Surveillance Valley
The internet is the most effective weapon the government has ever built. In this fascinating book, investigative reporter Yasha Levine uncovers the secret origins of the internet, tracing it back to a Pentagon counterinsurgency surveillance project. A visionary intelligence officer, William Godel, realized that the key to winning the war in Vietnam was not outgunning the enemy, but using new information technology to understand their motives and anticipate their movements. This idea--using computers to spy on people and groups perceived as a threat, both at home and abroad--drove ARPA to develop the internet in the 1960s, and continues to be at the heart of the modern internet we all know and use today. As Levine shows, surveillance wasn't something that suddenly appeared on the internet; it was woven into the fabric of the technology. But this isn't just a story about the NSA or other domestic programs run by the government. As the book spins forward in time, Levine examines the private surveillance business that powers tech-industry giants like Google, Facebook, and Amazon, revealing how these companies spy on their users for profit, all while doing double duty as military and intelligence contractors. Levine shows that the military and Silicon Valley are effectively inseparable: a military-digital complex that permeates everything connected to the internet, even coopting and weaponizing the antigovernment privacy movement that sprang up in the wake of Edward Snowden.
Stats for nerds
23recommend
43mentions
34people
2016–2026years
70% recommend28% neutral2% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Jup! From day 2, the moment when they discover that customer data (yours, mine, everyone's) is more valuable than gold. Also the interaction with government and defense and intelligence is well documented: from google docs to maps and clouds.
I wish people will read "Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet" by Yasha Levine and stop feigning ignorance. I even expect that minimal level of awareness about the real business culture and inherent nature of these internet mega-corps for people in top positions.
"Don't Be Evil" is a psychological machination for people working at google to ease their life in work related cognitive dissonance and marketing speak to the rest of us.
If I were an angel (actual, not fallen yet) I will not tell my self: "Don’t Be Evil". My motto will be "keep being holy" or "be holier" or something that keep me in my angelic state or better.
So even the “Don’t Be Evil” motto by itself already spill the beans!
- Means of Control by Byron Tau and Surveillance Valley by Yasha Levine. Can’t recommend these books enough for anyone who is skeptical of the above claim.
- Palantir is just a wing of the intelligence network / military industrial complex. The NSA has been using private front companies to get around the 4th amendment and suck down as much data as possible about ALL citizens for decades now.
Much of the technology built in SV was either birthed in a military research lab (ARPA / DARPA) or built in a private context with an intended military / surveillance use case. Much of this tech is highly lucrative due to its invasive nature but make no mistake that is not the main reason for its development.
Read Surveillance Valley by Yasha Levine and Means of control by Byron Tau if you want to learn more. If you read those books it will become abundantly clear what Palantir is, and it’s nothing new.
People think you have to be designing missiles or tanks to count as a military contractor but not all military technology looks violent on its face. Much of it operates underneath the hood and is used to target said missles or simply provide a way for decision makers to wash their hands of cold blooded murder. See: https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/03/24/...
- "Surveillance Valley" is another excellent book about the tech industry's military roots.
- I highly recommend this book. It goes into who funds these things.
https://www.amazon.com/Surveillance-Valley-Military-History-...
- “allowed” is doing a hell of a lot of work for monopoly capitalism backed by us state diplomacy
you may want to read this book about the military history of the internet originating in counter insurgency strategy in vietnam.
https://www.amazon.com/Surveillance-Valley-Military-History-...
another way to look at american internet penetration is as “radio free asia dot com”
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