Understanding Privacy

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."

Comments

grr.

[apodyopsis]

don't be silly it was privacy or fighting terrorism.

after all, who wants privacy if you cannot be safe to enjoy it?

..and thus the steady erosion marches on...

Re:The Problem is Not Misunderstanding of Privacy

[Dopefish_1]

I'm not sure how you make the jump from "The problem is insufficient penalties for violating the privacy of another" to "therefore we need individuals to add more technological barriers around their data / activities." You even point out that that approach will only lead to an arms race, in which case you have everything to lose and nothing to gain.

The goal should be to disincentivize privacy violations. One way to do this is through the legal system; unfortunately we're not doing so well in that area. So we've got several other posters here--and of course the submitter of TFA--taking the social angle, educating people on the negative implications of privacy violations and trying to stir discussion about what expectations and limitations should exist.