Privacy In The Modern Age

The threats to privacy are well known: the National Security Agency tracks our phone calls; Google records where we go online and how we set our thermostats; Facebook changes our privacy settings when it wishes; Target gets hacked and loses control of our credit card information; our medical records are available for sale to strangers; our children are fingerprinted and their every test score saved for posterity; and small robots patrol our schoolyards and drones may soon fill our skies. The contributors to this anthology don't simply describe these problems or warn about the loss of privacy—they propose solutions. They look closely at business practices, public policy, and technology design, and ask, “Should this continue? Is there a better approach?” They take seriously the dictum of Thomas Edison: “What one creates with his hand, he should control with his head.” It's a new approach to the privacy debate, one that assumes privacy is worth protecting, that there are solutions to be found, and that the future is not yet known. This volume will be an essential reference for policy makers and researchers, journalists and scholars, and others looking for answers to one of the biggest challenges of our modern day. The premise is clear: there's a problem—let's find a solution.

An interdisciplinary group of privacy scholars explores social meaning and value of privacy in new privacy-sensitive areas.

Privacy and data protection are recognized as fundamental human rights. Recent developments, however, indicate that security issues are used to undermine these fundamental rights. As new technologies effectively facilitate collection, storage, processing and combination of personal data government agencies take advantage for their own purposes. Increasingly, and for other reasons, the business sector threatens the privacy of citizens as well. The contributions to this book explore the different aspects of the relationship between technology and privacy. The emergence of new technologies threaten increasingly privacy and/or data protection; however, little is known about the potential of these technologies that call for innovative and prospective analysis, or even new conceptual frameworks. Technology and privacy are two intertwined notions that must be jointly analyzed and faced. Technology is a social practice that embodies the capacity of societies to transform themselves by creating the possibility to generate and manipulate not only physical objects, but also symbols, cultural forms and social relations. In turn, privacy describes a vital and complex aspect of these social relations. Thus technology influences people’s understanding of privacy, and people’s understanding of privacy is a key factor in defining the direction of technological development. This book was originally published as a special issue of Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research.

Digital data collection and surveillance is pervasive and no one can protect your privacy without your help. Before you can help yourself, you need to understand the new technologies, what benefits they provide, and what trade-offs they require. Some of those trade-offs – privacy for convenience – could be softened by our own behavior or be reduced by legislation if we fight for it. This book analyzes why privacy is important to all of us, and it describes the technologies that place your privacy most at risk, starting with modern computing and the Internet.

An examination of instances, experiences, and spaces of early modern privacy. It opens new avenues to understanding the structures and dynamics that shape early modern societies through examination of a wide array of sources, discourses, practices, and spatial programmes.

In a revealing study of how digital dossiers are created (usually without our knowledge), the author argues that we must rethink our understanding of what privacy is and what it means in the digital age, and then reform the laws that define and regulate it. Reprint.

Learn why virtual private networks (VPNs) are essential for protecting your privacy and data security in the modern digital age. This comprehensive guide explains the online threat landscape facing internet users, including financial fraud, hacking, government surveillance, and corporate data harvesting. It makes a compelling case for taking privacy seriously and using a VPN to defend your communications and web activity. The book explores in plain language: - How VPN encryption and tunneling protocols secure your web traffic - The importance of features like kill switches, IP masking, and zero logging policies - Criteria for choosing a reputable VPN provider that aligns with your personal privacy standards - Configuration and connection best practices for multiple devices - Limitations of VPN technology against advanced threats like state-sponsored hacking - The intersection of civil liberties and digital rights in an increasingly monitored world Casual web users and privacy advocates alike will learn VPN fundamentals alongside internet privacy history and technical developments constituting the frontiers today upholding personal agency and autonomy for global citizens increasingly tracked online by default otherwise through ambient connectivity platforms and telecommunication infrastructure digitally optimized for consumption and control absent balancing oversight checking creeping authoritarianism trends decade over decade now. This accessible guide empowers readers taking responsibility securing digital lives proactively.

A collection of expert essays examines the privacy rights that have been lost in the post-9/11 era—giving students and others the knowledge they need to take back their constitutional protections. This timely two-volume collection shares information every citizen should have, tackling the erosion of privacy rights engendered by the ability of digital technology to intercept, mine, and store personal data, most often without the knowledge of those being monitored. Examining its subject through the lens of Fourth Amendment rights, the work focuses on technological advances that now gather personal data on an unprecedented scale, whether by monitoring social media, tracking cell phones, or using thermal imaging to watch people's movement. It also examines the possible impact of the widespread gathering of such data by law enforcement and security agencies and by private corporations such as Google. Organized by hot-button topics confronting U.S. citizens in the post-9/11 era, the work reviews the original intent of the Fourth Amendment and then traces the development and erosion of interpretations of that amendment in the 21st century. Topical essays offer a comprehensive treatment and understanding of current Fourth Amendment issues, including those that have been brought before the courts and those relative to the continuing governmental and societal emphasis on security and public safety since the Columbine shootings in 1999 and the events of September 11, 2001.