Holy shit, we're being brainwashed by evil doers

In his new book Jeff Chester says that we are secretly being tracked. But we thought this shit was already out in the open. "It's an ad, ad, ad world," declares Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center on Digital Democracy, in "Digital Destiny," which updates a theme in Vance Packard's 1957 "The Hidden Persuaders" for the internet age. The tome from New Press charges that consumers aren't aware just how much the internet is being turned into a vehicle to gather marketing information. Mr. Chester and his wife, Kathryn Montgomery, have played a major role in Washington policy debates in the past over privacy. Ms. Montgomery's research on children's privacy issues and website activities in the 1990s led to a Federal Trade Commission hearing and congressional passage of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, which limits the data that can be collected from kids. Ms. Montgomery has her own forthcoming book. America Is Being 'Brandwashed' Claims Author [Ad Age]