The Computer Privacy Handbook: A Practical Guide to E-Mail Encryption, Data Protection, and Pgp Privacy Software [Paperback]

Andre Bacard (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Plenty of books provide advice on locating information on the Internet; but the specifics of this book are missing from most: details on e-mail encryption, data protection and privacy software provide a centered, important focus on privacy. From ratings of software designed to protect personal and business data files to information on using PGP on the PC, this provides important keys to understanding the basics of computer privacy. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 274 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Pr (January 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566091713
• ISBN-13: 978-1566091718
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,606,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Computer Privacy Handbook Changed My Life!, April 12, 2000

By 

doctordeborah (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Computer Privacy Handbook: A Practical Guide to E-Mail Encryption, Data Protection, and Pgp Privacy Software (Paperback)

After listening to Andre Bacard interviewed on the radio, I bought and read COMPUTER PRIVACY HANDBOOK. This book blew my mind! It taught me how very naive I've been about what Bacard calls our "Surveillance Age" -- in particular the Internet. At first I thought this book was about computers. Actually, it is about human relations and freedom from tyranny. I've told a number of my friends to read this book and, then, to check the privacy links at http://www.andrebacard.com. After reading Computer Privacy Handbook, I've taken several steps. First, I never surf the web without using a service such as www.freedom.net. Second, I use encryped email and/or www.hushmail.com for my email. I have yet to figure out how to protect my financial and medical privacy, but I'm working on that. Thank you, Mr. Bacard, for changing my life!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Once great, now outdated..., November 4, 2003

By 

William Hefner "William Van Hefner" (EUREKA, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Computer Privacy Handbook: A Practical Guide to E-Mail Encryption, Data Protection, and Pgp Privacy Software (Paperback)

The Computer Privacy Handbook was a great book in its time. Unfortunately, that time has long since passed.

The manuscript itself was written in 1994. At the rate things move in the computer industry, it did not take long before the material became dated. I think that we all know how quickly computer books can go from being state-of-the-art to obsolete within a matter of months.

Probably the best part of the book was its tutorial about how to use PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) for DOS. Unless you are still using a 386, PGP for DOS is probably not the encryption method of choice for you. A large portion of the book is devoted to this tutorial, which is obsolete by anyone's standards.

The remainder of the book largely discusses electronic privacy issues. The issues raised range from the paranoid to the practical. Eerily, many of the "possabilities" discussed by Bacard have already come to pass, in regards to the public's erosion of personal privacy in America. Parts of the book may have seemed Orwellian at the time, but are accepted norms in today's society. It really makes the case for Bacard not being so paranoid after all.

If you are looking for a historical overview of computer privacy circa 1994, or have a need to run PGP in DOS, this book may very well have some relevance for you. There are still some parts of the book that hold up today, but you will have to skip the majority of the material if you are simply reading for modern day relevance. I'm giving it three stars due to its relevance at the time it was released. Don't take that number literally if you are buying this to use as anything other than as a history book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars privacy paranoid, April 4, 2000

By 

David Vella (Malta) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Computer Privacy Handbook: A Practical Guide to E-Mail Encryption, Data Protection, and Pgp Privacy Software (Paperback)

I bought this book first because I needed to read on PGP however when I started reading i forgot the PGP and found the privacy issues very interesting and made me more aware! I think it is a great book !