Chapter 1. PRIVACY AT RISK

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It's an unwritten law that you can't write a book about personal privacy without quoting Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy's infamous 1999 statement: "You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it."

There, I've done my duty. But before we move on, let's examine his statement a little more closely.

Fact is, McNealy was wrong. Although privacy protections in this country are not exactly plentiful, this isn't 1984 or The Trial at least, not yet. There's no video camera trained on you in your home, recording your every moment. (Or if there is, it's a webcam and you probably put it there.) You enjoy relative freedom of movement, though you may be frisked or required to show your ID to board an airplane.

Your bank account, medical records, and school transcripts are all more or less protected by Federal and state law; there's even a law that keeps nosy people from obtaining the names of the videos you rent. Though there are few limits on how corporations can use your data, the courts are starting to force them to follow the policies laid out in their own privacy statements. And while FBI agents can theoretically demand your library records or bookstore receipts if they decide you pose a terrorist threat, odds are pretty good that no one else knows you're reading this book right now.

The trouble is, there's just not enough privacy. There are huge gaps in our legal protections, and the laws we do have are generally half measures at best. (And unlike many European countries, we lack anything resembling a federal Privacy Commissioner.) The privacy that remains is rapidly being eroded by technology, commercial interests, and increasing government surveillance.

In this chapter, I'll outline the threats to your privacy and how we've gotten in this mess. The rest of this book is devoted to what you can do about it. It all starts with a big noisy machine that's probably sitting on or near your desk right now.

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    Computer Privacy Annoyances
    Computer Privacy Annoyances
    ISBN: 596007752
    EAN: N/A
    Year: 2005
    Pages: 89

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