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  • All the Ghosts in the Machine

  • The Digital Afterlife of your Personal Data
  • By: Elaine Kasket
  • Narrated by: Elaine Kasket
  • Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (13 ratings)
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All the Ghosts in the Machine

By: Elaine Kasket
Narrated by: Elaine Kasket
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Summary

Seen any ghosts on your smartphone lately?

As we're compelled to capture, store and share more and more of our personal information, there's something we often forget. All that data doesn't just disappear when our physical bodies shuffle off this mortal coil. If the concept of remaining socially active after you're no longer breathing sounds crazy, you might want to get used to the idea. Digital afterlives are a natural consequence of the information age, a reality that barely anyone has prepared for - and that 'anyone' probably includes you.

In All the Ghosts in the Machine, psychologist Elaine Kasket sounds a clarion call to everyone who's never thought about death in the digital age. When someone's hyperconnected, hyperpersonal digital footprint is transformed into their lasting legacy, she asks, who is helped, who is hurt and who's in charge? And why is now such a critical moment to take our heads out of the sand?

Weaving together personal, moving true stories and scientific research, All the Ghosts in the Machine takes you on a fascinating tour through the valley of the shadow of digital death. In the process, it will transform how you think about your life and your legacy, in a time when our technologies are tantalising us with fantasies of immortality.

©2019 Elaine Kasket (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"As charming and touching as it is astute and insightful." (Adam Alter, New York Times best-selling author of Irresistible and Drunk Tank Pink)

"Elaine Kasket offers a compelling deep dive into the complexities of the digital age and what happens to a person's online life after their death - the impact which can often be devastating for bereaved families. All the Ghosts in the Machine makes you stop and think about how you would want your online assets to be managed after you die and what steps you might need to take to do so." (Sue Morris, Director of Bereavement Services, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston)

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Interesting and thought provoking

An animated narration by the author brings what might be a dry subject to life. This book will make you reassess the quality and quantity of your "digital dust" and draws interesting parallels between traditional and digital mourning.

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A must read for all of us

As digital users we have a responsibility. This book describes what that responsibility looks like, and gives case examples, sharing stories of what a digital legacy looks like, be it positive or negative. When we die we will all leave a legacy of some kind, Elaine Kasket reminds us that in the digital age we may not have ownership of that legacy. This book enables the reader to consider the kind of digital privacy that they have and how this will impact on their own legacy come what may. An important read that has come at exactly the right time.

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Thought provoking and accessible

This is a thought provoking book, both for general audiences and for experts. It beautifully illustrates a larger trend in society using a series of real life stories that go straight to the heart, but also brings in a broad representation of industry and academic experts. Hearing so many different voices give their take on the subject added a lot of complexity, and makes you realise the magnitude of the current shift in how we mourn and remember the dead. Kasket also adds her own analysis to the story, and often elaborates on her personal experiences which gives the book a more personal touch. I particularly enjoyed the bits where she draws on her own experiences as a parent. Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone using the internet basically, but perhaps particularly professionals who are in some way invested in loss and grief (e.g. funeral directors, psycho therapists etc), and researchers. There is much more to be written on this topic, and this book will be a given starting point for any further writing.

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