Privacy is Power: Why and How You Should Take Back Control of Your Data

Veliz is a powerful writer and Privacy is Power is a powerful book. If you are interested in technology, governance, consumer rights, or just worried about how ads pop up related to products you mentioned just minutes ago in a phone conversation, this book is enlightening and empowering even as it outlines a politically terrifying prospect of losing privacy in the modern age.Veliz outlines 1) how we (primarily the UK and the US) lost so much of our privacy, 2) the implications of this loss, 3) the normative value of privacy, and 4) how we can start to recover it. Privacy is being eroded in *so many parts of our lives* that one book cannot possibly contain a whole history of the issue--but Veliz masterfully condenses the major issues into just a few chapters.Some highlights:-Chapter 3 goes into detail about how one person's relinquishment of privacy affects all of their acquaintances, friends, and family (with primary examples from Cambridge Analytica and 23andMe)-Chapter 4 describes how targeted ads not only affect our consumption patterns but our political behavior, and how the lack of transparency in targeting practices reduces public accountability for political lies.-Chapter 6 provides helpful steps individuals can take to control their own data and outlines what we should be looking for when we buy products (hint: no smart appliances! no surveillance devices like Alexa or Siri!)An implicit "right to privacy" in the US Constitution gave us access to contraception, pornography, abortion, and legalized sodomy. That this privacy is being eroded (quickly! drastically!) by tech companies and governments alike is absolutely terrifying and affects our ability to live our lives without fear of misuse of this information (labor market discrimination, political polarization, misuse of the legal system, etc). Veliz gives us the tools to understand both why our data matter and how to protect it. Truly a must-read.

I read this for school lol but it was actually a very good, fast read! I also recognize the irony of posting about a book about privacy on a platform that steals all our data. Anyway, this was incredibly interesting, and while I liked it all, I found the final two chapter on what we (as individuals and our governments) can do about taking back our data and privacy to be the most impactful.

We all may take for granted and be unaware of how our privacy is being breached and could be used against us, even if we have nothing to hide. This isn't conspiracy theorist material. The new world of the internet has made us all vulnerable in ways we never imagined.Well written, fact based, Prof Veliz gives insights that can benefit us all.

Wow! This was an eye-opening read and one that I wish EVERYONE would consider reading. The matter of data privacy is something I've always thought should be considered individually according to one's own appetite and tolerance for risk. And that decision making should really be well informed in order for individuals to truly understand what the risks are to their personal data privacy. But what I had not fully considered or understood until reading this book is the extent to which digital privacy is a shared and collaborative thing. Like it or not, we live in what Ms. Véliz calls a surveillance capitalism society, and our collective awareness of how our personal data is being used today is essential to our ability to influence how it is used in the future.We enjoy many Internet products and services for “free”. We think they’re paid for with ad revenue alone. But the extent to which data about us can be used (and is being used) in ways that are disadvantageous to us is staggering. It’s also complicatedC but this book does a great job of breaking it down and making the information accessible to any reader.This content is well-researched, meticulously crafted, and well-supported by anecdotal stories and evidence we can all relate to. This is NOT a slog but an engaging and important read. I beg everyone to read it and encourage their friends and family to do the same!

The book claims that the right to privacy is an absolute one, that should never be compromised and ignore cases where it makes sense to give up some privacy in order to raise our welfare. For example, the author claims that we should never share any genetic data since we might heart family members, but ignores the useful medical research projects that are based on analyzing genomic data of many people (disclosure: I participate in some of these projects). Adopting the author style, one may ask: how many lives (that are saved by these research projects) are equal to how much privacy? The book also suffers from some inconsistencies. For example, the author claims that by applying AI companies like Facebook know about us much more than our closest friends, but it also claims that the NSA, which has more data than Facebook, fails to find any terrorist by applying AI. Another example: the author suggests that personal ads should be disallowed by law, but also claims that such ads are economically inefficient (and therefore, businesses are supposed to stop using them without any law).

Prof. Veliz gives us an excellent account of various problems arising from commerce in personal data. She discusses realistic differences with data that *must* be kept by governments and firms, then goes through a broad spectrum of issues with clarity and passion. While the problems with undue, surreptitious influencing on human conduct and choices are wicked, she points out at least some creative routes for a global improvement that must be heard. Her depth of scholarship does not interfere with the clarity of her argument; it is solidly grounded, yet compelling in its presentation.

Apparently the jennie has left the bottle and no can do to avoid snoopers. Book is good, a tremendous warning coming too late.

fantastic book, highly accessible to anyone who uses digital technology, which is all of us