Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century

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 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? Garfinkel's captivating blend of journalism, storytelling, and futurism is a call to arms. It will frighten, entertain, and ultimately convince us that we must take action now to protect our privacy and identity before it's too late.

Table of Contents:
Privacy Under Attack; Database Nation; Absolute Identification; What Did You Do Today?; The View from Above; To Know Your Future; Buy Now!; Who Owns Your Information?; Kooks and Terrorists; Excuse Me, but Are You Human?; Privacy Now!.

About the Author :
Simson Garfinkel--journalist, entrepreneur, and international authority on computer security --- has spent his career testing new technologies and warning about their implications. As a journalist, Garfinkel writes a weekly column for computer users, "Simson Says," that appears in the print and online versions of The Boston Globe. Garfinkel is a frequent contributor to Wired Magazine, and his articles have appeared in more than 50 publications including ComputerWorld, Forbes, The New York Times, and Technology Review. In 1997 Garfinkel's coverage of the U.S. Social Security Administration's web site showed how lax security and poor privacy protections was endangering the financial privacy of all tax-paying Americans. The coverage sparked a Congressional inquiry; the site was shut down and redesigned as a result. As an entrepreneur, Garfinkel has been a founder or major player in four startups, including Vineyard.NET and Sandstorm Enterprises. This is Garfinkel's ninth book. His other books include Architects of the Information Society, PGP: Pretty Good Privacy, Web Security & Commerce, Stopping Spam, and Practical Unix & Internet Security. Garfinkel is a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. He lives in Cambridge and on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts with his wife and daughter.