The Digital Person: Technology and Privacy in the Information Age

Very interesting information

"The Digital Person: Technology & Privacy in the Information Age," Daniel Solove, NY, NYUniv. Press, 2004 ISBN: 0-8147-9846-2, HC, 228/283 (Notes 37 pg., Index 16 pg.), 9 1/4" x 6 1/8"Assoc. Prof. of Law & author of "Information Privacy Law", Solove thoroughly covers the history, current status & provides some law recommendations for coping better with rapidly changing practices of information gathering, its useage & its intrusions into our privacy.Historically traceable, perhaps, to 1st U.S. census asking 4 questions in 1790, & hundreds of queries by 1890 including those on disease, infirmities & wages, data sorting was processed by punch card readers (forerunner of IBM). The "New Deal" Social Security System of 1935 assigned 9-digit U.S. citizen identifier numbers (SSNs) & useage of SSNs popularized with computerization in 1960's by both private & governmental (city/state/federal) sectors but provoked early concerns on privacy invasions.Noting 'information breeds information', data analysis & number crunching fostered creation of 'digital dossiers' on millions of citizens via accumulation/assemblage of 'bits of information' from private, public & governmental sources. The privacy invasion affects our freedom, diminishes our power & allows for abuses including identity theft, blacklisting, profiling, self-incrimination & serious data errors (the latter which may be impossible to exterpate). Databases, some 2000 at federal level, are valuable comodities bought, sold, & traded between the private, public & governmental sectors including DMV, SS, PE's credit-card issuers, banks, websites, employers, etc. for spying, credit checks, targeted marketing, & diverse legal/illegal purposes, etc. Several paradigms including "Big Brother" of "1984" are discussed in detail. Solove discusses stealth data collections relative to the 1st, 4th & 5th Ammendments, providing ample case law citations & recommendations for reducing one's own vulnerability to identify theft, & he confides of perceived, needed changes in current laws. An important read (not overtly technical but perhaps wordy or repetitious in sections) about what appears purposely not taught ouside of law school. This week several states announced that video (CCTV) surveillance of all business will be mandated - with specific mention of City of Santa Monica amongst the first & some vague rumors that CCTV may be proposed for all dwellings.

Got it for class

Very informative, extensively researched, well cited... not fun to read. I would describe it as text book reading. Solove spends pages and pages citing examples of each topic. If you're interested in databases and the privacy implications of data collection this book will tell you everything you want to know and more... but if you want a pleasurable read I would NOT suggest this book.

This book brings up some great points about privacy in an increasingly digital age, but solove latches onto the term "dossier" which is accurate but rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe because it suggests that companies are compiling information on inviduals for reasons duplicitous, when really the motivation is to make money ... often less emotional.Also, Solove is extremely paranoid about "databases". True, databases make information storage and retrieval efficient and the proliferation of affordable storage means companies can collect more and more, thus making more and more dollars and contributing to the problem.The issue here really is the companies that hold this data ... and the fact that individuals have no real way to audit the information they hold. That would be a solution worth pursuing. Databases are here to stay, like them or not.

How many times have we heard the expression that "you are what you eat"? But what if that were extended to what you drive, what you read, where you work, what you spend, and much more. What if this information was being gathered by unknown people for uncertain purposes in digital format, would this "digital dossier", which might be used to make decisions about you, be accurate? Well they do exist and are assembled and used by people and groups that you may not even know about, even though the use may have a direct impact on your life.So you might then ask if existing legal frameworks provide any protection or recourse to keep a handle on the information? In The Digital Person: Technology and Privacy in the Information Age (2004, New York University Press, 282 Pages, ISBN 0814798462), George Washington University Law Professor and privacy law expert Daniel J. Solove weaves history, legal precedents, changes in society/technology, and discussions of practical business/marketing into a narrative that is not only easy to read and understand, but one that must be read by anybody who wants to discuss and understand privacy in a meaningful way.Solove, who also co-authored Information Privacy Law in 2003, starts out by laying the groundwork for the privacy discussion. He outlines how information databases came to be and how they have evolved. He then provides the basis for the metaphor he wants to present, showing that it is not the Orwellian world of 1984 we need to fear, but the world imagined by Kafka in The Trial that should be of concern to individuals. Having never read The Trial, I found this discussion to be fascinating and in some ways changed some of my thoughts on the issue, while reenforcing others.The meat of the book, which is built on his metaphor, is that current privacy laws in the United States have not kept up with technology, and that unless they are changed, individuals will continue to be helpless in controlling their information (which may or may not be private). As he points out, consumers are always at the wrong end of one-sided contracts when it comes to information surrounding their information. Acknowledging that the information genie is indeed out of the bottle, Solove hones in on discussions about what the laws need to address, but how this may not be so easy. The key is defining what is meant by "Secrecy" and "embarrassment". Also key is that the risks we face, given that so much of our lives is already catalogued, are the result of indifference or mistakes on the part of the people who hold the data. It is also the fact that this indifference and chances for error are magnified because there is no market or economic incentive for companies to have privacy policies that work for the consumer and have some teeth.He develops a framework for legal changes that centers on the 4th and 5th amendments of the constitution, providing examples how in some areas the courts have evolved as technologies change. But part of the challenge, as he points out, is the patchwork of laws in the United States that conflict, overlap, and in sone case are too inclusive in their implementation.It is unclear from this book how the changes he proposes can be accomplished. Consumers are not united enough and do not have deep enough pockets to fight for the change. If the book has only one shortcoming, it would in my opinion be lack of discussion of this imbalance. In light of this, it only rates 5 stars instead of 5++.Who Should Read This Book?This book should be read by anybody who wants to gain a solid foundation to understand and discuss privacy issues in a meaningful manner.The ScorecardA Double Eagle on a long Par 5 playing into the wind.

I suggest you read everything by this author!