The Hundredth Window: Protecting Your Privacy and Security In the Age of the Internet [Hardcover]

Charles Jennings (Author), Lori Fena (Author), Elizabeth Dyson (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2000

Like it or not, privacy has gone public. As Web technology increases our privacy vulnerabilities, many business leaders and experts have proclaimed the death of privacy itself. Can we entrust our businesses to the Web? Are our credit card numbers really safe? What about other personal information, from credit ratings to medical records to our Web surfing habits? Is the e-commerce explosion eroding all personal boundaries?

Security experts often say that if you put bars across ninety-nine of your windows but leave the hundredth window open, the invaders can still get in. For computer privacy, then, the question becomes, How can you best monitor that hundredth window? Charles Jennings and Lori Fena provide a comprehensive guide to privacy and security in the fast-changing Internet age, identifying winning and losing strategies for users and businesses. They argue that Web users need to think of privacy less as an inalienable right and more as a personal skill -- a vital skill, in fact, in dealing with an information-hungry Internet that knows more about us than we do. Successful e-companies, likewise, will be the ones who know how to ensure a private and secure Web experience for their customers. Trust is the central issue facing the world of e-commerce today, and The Hundredth Window is the book the on-line world has been waiting for.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you use a computer and you surf the Web, the Internet's open architecture has made you visible to the world. So claims The Hundredth Window, Charles Jennings and Lori Fena's exposé on Internet security--or the lack thereof. Regardless of how you feel about privacy, though, this book can help you understand the risks of Internet use--plus convince you to take some precautions to minimize them.

The proverbial hundredth window represents the most vulnerable link in a system. It derives from an allegory relating castle windows to potential security holes. If even one out of a hundred windows is left open, security becomes compromised. Since the Internet maximizes information sharing (admittedly a largely beneficial enterprise) would-be big-time marketers and shady characters can--without trying all that hard--spy on your Web clicking habits, read your e-mail, and even see files on your hard disk drive. This means you may receive spam from marketers who think they know what kind of stuff you like to buy--e-mail that can be helpful to some and aggravating to others. Sharing your name and other identifying personal information can cause you more serious problems: someone else could use that information to commit fraud or other crimes--and you would be responsible.

Now, it's unlikely you'd undergo the sort of nightmare invasion of your privacy that occurred in the movie Enemy of the State, but the exchange of personal information about Internet users is undeniably a multibillion-dollar business. It's the increasingly fervent desire of marketing executives to know intimate details about you so they can help you shop. Maybe this is no skin off your nose, but take this example: you have a parent or grandparent with a serious illness and so you spend time researching the illness on the Web; consequently, your name is marked as a potential high risk and passed on to insurers. Numerous variations on this scenario are possible, and this book can get you started on the road to protecting yourself from potential problems.

Experts on this topic, authors Jennings and Fena have compiled a series of easy steps to help you minimize your visibility in cyberspace. Their approach isn't terribly sophisticated--they suggest you clear out your Web-browser cookies and use fake information when registering on Web sites, for example--but it's effective. They also offer several handy techniques that erase your Web footprints, such as leaving your America Online member profile blank and using blocking software. The topic of Internet security can sometimes get relegated to the land of the paranoid. But in this case, the advice is sensible and the solutions are practical. --Teri Kieffer

From Publishers Weekly

Despite the increasingly sophisticated software designed to insure privacy online, there is an astonishing lack of security, report Jennings and Fena, cofounders of Truste, a company involved in promoting Internet privacy. According to the authors, any information transferred over the Internet can easily be accessed by hackers, criminals and private businesses. (The hundredth window refers to the notion that if you lock 99 out of 100 windows, a thief will enter the 100th.) The book explains in detail how Web site marketers, service firms and recreational sites obtain and use consumer information. While future federal legislation may provide more protection, it is up to consumers to actively protect their personal data for now. According to the authors, the Web sites with the best privacy policies include Yahoo, Excite, IBM and Playboy, while sites such as J. Crew and Penthouse do little to reassure online visitors that their privacy is being protected. Jennings and Fena suggest looking for Web sites that prominently display their privacy policies and advise against posting full names in e-mail addresses. While it offers a solid overview on the issue of online privacy, the book is likely to be more valuable to consumers than companies. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; 1st edition (June 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068483944X
• ISBN-13: 978-0684839448
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,187,608 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Attempts to straddle the fence, July 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hundredth Window: Protecting Your Privacy and Security In the Age of the Internet (Hardcover)

Hundredth Window iterates the familiar mantra of individuals feeling increasingly squeezed by the loss of privacy as computer networks and databases grease the "friction" of life that previously resisted such invasiveness. Privacy fundamentalist will decry the thinly veiled stumping for industry self-regulation and the appeal for responsible handling of PII. It was an easy read, plain and balanced. The fence straddling might call into question the intentions of the authors (founders of Truste.Org) and I wouldn't call this essential reading. I'd check out Database Nation or Ben Franklin's Web Site first. Still, this book speaks more to the average citizen who feels distress by the loss of privacy, but isn't sure what to do or why.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars clumsy apologist for media, May 11, 2001

By 

P. Wehner (South Bend, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hundredth Window: Protecting Your Privacy and Security In the Age of the Internet (Hardcover)

The authors encourage users to give up too much personal information to "trusted" companies. Their position is that in the abscence of law it's best to simply trust capitalism to define and enforce whatever form of privacy prevails. This book is marketing speak meant to lessen privacy concerns of individuals so that companies have greater access to personal data to market/program consumers.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sticky Problem, May 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hundredth Window: Protecting Your Privacy and Security In the Age of the Internet (Hardcover)

I read an advance copy of the book and I have to say that although some of the "helpful hints" should be common sense, most people don't think of them.

It's important to follow the advice of this book. More and more online services and software coming out each day that compromise our online privacy (the Wall Street Journal seems to print at least one story on this subject each Monday). This is an important topic --not just the domain of the paranoid. Bravo to Jennings and Fena for clearly and artfully addressing what will no doubt become one of the most important issues of 2000.