In contemporary society, an increasing number of social practices are subject to digital change. For example, the Internet and social media platforms have changed how we receive information and experience entertainment, socialize, shop and present ourselves. This volume examines new developments in the area of Big Data, Digital Security and the Internet from a sociology of technology perspective. In contrast to the often abridged and speculative views in the public debate, it shows that we should understand digitalization as a complex socio-technical process and thus as a phenomenon accessible to conscious design.

Christoph Musik, Dr. phil., is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Media Economics at the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences. He is a lecturer in Technology and Society in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at the University of Vienna and a lecturer at the Institute of Sociology at the University of Innsbruck. Alexander Bogner is a professor of sociology at the University of Innsbruck and a senior scientist at the Institute of Technology Assessment of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.