Hank Asher, a man you probably never heard of, was a pioneer in the development of data fusion technology. This technology is ever present in our lives from targeted marketing ads to data collected by our health care providers, the IRS, and law enforcement.
Asher’s career spanned a stint as a pilot running drugs in the Bahamas, founder of a house painting company, and finally a computer genius who developed data fusion technology. His story is fascinating. Funk’s presentation is like reading a thriller, but it’s a true story.
Data fusion relies on the ability to see patterns within and across data sets. Asher was a master of this and it was this ability that led him to develop the computer applications to use this technique on a commercial scale.
I was very impressed with Funks’ presentation. He’s able to give the general reader enough understanding of computer technology to make what Asher did understandable. He also presents the uses of this technology today and the privacy concerns it raises. Although Funk is a critic of the uses this technology has been put to, he acknowledges that it has helpful as as well as harmful applications. One of the helpful applications is finding groups exploiting children through child pornography.
I enjoyed the book. If you’re interested in privacy issues it’s a good source of information as well as being an entertaining read.
Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for this review copy.
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