‘Freedom to Think: The Long Struggle to Liberate Our Minds’ (Atlantic Books, ISBN: 9781838951528, £20) is the latest in a flurry of books warning that our present technological landscape is putting control of our very thoughts and behaviour up for sale. It finds a niche in this crowded market thanks to author Susie Alegre’s expertise in human rights law, specifically in digital human rights.
The right to freedom of thought (distinct from free expression) is a cornerstone of human rights. The right to something so private, so internal, is easy to take for granted. The Cambridge Analytica scandal was an unwelcome reminder that companies, political parties, intelligence agencies, and other organisations are only too enthusiastic to intrude on the privacy of our minds and ‘rearrange the furniture’.
“What’s for sale can be banal, like a choice of underwear, or profound, like a belief in the power of national sovereignty,” Alegre warns.
‘Freedom to Think’ begins...