-------- Original Message -------- Subject: THE DIGITAL PERSON -- new book on privacy, technology, and law Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2004 02:41:05 -0500 From: Daniel Solove <djsolove@private> To: Declan McCullagh <declan@private> References: <41B00B5D.2050203@private> Declan, Of possible interest: THE DIGITAL PERSON: TECHNOLOGY AND PRIVACY IN THE INFORMATION AGE By Daniel J. Solove ISBN: 0814798462 NYU Press (December 1, 2004) http://www.law.gwu.edu/facweb/dsolove/Solove-Digital-Person.htm THE DIGITAL PERSON explores the collection and use of personal information in computer databases. In the Information Age, our lives are documented in digital dossiers maintained by hundreds (perhaps thousands) of businesses and government agencies. These dossiers are composed of bits of our personal information, which when assembled together begin to paint a portrait of our personalities. The dossiers are increasingly used to make decisions about our lives - whether we get a loan, a mortgage, a license, or a job; whether we are investigated or arrested; and whether we are permitted to fly on an airplane. Do these developments pose a problem? Is it possible to protect privacy in a society where information flows so freely and proliferates so rapidly? THE DIGITAL PERSON seeks to answer these questions, setting forth a new understanding of privacy, one that is appropriate for the new challenges of the Information Age. The book recommends how the law can be reformed to simultaneously protect our privacy and allow us to enjoy the benefits of our increasingly digital world. "Daniel Solove is one of the most energetic and creative scholars writing about privacy today. The Digital Person is an important contribution to the privacy debate, and Solove's discussion of the harms of what he calls 'digital dossiers' is invaluable" -- Jeffrey Rosen, author of The Unwanted Gaze and The Naked Crowd "Solove's book is the best exposition thus far about the threat that computer databases containing personal data about millions of Americans poses for information privacy. Solove documents not only how ongoing advances in information technology is increasing this threat significantly, but also how governmental uses of private sector databases and private sector uses of governmental databases are further eroding the privacy-by-obscurity protection of yesteryear. Most importantly, Solove offers a conception of privacy that, if adopted, provides guidance about policies that would preserve information privacy as a social value." -- Pamela Samuelson, Chancellor's Professor of Law and Information Management at the University of California, Berkeley "A far-reaching examination of how digital dossiers are shaping our lives. Daniel Solove has persuasively reconceptualized privacy for the digital age. A must-read." -- Paul Schwartz, Brooklyn Law School ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Professor Daniel J. Solove have written extensively about privacy issues, including a textbook, Information Privacy Law, with co-author Marc Rotenberg. He has published over a dozen articles about information privacy, has contributed to amicus briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court, and has been interviewed by numerous media, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Business Week, ABC News, CBS News, Associated Press, and NPR. _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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