Customer Reviews

Bulletproof Privacy: How to Live Hidden, Happy and Free!

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is a great book. While it's in need of an update (1996) the ideas and attitudes are very much on target. Privacy is very much attitude and habit, not so much technique and "tricks" that will keep you private. I appreciate the fact that time after time, the point is made that privacy is difficult and expensive. Sure, it's easy to live in a fishbowl, but if you want privacy you have to be ready to work for it.

I especially enjoyed the historical examples and discussion, explaining how others had messed up and what that mistake did to them. It only takes one mistake to wreck your plans, and a VERY determined tracker will have years to look at the leads and wait for mistakes. The book is a great primer for anyone wanting a more private life, but we live in the age of dataveillance and it's almost an all or nothing game anymore.

The book is also applicable to folks who want to cut loose and start over somewhere else. Think about it... if your child was looking at a long stay in prison for growing a few pot plants in his apartment, and had the chance to jump bail, what would this book be worth? A lot. The problem is that most people never realize the need for this type of information until something really bad happens to them, and at that point they have very few options.

There are options, and they get discussed.

If I were in charge of updating the book, one of the longest of the "new" chapters would discuss how to secure a computer... I'd also include a chapter on secure communication over the internet, because it's obvious that communications with family and friends is the single biggest mistake that most people on the run will make. I'd also include a chapter on anonymous digital money such as the Digital Gold Currencies like E-Gold and Pecunix.

All in all, though, BulletProof Privacy is still one of the best books on privacy out there.

First off, I have read tons of books on privacy (you can click my name to view my listmania list explaining the best), and this book is among the best there is. What I like about it is is brief and to the point, unlike others which are long and drawn out. There is a lot of great info in here, though some of it is radical and of questionable legality like getting fake ids. Nonetheless there are TONS of gems in this book making it EASILY worth many multiples of the cover price. Depending on how much privacy you want, most of these techniques are simple and won't take too much extra time out of your week.

Another thing this book goes into is how to work in a more private fashion. Like J.J. Luna, in How To Be Invisible, which I also recommend, Boston ultimately suggests to become self-employed. He touches on some points in here, but if you want more details on that, then also be sure to check out J.J. Luna's other book called Work From Home At Any Age (ISBN 0976387239), which I also highly recommend.

I've read over 20 books on privacy throughout the years, most of which were merely rehashes of each other with little original or useful info. Boston T. Party's book, Bulletproof Privacy, is the real thing! I guess he's developed his experience from being "Boston" (author of Good-Bye April 15th!, You & The Police!, Hologram of Liberty, Boston on Guns & Courage, and Boston on Surviving Y2K), and it shows. An excellent synthesis of street savvy measures, knowledge of the law, human psychology, and realism--this book is just superb. The tip about how to establish a working, yet untraceable, address is alone worth the price.

The fact that a book like this needs to be published is proof that there is something wrong with our republic. Our privacy guaranteed by among other things, the fourth and fifth amendments, is in tatters and government can do things "legally" now that they could not do as little as 10 to 15 years ago. An example of this is search your house or computer, take or copy things, and not let you know about it. This is now legal. Get Boston's book to counter this insidious problem. Fight back against apathy and those who would take advantage of your ignorance.

This is a solid book about privacy. Using the basics will get you privacy, but it will not be easy. Privacy contains many inconveniences in today digital database world. If you can do everything in this book your privacy will be bulletproof. If you do some of it, you will be better off than most. Of all the books on privacy this is the best despite its flaws.

Boston T. Party is a master of privacy, and he shares his secrets with the reader in Bulletproof Privacy. I've read a few books about privacy, but this is by far the best guide. He doesn't feed you that soft stuff about removing your name from mailing lists and stopping telemarketers, like the other privacy guides. He tells you about setting up an untraceable address, how to use the telephone privately, keeping your home private, and more! Every freedom-loving American should get this book!

Mr. "Party" has compiled a very good starter book for ensuring one's privacy but this is not a treatise that will provide everything you need to know.

Still, you probably won't need another book because you probably won't feel it necessary even to follow all the suggestions in this volume. And there are plenty here - more than enough for most purposes.

In short, this is a great place to start if you feel the need to take back some privacy, but it won't teach you how to disappear.

The book was a fun read. I really enjoy the author's humor...most of the time. The methods he describes are interesting and really a good way to introduce the public to the realities of our lack of privacy. However, he also writes in a way that makes one think that total privacy is doable and easy...which it is not. Most people do not have the bankroll nor means of attaining the "essentials" to privacy described in the book. However, it's the little things he mentions we do on a daily basis to ensure more privacy that seemed much more doable.

This book has the least paranoia of any privacy book. Some readers may be disappointed because implementing every method will not be easy. Some will be inconvenient, but that is the America we live in. For better or worse, use this book as a guide and get as much privacy as you can even if it is not absolute.

Great primer about all the little droppings one leaves around going about one's daily business. Pagers, computer, internet, your home, your groceries, your automobile, etc., all the aspects are covered, albeit some more in depth than others. You also get some real life stories about how some notorious fugitives got caught when they screwed up. If you were ever thinking of disappearing, get this book and go from there. If I was to say that the book had one over riding precept, it would be "That leaving a light trail is leaving the same thing as an obvious trail. Any trail at all will get you caught. Its an all or nothing game". Let the fugitive beware!