DAVID BRIN's transparency page

The Transparent Society

the book that made us look

The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom? was published in May 1998 by Perseus Press (formerly Addison Wesley). This large nonfiction work concerns threats to privacy and openness in the information age. It won the Obeler Freedom of Speech Award from the American Library Association and was a finalist for the McGannon Public Policy Prize, and is still in print.

Our society has one great knack above all others — one that no other ever managed — that of holding the mighty accountable. Although elites of all kinds still have many advantages over commonfolk, never before have citizens been so empowered. And history shows that this didn't happen by blinding the mighty — a futile endeavor that has never worked. It happened by insisting that everybody get to see. By citizens demanding the power to know.

the infamous page 206

a prophecy or a warning?

This is the page where — in a creepy "Twilight zone" moment — The Transparent Society seemed to predict the events of 9/11 and the details of the Patriot Act:

"As a mental experiment, let's go along with FBI director Freehand try to envisage what might have happened if those bombers had actually succeeded in toppling both towers of New York's World Trade Center, killing tens of thousands. Or imagine that nuclear or bio-plague terrorists someday devastate a city. Now picture the public reaction if the FBI ever managed to show real (or exaggerated) evidence that they were impeded in preventing the disaster by an inability to tap coded transmissions sent by the conspirators. They would follow this proof with a petition for new powers, to prevent the same thing from happening again."

more privacy piranhas, fewer surveillance sharks?

Thanks to the great science fiction author, George Orwell, we share a compelling metaphor — Big Brother — propelling our fears about a future that may be dominated by tyrants. Finding ways to escape that fate — and instead preserve this narrow, fragile renaissance of freedom — is the common goal of activists across the spectrum.

hidden money hoards revealed!

You may have heard that a consortium of journalists, working on a cache of 2.5 million recently spilled files, has cracked open the secrets of more than 120,000 offshore companies and trusts, exposing hidden dealings of politicians, con men and mega-rich the world over. If preliminary reports prove to be true, it could portend the start of a worldwide radical movement for transparency that I forecast (including — for dramatic effect — a world war on Switzerland) in my 1989 novel Earth.

monitoring from below?

Sousveillance isn't just a response to surveillance, it is the wellspring of freedom. We should ask which is more important: what government knows about us, or what it might do to us? Actions can be observed and transgressors held accountable by a brash citizenry monitoring from below — when the goal to preserve both freedom and safety.

fixing our intelligence

In the wake of Edward Snowden's revelations about the U.S. Intelligence Community — and the subsequent storm of protest — President Obama appointed a blue ribbon commission to survey the situation and report back with recommendations. The contents of their report — now made public — were certain to raise controversy. Which fixes would you want?

a parable about openness

Perhaps the best cursory look at the unusual argument made in The Transparent Society can be found in "Akademos: A Parable about Openness." An extended excerpt — plus some summarized points — is available for reading on this website.

what do we do when we lose our privacy?

Watch this speech delivered at Bard College's Hannah Arendt Center, where Brin notes that wanting to preserve privacy is only the beginning. How do we preserve it, when we look for Big Brother in government and universities and corporations and fail to see the ones living next door?