The triumph of profiling: the self in digital culture

Until fairly recently, only serial killers and lunatics had profiles.

Yet today, almost everyone is profiled through social media, mobile phones, and a multitude of other methods.

But where does the idea of 'profiling' come from, how has it changed over time, and what are its implications?

In this book, Andreas Bernard examines contemporary profiling's roots in late-19th-century criminology, psychology, and psychiatry.

Data collection techniques previously used exclusively by police or to identify groups of people are now applied to all individuals in society.

GPS transmitters and measuring devices are now unconsciously embraced to have fun, communicate, make money, or even find a partner.

Drawing perceptive parallels between modern technologies and their antecedents, Bernard shows how we have unwittingly internalised what were once instruments of external control and repression.