Afterlives of Data

Life and Debt under Capitalist Surveillance

Mary F.E. Ebeling

$157.95

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

University of California Press
14 June 2022

Social issues & processes; Sociology; Crime & criminology; Public health & safety law; Impact of science & technology on society

What our health data tells American capitalism about our value—and how it controls our lives.

Afterlives of Data follows the curious and multiple lives that our data live once they escape us. Mary F. E. Ebeling’s ethnographic investigation shows how information about our health and the debt we carry become biopolitical assets owned by healthcare providers, insurers, commercial data brokers, credit reporting companies, and platforms. By delving into the oceans of data built from everyday medical and debt traumas, Ebeling reveals how data about our lives come to control our bodies and our life chances and to wholly define us.

Investigations into secretive data collection and breaches of privacy by the likes of Cambridge Analytica have piqued concerns among many Americans about exactly what is being done with their data. From credit bureaus and consumer data brokers like Equifax and Experian to the secretive military contractor Palantir, this massive industry has little regulatory oversight for health data and works to actively obscure how it profits from our data. In this book, Ebeling follows the afterlives of health data––medical information extracted from patients’ bodies, digitized and repackaged into new data commodities––that go on to live in database lakes and oceans, algorithms, and statistical models used to score patients on their creditworthiness and riskiness. Afterlives of Data is a critical and disturbing narrative that examines how Americans’ data about their health and their debt are used in the service of marketing and capitalist surveillance.

By: Mary F.E. Ebeling
Imprint: University of California Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 20mm
Weight: 408g
ISBN: 9780520307728
ISBN 10: 0520307720
Pages: 218
Publication Date: 14 June 2022
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Acknowledgments Introduction: Data Lives On 1. Tracing Life through Data 2. Building Trust Where Data Divides 3. Collecting Life 4. Mobilizing Alternative Data 5. On Scoring Life 6. Data Visibilities Epilogue: Afterlife Notes References Index

Mary F. E. Ebeling is Associate Professor of Sociology and affiliate faculty at the Center for Science, Technology and Society, Drexel University. She is author of Healthcare and Big Data: Digital Specters and Phantom Objects.

Reviews for Afterlives of Data: Life and Debt under Capitalist Surveillance

""Well-grounded in current real-world issues, this text is both highly informative and approachable for readers thanks to the author's clear explanations and aptly chosen references. . . . Highly recommended."" * CHOICE * ""Ebeling’s book sheds light on the point where our health and debt data meet. . . .this book’s valuable insights into how data, power, and ideology fortify each other in today’s data-based society can be extended to many other fields within the social sciences."" * Exertions *