SKU: 11362339933

The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money And Information

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The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money And InformationThe Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money And Information Every day, corporations are connecting the dots about our personal behaviorsilently scrutinizing clues left behind by our work habits and Internet use. The data compiled and portraits created are incredibly detailed, to the point of being invasive. But who connects the dots about what firms are doing with this information? The Black Box Society argues that we all need to

The Black Box Society: The Secret Algorithms That Control Money And Information

Every day, corporations are connecting the dots about our personal behavior—silently scrutinizing clues left behind by our work habits and Internet use. The data compiled and portraits created are incredibly detailed, to the point of being invasive. But who connects the dots about what firms are doing with this information? The Black Box Society argues that we all need to be able to do so—and to set limits on how big data affects our lives.

Hidden algorithms can make (or ruin) reputations, decide the destiny of entrepreneurs, or even devastate an entire economy. Shrouded in secrecy and complexity, decisions at major Silicon Valley and Wall Street firms were long assumed to be neutral and technical. But leaks, whistleblowers, and legal disputes have shed new light on automated judgment. Self-serving and reckless behavior is surprisingly common, and easy to hide in code protected by legal and real secrecy. Even after billions of dollars of fines have been levied, underfunded regulators may have only scratched the surface of this troubling behavior.

Frank Pasquale exposes how powerful interests abuse secrecy for profit and explains ways to rein them in. Demanding transparency is only the first step. An intelligible society would assure that key decisions of its most important firms are fair, nondiscriminatory, and open to criticism. Silicon Valley and Wall Street need to accept as much accountability as they impose on others.

'Recognized internationally as a landmark work of law and political economy.' - Commonweal

'If you are a person in America, then there are equations trying to learn more about you… Some of these equations work for private companies and some of them work for the government, but they all generate correlations based on your behavior… Frank Pasquale’s new book The Black Box Society is a tour of how computational intelligence has come to dominate three important parts of American life: reputation, search, and finance.' - New Republic

'Frank Pasquale’s notable new book, The Black Box Society, tries to come to grips with the dangers of ‘runaway data’ and ‘black box algorithms’ more comprehensively than any other book to date… It’s an important read for anyone who is interested in the hidden pitfalls of ‘big data’ and who wants to understand just how quantified our lives have become without our knowledge.' - Slate

'Everyone who uses the Internet for entertainment, education, news or commerce is implicated in a web of data collection whose breadth surpasses ordinary awareness… As [Pasquale’s] expose…shows, this is a society in which basic functions are performed in deliberate obscurity through the collection and algorithmic manipulation of personal data… In The Black Box Society, Pasquale finds reason to believe that even some of the most secretive and unresponsive institutions can be held to account. Elucidating the problem is a first step.' - Nature

'The Black Box Society offers a good dose of fresh thinking and may advance our debates over privacy. It also helps greatly that it is a good read, not just for those who are curious about privacy but also for those who are already familiar with the privacy literature.' - Science

'Frank Pasquale’s new book on the secret algorithms that motor the monstrous heart of big data is a timely work of non-fiction, a ‘true conspiracy’ about regulatory weakness in the face of technological hubris and greed.' - Flavorwire

'Pasquale has emerged as one of the go-to thinkers on Big Data and the algorithmic economy, and The Black Box Society (along with his Twitter feed) is a great—if discomfiting—place to start. You’ll come away overwhelmed by the speed and recklessness of data compilation and its uses and abuses.' - Flavorwire

'Required reading in many law school and computer science courses… Details how secret databases and little-known applications of AI algorithms have had harmful effects on finance, business, education, and politics. These opaque practices violate personal privacy, lower credit ratings, and make unfair or biased decisions on parole, mortgage, and job applications.' - Issues in Science and Technology

'By carefully breaking down ‘the business practices of leading Internet and finance companies, focusing on their use of proprietary reputation, search, and finance technologies,’ Pasquale pulls off an amazing feat of explanation, simultaneously and seamlessly explaining how and why black boxes exist, as well as what they can control and what happens when society entrusts black box technology with consequential decisions and hands immense power to the black box firms of Silicon Valley and Wall Street… The Black Box Society is a first-rate work of synthesis, combining ideas from law and economics, interpretive social science, science studies, and the philosophy of technology into an essential study of the political economy of information.' - Law Library Journal

'The Black Box Society is a frightening portrait of the ever more powerful shadowy world that blocks light from reaching our everyday lives. It is also a call to action, with a range of suggestions that inevitably pale in comparison to the gargantuan task at hand. But small steps sometimes have outsize consequences. Just ask the folks who control what we see, influence what we buy, and determine whether we can pay for it.' - Reading the Markets

'The algorithmic control that law scholar Frank Pasquale eloquently and intelligently details and analyzes goes beyond money information and into almost every aspect of our lives. For this reason, although it might appear merely to be a book about technology and finance, The Black Box Society, ultimately, is a radical and political work that deserves wide attention… The Black Box Society includes, for example, a fine explanation of the way that corporate and government surveillance work in concert and why we should be concerned about both… [Pasquale’s] brutal on the subject of the NSA, but devastating in his critique of Facebook, Twitter and Google and the myths that continue to surround them: myths of neutrality, myth about the ephemeral nature of their power and more. His analysis of search is pointed and poignant, underlining that we need to understand it better and treat search results more critically and sceptically… Pasquale’s detailed analyses, and his recipes not just for transparency but also for accountability, for more rigour in regulation and harder-hitting enforcement, deserve a careful read—and then action.' - Times Higher Education

'This book by Pasquale is disturbing. The premise is that corporate and public unchecked use of computer algorithms to collect and analyze data harms the public… Pasquale calls out Google, Facebook, and the financial industry for unchecked use of data to make profits and broken promises of privacy protection.' - Library Journal

SPECIFICATIONS:

Author:Frank Paskual - Фрэнк Паскуале

Publisher:Harvard University Press

Language:English

Publication Date:2016

Number of pages:320 pst

Format:Paperback

Width:156 mm / 6,1'

Height:235 mm / 9,3'

Weight:345 g

ISBN:9780674970847

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SKU: 11362339933

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Susan
Massapequa, US
★★★★★ 3
Defective Battery
Style: 20V Pwr Drv Trimmer (LST522-CA)
The trimmer works fine. Luckily I have many batteries. The battery that came with it is defective and I can’t seems to just exchange the battery for a good one.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2026
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JR1962
Lexington, US
★★★★★ 5
FAST. Powerful. Easy to use.
Size: 8" Edger New
WOW! I bought a new house a couple of months ago, and the landscaping company overlapped the edge of the driveway with the sod. I've bee trying to trim it back with my string trimmer, but the results were less than desirable. I got my new edger today, and I am astonished at the results! ruler straight edging, 2 1/2" deep and 1/4" wide. PERFECT! . . . and the whole front yard took less than 10 minutes! The edger is very powerful - it easily cut through the sod, deep into the dirt underneath leaving a nice clean edge. My neighbor has a lawncare company, and he was watching me. He came over and said he was going to get one for his jobs, as it is much faster and easier to use.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2025
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Abby L
Cuba, US
★★★★★ 5
Easy to edge with
Size: 8" Edger New
This works great to edge an overgrown area like sidewalk and driveway. Super effective and easy to use.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2026
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M. M. Bowden
Cuba, US
★★★★★ 5
GREAT 80v edger (but Kobalt users beware)
Size: 8" Edger Gen1, Size: 8" Edger Gen1
This Greenworks 80v edger is fantastic. I was surprised at how sturdy and rigid the shaft is - much more so than the very much more expensive Stihl Brushcutter I used for years. I like the adjustability of the blade depth and the power is impressive. You will get more run time with higher amp batteries - I have both 2.0 and 2.5 amp batteries, but if you have multiple batteries and chargers (from acquiring multiple tools) you will never be waiting for a battery to charge. If you have only purchased Greenworks tools, then you are golden. BUT HERE IS THE RUB IF YOU, LIKE ME, THOUGHT THEY WERE STRAIGHT-ACROSS COMPATIBLE WITH THE SAME LINE OF TOOLS THEY MANUFACTURED FOR LOWE'S UNDER THE KOBALT MONIKER AND BLUE COLOR, AS DIFFERENTIATED FROM THEIR STANDARD BRIGHT GREEN. One of the reasons I went ahead and committed to buying the Kobalt line of 80v yard tools was because Greenworks made them and I figured that it would be a long-lasting and stable design platform, being the same 80v system across two different brands. Then Lowe's dropped the 80v line. I was able to get a few more of their tools for great clearance prices and looked forward to switching over to the complete line of Greenworks 80v tools. was very happy to be able to order their edger because it's the exact same power system - just that all of my gear is Kobalt blue. AND HERE IS THE DEAL WITH THAT: They are different. The Kobalt 80v battery will not fit/slide into the Greenworks 80v battery compartment/housing (*as manufactured). - I guess I shouldn't have been surprised - and it could have been Lowe's that required that the stuff made for them specifically would be incompatible. But since it's the same power system, I wondered what the difference was and if I could work-around their obstructionist corporate bs. What I discovered was that the battery compartment on the tools have two long molded channel-guides (male) that match the two long molded (female) channels in the batteries. The vertical placement of the bottom 'rail' in the tool/compartment is positioned in a slightly different spot between the Kobalt and Greenworks 'brands'. But this actually works, because I just used a hand chisel and removed the 'bottom' rail from the Greenworks tool/edger. WA-LA - EUREKA!!! It worked great! It's a great fit, the top rail is more than enough to hold the battery stably in position and the 'lock' mechanism functions perfectly! I am looking forward to buying more tools in the Greenworks 80 volt line without having to replace all of the Kobalt tools I already paid for AND ESPECIALLY the rediculously expensive batteries...
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Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2021
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Ryan
Bozeman, US
★★★★★ 4
Great product that makes edging very fast
Size: 8" Edger New
Edging was quite a job because I had to do it with a hand tool. I have quite a few Greenwork tools, so I decided to purchase the edger. It works great and I am in general happy with it. The three downsides for me are that tool is quite heavy when it also has the battery in it, that the metal blade decreases in size rapidly because of the friction when edging near concrete, and that the wheel is in such a position that I have to bend substantially while the blade does not edge deep enough so that I have to lean the tool on the metal strip at the bottom of the tool.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2025

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