Acknowledgments

There are a number of people who were an enormous help in not just writing this book, but in gestating the ideas, and connecting me to the right interviewees and resources. My memory being what it is, I’m unlikely to give proper credit to all the necessary parties, so apologies in advance to anyone I’ve missed.

The first person I need to thank is Mike Rispoli, who was kind enough to be technical editor on the book. His many insights, and his vast knowledge in the subject area were an incalculable help.

Secondly I’d like to thank Ben Rearick, my editor at Elsevier, and Chris Katsaropolous, also of Elsevier, who put me in touch with Ben. Thanks also go to everyone else at Elsevier who made the whole process so clear and simple throughout.

I’d also like to express a special thank you to David Davis MP, who was kind enough to write the forward. David is a staunch privacy advocate and more figures like him are needed in government.

It would be remiss of me not to thank my interviewees, every one of whom improved the book hugely with their insight. Privacy International were extremely forthcoming with spokespeople and information whenever asked, and special mention too must go to Acxiom, who were happy to speak to me despite the tricky nature of the book’s subject and its relation to their business model.

Finally I’d like to thank Raj Samani for suggesting I write the book in the first place, and my wife for putting up with my need to spend weekends keeping up with my writing schedule instead of chasing after our screaming, unruly children.