Oddly, the thing I think about most nowadays is I think in the second or third book, their methods for facial detection evasion with the face paint. Also relevant nowadays is the idea of a backdoor to the encryption which allows the characters to do a lot of good, but which obviously comes with downsides (main focus of the second book)

The whole embedded operating system in your brain thing was interesting, but the author’s secondary ideas are even more interesting and relevant.

It’s also the only sci-fi series I’ve seen that takes China seriously.

The beginning of the first book might be a bit of a turn off, but stick with it, the series is definitely well worth a read!