We Clicked 'I Agree' to Dystopia

By Ihab Hassan

"Dear descendants, before we gave away our data, we surrendered our dignity."

Every day, billions of people accept contracts they have never read, written by the other side, changeable by the other side, governing everything that follows. This book is a letter from the first generation that clicked, addressed to the generations who will inherit what the clicks built.

It follows the whole arc from 1980 to 2025: the first home machines, the web's open promise, the moment the customer became the product, the rise of the platforms, the disclosures of Edward Snowden, Cambridge Analytica, elections fought through feeds, deepfakes and algorithmic reality, and the arrival of artificial intelligence. Its final chapters turn to what can still be defended: identity, family, faith, and the practical work of protecting yourself and your assets in a world of uncertainty.

Inside this book:

- The contract nobody read: clickwrap, terms of service, and consent that was never really given

- How we became the product: attention, engagement, and the advertising machine

- Systems of control: algorithms, influencers, and the masks of public influence

- AI, elections, and the privacy mirage, from the Snowden disclosures to Cambridge Analytica

- Deepfakes, TikTok, and the rise of algorithmic reality

- The major changes from 1980 to 2025, including the war in Gaza, watched live around the world and argued from the International Court of Justice record

- Family and faith: the foundation that still holds

- Protecting yourself and your assets, and a prisoner's handbook for the digital age

Ihab Hassan is an engineer and cybersecurity expert, and the founder of New Dimensions Solutions LLC. He lives in Ontario, Canada, and writes about what the digital age has done to ordinary people, from the inside. His books include Tangled Web, Scam-Proof Your Life, Exposing the Web, and A Future Shaped by AI and Robots.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1997252260
• ISBN13: 9781997252269
• Release Date: October 2026
• Publisher: Barkah Barcor Publishing
• Length: 302 Pages
• Weight: 1.27 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"