# The Soft Cage

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/christian-parenti/the-soft-cage

![The Soft Cage](https://quivercdn.com/covers/basic-books/christian-parenti/the-soft-cage_978-04-6505-485-5.jpg?v=2026-05-13%2021%3A22%3A05)

- Authors: [Christian Parenti](https://www.bookquiver.com/christian-parenti)
- Language: en_GB
- Published: 2004-11-24

## Description

On a typical day, you might make a call on a cell phone, withdraw money at an ATM, visit the mall, and make a purchase with a credit card. Each of these routine transactions leaves a digital trail for government agencies and businesses to access. As cutting-edge historian and journalist Christian Parenti points out, these everyday intrusions on privacy, while harmless in themselves, are part of a relentless (and clandestine) expansion of routine surveillance in American life over the last two centuries-from controlling slaves in the old South to implementing early criminal justice and tracking immigrants. Parenti explores the role computers are playing in creating a whole new world of seemingly benign technologies-such as credit cards, website " cookies," and electronic toll collection-that have expanded this trend in the twenty-first century. The Soft Cage offers a compelling, vitally important history lesson for every American concerned about the expansion of surveillance into our public and private lives.

## Editions

### The Soft Cage

- Publisher: basic_books
- ISBN: 978-04-6505-485-5
- Pages: 1
- Published: 2004-11-24
- Language: en_GB