Privacy in Peril: How We are Sacrificing a Fundamental Right in Exchange for Security and Convenience [Hardcover]

James B. Rule (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0195307836 | ISBN-13: 978-0195307832

We are all accustomed to privacy horror stories, like identity theft, where stored personal data gets misdirected for criminal purposes. But we should worry less about the illegal uses of personal data, James B. Rule argues, and worry a lot more about the perfectly legal uses of our data by the government and private industry, uses which are far more widespread and far more dangerous to our interests than we'd ever suspect.
This provocative book takes readers on a probing, far-reaching tour of the erosion of privacy in American society, showing that we are often unwitting accomplices, providing personal data in exchange for security or convenience. The author reveals that in today's "information society," the personal data that we make available to virtually any organization for virtually any purpose is apt to surface elsewhere, applied to utterly different purposes. The mass collection and processing of personal information produces such tremendous efficiencies that both the public and private sector feel justified in pushing as far as they can into our private lives. And there is no easy cure. Indeed, there are many cases where privacy invasion is both hurtful to the individual and indispensable to an organization's quest for efficiency. Unrestricted snooping into citizens' personal finances really does boost the profitability of the consumer credit industry. Insurance companies really can and do make more money by using intimate private data to decide whom to insure, and what to charge. And as long as we willingly accept the pursuit of profit, or the reduction of crime, or cutting government costs as sufficient reason for intensified scrutiny over private citizens' lives, then privacy values will remain endangered.
Rule offers no simple answers to this modern conundrum. Rather, he provides a sophisticated and often troubling account that promises to fundamentally alter the privacy debate.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An unsentimental exploration of one of the pressing issues of our time. Global in scope and precise in detail, with insights equally deep in theory and practice, Rule offers a vision of how, even at this late date, we can avoid becoming a surveillance society."--James X. Dempsey, Policy Director, Center for Democracy and Technology

"Jim Rule's Privacy in Peril is a thoughtful and challenging exploration of a critical social issue that touches nearly every aspect of modern life."--Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director, Electronic Privacy Information Center

"Privacy in Peril is a smart, subtle and elegantly written analysis of a complex subject. Rule is superb at drawing the line between acceptable and unacceptable practices in today's high-speed information world and then explaining the reasoning behind his distinctions in a balanced but persuasive way. With Rule's blue print as a guide, it is possible to imagine how our society just might begin to sort out the competing demands of the corporation, the state and the individual."--David Burnham, Director, Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse

About the Author

James B. Rule is Distinguished Affiliated Scholar at the Center for the Study of Law and Society at the University of California, Berkeley. A former fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, he is the author of Private Lives and Public Surveillance, a winner of the C. Wright Mills Award. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, Washington Monthly, and The New York Times Book Review.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195307836
• ISBN-13: 978-0195307832
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #916,657 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Highly sophisticated analysis of a difficult problem, December 5, 2007

By 

Jonathan Groner (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Privacy in Peril: How We are Sacrificing a Fundamental Right in Exchange for Security and Convenience (Hardcover)

This is not the typical "the sky is falling" expose of the death of privacy in America. Although Rule is an advocate of strong privacy protections, he devotes considerable thought and attention to why such protections are desirable and to why we should even care that truthful information about us is being disseminated, as long as efficiency and security are increased.

Rule buttresses his analysis with a fascinating contrast between the Kantian imperatives (which argue for protection of privacy as a basic human right) and the pragmatism associated with thinkers like Auguste Comte (which argues for societal efficiency and the constant use of balancing tests). This is an extraordinarily accomplished aspect of the book, as is his in-depth history of the growth of the credit-reporting industry in America. Rule shows that this industry blossomed long before the computer did. Rule does not blame technology for the decline in privacy.

This book is more a philosophical, sociological, and economic inquiry than a call for immediate action. It is, however, quite powerful.

I would have given five stars were it not for several passages discussing the history of privacy laws in France, Australia, and other nations. It seemed as if Rule was merely displaying his erudition rather than adding much to his argument.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cool assessment of the privacy we are losing now, April 26, 2009

By 

Kevin Kim "Informatin Privacy Professional" (Edmonton, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Privacy in Peril: How We are Sacrificing a Fundamental Right in Exchange for Security and Convenience (Hardcover)

This book is not a novel, yet has been read like one, not only because of a number of seemingly far-fetched privacy horror stories and of sudden realization as to what kind of society we live in; but also of its well-structured narrative that is read with ease and sometimes with mild entertainment. Indeed, Jame B. Rule is a first-rate writer and certainly knows how to deliver key messages to readers more effectively and efficiently.

This is an excellent reference for readers looking for a book that encompasses a range of privacy issues we are exposed of, or forced to grapple with. It starts with current status and risky trends entailing privacy lost or ever being deteriorated; introduces how deeply and disturbingly our privacy has been attacked, eroded, and exploited either explicitly or implicitly; then look around other peer countries, such as the U.K., France, Australia, and of course Canada, to compare how and what those developed countries are doing with regard to this seemingly endangered privacy trends.

What I particularly liked in this book was in its objectiveness. Coolness. Rule never goes excessive, although sometimes the fact itself he offers is scary enough. He is neither pessimistic nor optimistic - just shows what options we have, or will have in reality, not in theory. Here is his key message:

"The issues involved are ultimately ethical and political, not technological. If we determine to do so, we can readily implement systems that:

* place the burden of justification on those who would create personal data systems in the first place;
* grant substantial control over data processes to the individuals described in them;
* ensure quick elimination of personal information from data systems, once their immediate purposes are served;
* define the purposes of data collection in terms of the interests of individuals rather than of organizations; and
* limit the amount and variety of personal data allowed to bear on determinations of how organizations will treat individuals."