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Privacy from NewsScan 7 February 2000



FLASH CARD 
       "Basic research is when I'm doing what I don't know I'm doing."
(Wernher von Braun)

WORTH THINKING ABOUT: THE MEANING OF PRIVACY
       In his new book, "Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st
Century," Simson Garfinkel writes:
       "For decades, people have warned that pervasive databanks and
surveillance technology are leading inevitably to the death of privacy and
democracy. But these days, many people who hear the word 'privacy' think
about those kooks living off in the woods with their shotguns: these folks
get their mail at post office boxes registered under assumed names, grow
their own food, use cash to buy what they can't grow for themselves, and
constantly worry about being attacked by the federal government-or by space
aliens. If you are not one of these people, you may well ask, 'Why should I
worry about my privacy? I have nothing to hide.'
       "The problem with this word 'privacy' is that it falls short of
conveying the really big picture. Privacy isn't just about hiding things.
It's about self-possession, autonomy, and integrity. As we move into the
computerized world of the twenty-first century, privacy will be one of our
most important civil rights. But this right of privacy isn't the right of
people to close their doors and pull down their window shades -- perhaps
because they want to engage in some sort of illicit or illegal activity.
It's the right of people to control what details about their lives stay
inside their own houses and what leaks to the outside...
     "Today, more than ever before, we are witnessing the daily erosion of
personal privacy and freedom. We're victims of a war on privacy that's being
waged by government eavesdroppers, business marketers, and nosy
neighbors...We know our privacy is under attack. The problem is that we
don't know how to fight back."

See http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565926536/newsscancom/ for
Simson Garfinkel's "Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st
Century. (We donate all revenue received from our book recommendations to
literacy action programs.)

NSD: PASS IT ON! Go to http://www.newsscan.com/newsscan/newscup.html

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