Your Data Will Be Used Against You by Andrew Guthrie Ferguson is an eye-opening exploration of how modern technology has turned our everyday devices into tools of surveillance. Ferguson clearly lays out how smart cars, watches, and home assistants quietly record our movements and habits, often under the guise of convenience and personalization. I found it especially powerful how he connected these technologies to the legal system, showing how data that feels private can easily be accessed and used by law enforcement. The examples he gives, from Google tracking locations to doorbell cameras providing footage to police, drive home just how little control we truly have once our information is collected.

What I appreciated most was that Ferguson doesn’t just sound the alarm. He also offers a path forward by presenting five practical ways individuals and communities can push back against digital surveillance, from supporting privacy-focused technology to electing representatives who value civil liberty over profit and policing. His perspective as a lawyer gives the book real weight, but his tone remains accessible and grounded. I finished it feeling more informed and more aware but also empowered to make better choices in my digital life.

This is a clear, practical walk through how your information moves and how that movement affects real decisions. The book is strongest when it sits inside ordinary moments and follows the chain from data to consequence. A rental application becomes a portrait stitched from old addresses, court records, and social connections. A job screening pulls from personality quizzes, keystroke timing, and attendance history. School discipline, health insurance approvals, and even retail theft prevention get the same treatment. The writing is calm and direct. Jargon is translated into plain terms, and each chapter ends with a few concrete steps you can actually try, which kept me engaged. I also liked the focus on who benefits, who is harmed, and why “neutral” systems produce uneven results. The central idea is simple and it holds: the more your data is collected, the more it will be used to sort you, often outside your view.

A few chapters circle similar risks, especially around background checks and risk scores, and the examples lean U.S. based, but the guidance still travels well. I would have liked more side by side comparisons that show how two people with similar facts can be treated differently depending on the dataset in play, since those contrasts help non-experts see the stakes. Even so, the mix of case studies and step by step advice makes this easy to recommend to general readers, parents, teachers, and anyone who fills out forms for a living. It’s practical without panic, which is rare for books in this space. I finished with a short list of habits to adopt and a better sense of which questions to ask when a system says no

Most of this book had me cheering for how surveillance technology has caught murderers and thieves to ensure that justice is served. However, it’s scary to think this same surveillance technology can be used against anyone who an extremist government decides is a criminal (e.g., someone who goes to a protest or place of worship). It’s also concerning how innocent people’s data has been accessed to assist in crime-solving, even if the ends might seem to justify the means. And of course, most Americans have willingly opted into this surveillance technology via our smartphones, cars, smart watches, and/or Alexa - and it’s increasingly difficult to avoid it.

This comprehensively-researched book does suggest some solutions. (Seriously - this book has an incredible amount of resources, all properly cited.) I was hoping this book would have a list of practical solutions to reduce how much of our data we give away, but I’m sure I can find that elsewhere. It primarily advocates for supporting politicians and organizations that will push for legal protection. If it happens, that would get to the real heart of the issue.

I hope predators continue to get caught, but I also hope this book will be a wake-up call for everyone else. You might think you have nothing to hide - but what if one day, the police or government decide differently?

Thank you to NetGalley and NYU Press for the free eARC.

This review will be posted to Goodreads and Amazon within one week of the book’s publication date if not earlier.

What an encompassing, interesting read. There are so many facets to this book, so many elements that had me wanting to change as much as I can. Not for the legal aspects, but for the privacy.
This is well written, succinct and easy to read. It explains so well what technology is doing and the amazing things it has achieved and the way that the Government is using it to keep citizens safe..