This little booklet from Grove Books is an excellent piece of work from Mark Ireland, Archdeacon of Blackburn in the Church of England.
Quote from Cover
The Internet has revolutionised how we interact with the world and one another. Yet the technology that many of us use on an everyday basis comes at an often unseen cost. Surveillance capitalism is the practice of exploiting information about individual’s preferences habits and behaviour for profit. This incisive study surveys a handful of large corporations and contrasts their unhealthy use of surveillance with a loving gaze of God. It argues that we must be aware of the pitfalls of the digital revolution, while finding creative ways to harness it, include the marginalised, build social capital and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ
First Class review and analysis of the ground and is far more accessible than Zuboff’s magisterial Surveillance Capitalism (London: Profile Books 2019).
I would have welcomed a little more theological reflection on the “Loving Gaze of God” although pointers to E Stoddart’s The Common Gaze (London: SCM Press 2021) was most useful.
This booklet is highly recommended:
But it from Grove Books – Here is a link