Fifty years ago, in the book 1984, George Orwell imagined a future in which privacy was vanquished by a totalitarian state that used spies and video surveillance to maintain control. In 2000, we find that the threats to our privacy are not coming from a monolithic "Big Brother", but--even harder to grapple with--hundreds of sources, not seeking to control us, merely to market to us, track us, count us, or streamline paperwork.
The result, though, is still as chilling as 1984. Threats include:
Simson Garfinkel will be on tour during early February. He is expected to visit Boston, New York City, Washington DC, Seattle, and San Francisco and is available for interviews.
In addition to discussing his extensive research on the threat of privacy violation, he has engaging (and frightening) stories of real people, whose lives were turned upside down by a breach of their privacy. He has also researched the personal information available on the Internet about himself, and is prepared to discuss the ramifications, accuracies, and inaccuracies of what could be found--quite easily--about his life, friends, and family, online.
Online Resources:
"This is a chilling compendium of the myriad methods government and industry have revised to
catalog and profile the preferences of American citizens. It is an essential handbook in the fight
against the insidious erosion of a right so dear that freedom itself depends on it.
--The Hon. Edward J. Markey, U.S. House of Representatives
"Garfinkel has captured the depth and breadth of our ever-increasing privacy problems,
demonstrating their insidious nature and the extreme difficulties that they present for all of us.
This book is hugely important. It should be read by everyone. Wonderfully readable. Five
stars."
--Peter G. Neumann, Author, Computer-Related Risks; Moderator, Risks Forum; Principal
Scientist, Computer Science Lab, SRI International
"Database Nation marks a turning point in the national debate over the future of privacy.
Here is the clearest accounting to date of the challenges we face and the steps we must take to
preserve the most valued of personal freedoms."
--Marc Rotenberg, Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center
"Simson Garfinkel gives us a well-informed tour of the privacy landscape of tomorrow. His
futuristic scenarios are chillingly plausible."
--Beth Givens, Author, The Privacy Rights Handbook and Director, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
"Garfinkel has written both a comprehensive survey of threats to privacy in an electronic age and
a sometimes subversive manifesto for how citizens can fight back to protect their human dignity.
He has a humanist's perspective on what constitutes civilized living, a lawyer's understanding of
the potential as well a the limits of the law, and a revolutionary's sense for how to threaten the
power structure to cease and desist. A bravura performance that is bound to be the subject of
controversy, not to mention some nervousness on the part of those who don't understand that we
humans own much of the information that makes us unique."
--Harvey A. Silverglate, Attorney and Coauthor, The Shadow University: The Betrayal of Liberty
on America's Campuses
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