// Comparison
À la trace vs La face cachée d'internet: Which Should You Read?
Two cybersecurity books on Privacy, compared honestly: who each is for, what each does best, and which to read first.
An investigative map of modern surveillance — from data brokers and facial recognition to contact-tracing — charting how continuous digital tracking became normal, by a French tech journalist.
Hackers, dark net, Tor, Anonymous, WikiLeaks, Bitcoin
Rayna Stamboliyska
A lively, expert tour of the Internet's hidden layers — hackers, the dark web, Tor, Anonymous, WikiLeaks, Bitcoin — that demystifies the jargon without dumbing it down.
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Key takeaways
- A 2020 investigative cartography of the new surveillance — data brokers, facial recognition, tracing.
- Tesquet reports with specifics, making the abstract surveillance economy concrete.
- Read for the landscape and the cases; pair with Nitot/Untersinger for what to do about it.
- An accurate, accessible French explainer of the topics most media get wrong — dark web, Tor, Anonymous, Bitcoin.
- Stamboliyska is a genuine expert, so the demystification is correct, not sensationalist.
- A great gateway for non-technical readers curious about the net's underside.
How they compare
À la trace and La face cachée d'internet are both rated 4/5 in our catalog. Pick by topic preference and reading style rather than by rating.
Both books target beginner-level readers, so the choice is about topic, not difficulty.
À la trace and La face cachée d'internet both cover Privacy, so reading them in sequence reinforces the same material from different angles.