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Understanding Privacy

Posted by kdawson on from the information-available-but-not-to-you dept.

privacyprof writes "Slashdot readers familiar with Professor Daniel J. Solove's essay, 'I've Got Nothing to Hide and Other Misunderstandings of Privacy,' might be interested in his new book, Understanding Privacy, which develops many of the ideas in that essay. As rapidly changing technology makes information increasingly available, there has been a great struggle to define privacy, with many conceding that the task is virtually impossible. The book argues there are multiple forms of privacy, related to one another by 'family resemblances.' It explains the framework for understanding privacy which was briefly discussed in the 'Nothing to Hide' essay. The book covers the framework in greater depth and explores how it applies to a wide array of privacy issues, such as data mining, surveillance, data security, and consumer privacy. Chapter 1 is available for free download."

2 of 164 comments (clear)

  1. From the mouths of others: by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    • Stark: My side, your side. My side, your side. ...
    • Ophelia: You sleep on the couch.
    • Brad: Doesn't anyone knock anymore?
    • Old Guy: Get off of my lawn.
    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  2. Privacy? How about protection from bad data?!? by Jason+Pollock · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I just had an interesting experience on the F-line in San Francisco. A woman was having a discussion in the seat behind me. It seemed that her husband had been stopped by the police in a parking lot and told that his license had been rescinded. That meant that if he got into his car, he was driving illegally. The police took his license, told him not to get in the car and left.

    Now, the interesting thing is that his license was not invalid. There was a problem at the DMV. He went down to the DMV (taking a cab, he can't drive remember) waited in line for a couple of hours, got it sorted out, got a letter and went back to the police.

    They still refused to give him back his license. He has to wait for a new one to appear in the mail. So, what does that tell you? A bureaucratic error resulted in lost hours, lost income and hassle. Was he guilty of anything? No. Caused by a loss of privacy, allowing buggy data to be accessed in real-time by the police.

    Oh, perhaps you haven't heard of automatic license plate recognition systems? The police only have to drive by a car, and the computer pops up data on it.