Database nation : the death of privacy in the 21st century / Simon Garfinkel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Garfinkel, Simson.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Privacy, Right of--United States.

Privacy, Right of.

United States.

Computer security--United States.

Computer security.

Physical Description:

vii, 312 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Sebastopol, CA : O'Reilly & Associates, 2000.

Summary:

As the 21st century dawns, advances in technology endanger our privacy in ways never before imagined. Direct marketers and retailers track our every purchase; surveillance cameras observe our movements; mobile phones will soon report our location to those who want to track us; government eavesdroppers listen in on private communications; misused medical records turn our bodies and our histories against us; and linked databases assemble detailed consumer profiles used to predict and influence our behavior. Privacy--the most basic of our civil rights--is in grave peril.

Simson Garfinkel--journalist, entrepreneur, and international authority on computer security--has spent his career testing new technologies and warning about their implications. Database Nation is his compelling account of how invasive technologies will affect our lives in the coming years. It's a timely, far-reaching, entertaining, and thought-provoking look at the serious threats to privacy facing us today. The book poses a disturbing question: how can we protect our basic rights to privacy, identity, and autonomy when technology is making invasion and control easier than ever before?

Contents:

1. Privacy Under Attack 1

2. Database Nation 13

3. Absolute Identification 37

4. What Did You Do Today? 69

5. The View from Above 93

6. To Know Your Future 125

7. Buy Now! 155

8. Who Owns Your Information? 177

9. Kooks and Terrorists 209

10. Excuse Me, But Are You Human? 241

11. Privacy Now! 257.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1565926536

OCLC:

50664502