Welbeck acquires 'optimist's guide' to surveillance, data and privacy

Welbeck Publishing has acquired Good Data: An Optimist’s Guide to Our Digital Future by Sam Gilbert. 

Group publisher for non-fiction Wayne Davies bought UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Jonathan Conway at the Jonathan Conway Literary Agency. 

Good Data is pitched as "the first book to take a positive outlook on the subject of surveillance, data and privacy." Gilbert will examine where the fear of the data revolution came from, why readers should actually be embracing this explosion of information and how it is already helping us in a variety of ways, including combating inequality, advancing knowledge and even protecting us from coronavirus, says the publisher. 

Davies said: "Sam’s contrarian position grabbed me from the start. Flying in the face of much of the current doom-laden opinion and publishing about our digital world, he’s setting up a vital debate for our futures. And who doesn’t want to read something optimistic right now?"

Gilbert commented: "Politicians' preoccupation with reining in big tech has meant we've lost sight of some important truths: data openness encourages progress, and digital technology gives people power. The story of Good Data is grounded in my own real-world experiences of data science, tech start-ups and digital marketing, and I'm delighted to be working with Welbeck to bring it to life. Here's to 2021 being the year we embrace a more hopeful vision for our digital future."

Good Data: An Optimist’s Guide to Our Digital Future will be published on 1st April 2021.