Please join authors Aram Sinnreich (USC Annenberg ’07) and Jesse Gilbert, in conversation with USC School of Dramatic Arts lecturer Ahmed Best, to discuss their new book The Secret Life of Data (MIT Press, 2024).

In The Secret Life of Data, Sinnreich and Gilbert explore the many unpredictable, and often surprising, ways in which data surveillance, AI, and the constant presence of algorithms impact our culture and society in the age of global networks. The authors build on this basic premise: no matter what form data takes, and what purpose we think it’s being used for, data will always have a secret life. How this data will be used, by other people in other times and places, has profound implications for every aspect of our lives — from our intimate relationships to our professional lives to our political systems.

With the secret uses of data in mind, Sinnreich and Gilbert interview dozens of experts to explore a broad range of scenarios and contexts — from the playful to the profound to the problematic. Unlike most books about data and society that focus on the short-term effects of our immense data usage, The Secret Life of Data focuses primarily on the long-term consequences of humanity’s recent rush toward digitizing, storing, and analyzing every piece of data about ourselves and the world we live in. The authors advocate for “slow fixes” regarding our relationship to data, such as creating new laws and regulations, ethics and aesthetics, and models of production for our datafied society.

Cutting through the hype and hopelessness that so often inform discussions of data and society, The Secret Life of Data clearly and straightforwardly demonstrates how readers can play an active part in shaping how digital technology influences their lives and the world at large.

“I have been waiting a long time for a clearly written book that cuts through the hype and describes how data — big and small, old and new — actually operate in our lives. Neither utopian nor dystopian, The Secret Life of Data just tells it like it is.” — Siva Vaidhyanathan, professor of media studies, The University of Virginia; author of Antisocial Media and The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry).

Sinnreich is an author, professor, and musician, currently serving as chair of communication studies at American University. His books include Mashed Up, The Piracy Crusade, The Essential Guide to Intellectual Property, The Secret Life of Data, and sci-fi novel A Second Chance for Yesterday (published as R.A. Sinn). He has written articles about culture, law, and technology for outlets including The New York Times, Billboard, Wired, The Daily Beast, and Rolling Stone, and has appeared as an expert commentator on CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR, and elsewhere.

Gilbert is a transdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of image, sound, and code, creating flexible frameworks that are activated in live performance, via network interaction, or in installation settings. He was founding chair of the Media Technology department at Woodbury University and has taught interactive software design at CalArts and UC San Diego. His work has been presented across the globe, including museums and performance venues in Los Angeles, Berlin, Istanbul, New York, Tokyo, Paris, São Paulo, and elsewhere.