMafia - 'Tech is at a crossroads between oppression and liberation, and Ronald J. Deibert is our leading expert on the forces steering it in either direction. Reset is a road map revealing the secret alleys and byways that brought us to this juncture, and the ways ahead that we could navigate to a better future.' Cory Doctorow, author of Radicalized and Walkaway - 'Ron Deibert has been at the heart of analysing the harms of technology to human rights, and increasingly to the human condition, for decades. His deep research and clear moral compass make his plea for a "reset" an urgent one ... Essential reading.' Marietje Schaake, international policy director of the Cyber Policy Center, Stanford University, and president of the CyberPeace Institute