The ubiquity of technology that collects massive volumes of all kinds of data lends itself to one overarching question: “What?” As in what is the purpose(s) of this collection? What are the benefits? And, what are the impacts?

In his new book, Too Smart: How Digital Capitalism is Extracting Data, Controlling Our Lives, and Taking Over the World (MIT Press, 2020), Jathan Sadowski explores this question and those related in an investigation of the expansion of “smart” technologies – networked devices enabling automated data collection and use. In exploring the interests inherent in the design and deployment of smart technology, Sadowski, a Research Fellow in the Emerging Technologies Research Law at Monash University, investigates the political economy of digital capitalism, and the implications of continued reliance on and permeation of smart technology.