We watch the people who watch you.
Ghost in the Machine is an independent weekday briefing on the financial architecture of surveillance capitalism — data brokers, adtech, alternative data, behavioral pricing, and the long tail of companies that turn human attention into earnings reports.
What we cover
The money inside the surveillance economy. Quarterly filings of data brokers. M&A inside adtech. Hedge funds buying location feeds. Insurance models priced on your fitness tracker. Camera vendors with P&L statements. The boring financial documents that almost nobody reads but that explain why the watching keeps expanding.
How we report
Primary sources first: 10-Ks, S-1s, FTC consent orders, AG filings, leaked rate cards, industry conference decks. We name the company, the buyer, the revenue line, and the regulatory exposure. We do not run sponsored issues.
How we operate
No Google Analytics. No Meta pixel. No third-party trackers. No sold or shared subscriber lists. Email is the only channel. The site loads no scripts you did not ask for. We practice what we cover.
Who pays for this
The weekday brief is free. A paid subscriber tier funds the reporting and unlocks the full dossiers. No advertising. No affiliate links. No data resale. The only product is the writing.