Book Review: “Pax Technica” by Phillip N. Howard

Pax Technica by Phillip N. Howard

 The subtitle gives you the thesis of the book, “How the Internet of Things May Set Us Free or Lock Us Up”.

Howard is particularly concerned with the political dimensions of digital networks, in a very broad sense of the word ‘politics’. As he argues, there are a range of “governance goods”, which can be provided in different ways by governments or others. Digital networks can be used to provide governance, especially if other institutions fail to do so.

The Internet of Things is rapidly developing, as more and more devices have sensors, radios, and connect to the network. These devices will communicate with other devices, and will track many kinds of behavior. Overall, it will be millions of times more devices, and data than the human Internet (take that, puny humans!) and millions of times more intrusive.

If current device networks can track your spending, movement, and social contacts; the IoT will be able to track pretty much all your behavior-what you eat, how you use products, how you feel, and so on. This is happening now, and it is important that the IoT not be created solely by technologies, companies, and governments. We need to make sure it is designed right, or it will be a nightmare.

 “The internet of things will help bring structure to global politics, but we must work for a structure we want.” P. 183

 Howard has been studying the internet for many years, which he brings to his consideration of the IOT. Much of the book is lessons from the Internet which show the good and bad political effects of the current Internet. Popular uprisings enabled by social media, and dissidents crushed via social media. Twitter campaigns exposing repression and corruption, twitter lynchings. And so on.

Some of his insights may be misleading (because the IoT is different from social media), but he raises quite a few interesting questions.

For one thing, his perception of the development of alternative infrastructures in China, Russia, Iran, and elsewhere is interesting and helps us understand why resources are being directed as they are. No sane engineer would desire to create a second, Chinese-run Internet. But every savvy big-power politician would want to do so.

Howard makes good points about social science being out of touch. I can confirm that there is a shocking level of ignorance about digital communication and communities. Wikis, bug tracking systems, and their variants are not exactly a secret. But most professors who study organizations and groups seem to have little knowledge of them.

Howard raises good points about the coming IOT, and makes some extremely sensible recommendations in Chapter 7.

“First, the devices on the internet of tings should tithe for the public good. … What if the internet f things rolled out a kind of “technology tithe”some portion of the device’s abilities were reserved for open and public use?” (p. 243-4)

“Second, the data produces over the internet of things should be more openly shared than that which is being produced by the current internet of mobile phones and computers. … If users can’t opt out of being surveilled by device networks…users should have the ability to add to the list of organizations who can have access to data flows.” Pp 244-5)

“Third, people should be allowed to decide what kinds of data about their lives should qualify for the “aftermarket”. (p. 245)

“Fourth, each device produced for the internet of things needs to be able to report the ultimate beneficiary of the data it collects.” (p. 247)

 And, again, the critical point is that everyone needs to be involved in this development, not just companies and governments.

In places, this book is thick going, where Howard jumps around from topic to topic, example to example, and uses a lot of value-laden language. It’s not so much that I disagree with him, that I pulled back from his blanket endorsements of the virtues and vices of the political actors he discusses.

My biggest gripe is the general attitude that governments (and companies and other institutions) are “failures” when they fall short of what Howard (or me or you) wish they would be. Usually, these shortcomings are actually a “success” for somebody-elites, big companies, ethnic majorities, ideological cliques, whatever. In these cases, it is not really a matter that the government “can’t do it” so much as the government “isn’t allowed to do it”.

This particular point is important when it comes to using digital networks to “end run” around “failed” systems. If the system is really failed, then you are entering a vacuum. But if the system is “working” in the wrong direction, then grassroots efforts are entering direct political conflict. The latter is not only much more dangerous, it is far more morally ambiguous.

Ancient, grey-haired, Bolshies can tell you that it is important to think carefully before tackling powerful enemies with deep support. On digital media everyone looks the same size, so it may be easy to get into trouble with little possibility of winning anything of value. Politics is unavoidable, but strategy is still important even in the new digital age.

Overall, this is an interesting book, especially the final chapter. Since I have been researching and inventing the IoT for nearly two decades now, I found a lot to interest me, and some very provocative angles on familiar problems. But many readers will be frustrated by the “it’ll be either heaven or hell, I don’t know which” thesis.

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1. Howard, Phillip N., Pax Technica: How the Internet of Things May Set Us Free or Lock Us Up, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2015.

 

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