Because the author has spent over 15 years in the database consulting business, he is well versed in the potential for errors in huge data files that are kept on everyone. He addresses the problem of finding the files containing your personal data and then how difficult it is to extract information from them whether they be in big business or government agencies' computers. He notes that it is easy to get into a database, but very difficult, if not impossible, to get out of one. He also discusses how difficult it is to correct information that is contained therein. He includes strategies for improving the accuracy of personal data files and ways of stopping the addition of new data into the files. He also includes a discussion of the Y2K computer bug and its impact on the proliferation of inaccurate data. He suggests ways of preparing yourself and your family so that necessary information is available to medical personnel or financial institutions should data be lost or made unavailable because of loss of electricity or other essential services. Because data in these huge files is so important and yet so difficult to monitor, the author provides a wide range of options and strategies to take back control of one's personal information, so that it is accessible to them and truly their own, not subject to the whims and mistakes of large impersonal bureaucracies. He also discusses in great detail how to protect personal data on one's own computer so that it is not available to everyone else and so that it is safe from viruses and other programs that are capable of stealing or altering it when the owner is unaware. He suggests a variety of programs and strategies that anyone can implement at low cost to protect themselves while surfing the Internet or doing other online transactions.
Not only are there strategies for taking back control of personal information, but the author delves into the larger issues of freedom and control. He provides great insight into the inner workings of business and government agencies, showing their true plans and schemes for the manipulation of the consumer. He shows how you can short circuit these plans so that you can lead a life of your own choosing, free from dictatorial controls and constraints. He provides information about private banking, health care, employment, investing, and normal everyday purchases. Because most people are unaware of the myriad of resources out there for providing everyday needs without public disclosure to the world, the author lists dozens of ways the average person can live their life completely normal, but without revealing to the world all the intimate details, thereby maintaining the right to make their own decisions about what is right for themselves and their families. No other book does such a complete job of providing strategies and plans for gaining back control of one's own identity and life.
