Blown to Bits Chapter 2

This chapter was about privacy online and how much of it we have online. It made an allusion to the book 1984 for its prediction of a world full of surveillance. It claims that now we may need more surveillance than privacy for the sake of our own safety. The chapter goes on to explain how everything we do leaves behind information. This is how it is connected to 1984. In that book everyone is monitored. Similarly, now in London there is a camera for every 12 residents. Some other facts from this chapter are:

• the information we leave on computers is similar to a fingerprint
• this means that everything we do online is public
• as technology is improving it is easier to transmit information

This chapter mainly touches on the information we leave behind and how the government may use it.

Blown to Bits Chapter 1

This chapter was about bits. It starts with an anecdote of about a missing woman who was only found because of the bits sent from her phone. What I learned from this chapter was:

• Computers read bits and interpret them
• Some bits that are sent out will never be seen by humans because they may at times contain information that is unnecessary
• Bits can reveal patterns
• Everything digital is all made up of bits
• Bits are useless unless there is a device to read it
• A computer's ability to read bits keeps on improving
• There are several advantages as well as disadvantages to all this information