Sofa Spotlight - GCHQ, Richard Aldrich

This is the second time I’ve read this book, although the edition I’ve just read had a new chapter so that was exciting. The book is about the history of what GCHQ has been doing, how its role has changed and how effective it has been. It’s very factual and a good informative read. I particularly enjoyed the sections on the Cold War but that’s because I looked at it in history sometime when I was at school.

But there are some very interesting conclusions to the book around privacy and security as technology arises and computers are everywhere. I think we are all becoming more aware of how much influence social media and algorithms and digital advertising are influencing our lives now, along with the rise of things like fake news. And these things are probably not going to go away anytime soon. But what this book made me think about is – how much do I like the convenience of all the technology – like ordering take out on my phone without having to speak to a person (brilliant) or my washing machine being smart enough to remember how I like my laundry to be done, and how much do I hate the invasion of my privacy when all these things can be monitored and tell marketers all about my preferences for spicy curry.

Certainly food for thought.