Nick Couldry and Ulises Ali Mejias argue that the role of data in society needs to be grasped as not only a development of capitalism, but as the start of a new phase in human history that rivals in importance the emergence of historic colonialism. The struggle will be both broader and longer than many analyses of algorithmic power suppose, but for that reason critical responses are all the more urgent. These arguments have been published in their latest book, The Costs of Connection: How Data Colonizes Human Life and Appropriates it for Capitalism. Nick Couldry is a sociologist of media and culture. He is a professor of media, communications and social theory at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Ulises Ali Mejías is an associate professor of communication studies and director of the Institute for Global Engagement at the State University of New York, College at Oswego.