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Understanding Privacy
Privacy is a scary topic? It doesn’t have to be. Understanding Privacy helps you understand what data privacy is really about beyond scary headlines. It is an introduction to the beliefs, concepts, and ideas that inform privacy as it exists — or has failed to exist — on the open web that we build. Whether you’re a designer, developer, or project manager, this book will equip you with the knowledge you need to put your users first in everything you do and build a better web for tomorrow.About the BookUnderstanding Privacy is about all the fundamental values of privacy as a concept, which precede privacy as a legal compliance issue. It’s about the ways these concepts impact your work as a designer, a developer, or a project manager. And it’s about the ways you can adopt these principles to create a healthy, user-centric approach to privacy in everything you do.
Heather Burns explains what she has experienced working on privacy from every angle — human rights, law, policy, and web development — in the simplest way possible, and in the most positive way possible, in ways you can comprehend, use, and adapt in your work on the web right away.
What is discussed in this book is applicable to any programming language, software community, or project workflow. For that reason, you won’t find any code samples in this book. A healthy approach to user privacy, after all, doesn’t tell you how to code. It tells you how to make the right decisions which inform the code. It also gives you the foundation you need to question, and even challenge, workplace practices which might not be in your users’ best interests.
This book is not a legal reference manual. While it will briefly cover the major privacy regulations and proposals in context, it helps you understand the common values which inform nearly all user-centric privacy regulations, and to apply them regardless of the presence or absence of a legal framework.
By the end of this book, you will have shifted your understanding from a negative view of privacy as a scary legal compliance obligation to a positive view of privacy as an opportunity to build a better web.
Table of ContentsPrivacy and You — In the book’s first section, “Privacy and You,” Heather reviews the fundamental concepts, definitions, and frameworks behind privacy and data protection.Privacy and Your Work — In the second section, “Privacy and Your Work,” Heather discusses how to integrate a healthy approach to user privacy into everything you do, whether you are a designer, a developer, or a project manager.Privacy and Your Users — “Privacy and Your Users” covers issues around user privacy where you can make a difference.Privacy and Your Future — In “Privacy and Your Future,” Heather suggests a few critical areas that make the web a better place and lay the ground for future developers, designers, and project managers to build a better web for tomorrow’s users.Privacy and Health Data — In the final section, “Privacy and Health Data,” Heather addresses an even more pressing recent the obligations we have to safeguard user privacy and health data, and how to do it as best we can.
Heather Burns explains what she has experienced working on privacy from every angle — human rights, law, policy, and web development — in the simplest way possible, and in the most positive way possible, in ways you can comprehend, use, and adapt in your work on the web right away.
What is discussed in this book is applicable to any programming language, software community, or project workflow. For that reason, you won’t find any code samples in this book. A healthy approach to user privacy, after all, doesn’t tell you how to code. It tells you how to make the right decisions which inform the code. It also gives you the foundation you need to question, and even challenge, workplace practices which might not be in your users’ best interests.
This book is not a legal reference manual. While it will briefly cover the major privacy regulations and proposals in context, it helps you understand the common values which inform nearly all user-centric privacy regulations, and to apply them regardless of the presence or absence of a legal framework.
By the end of this book, you will have shifted your understanding from a negative view of privacy as a scary legal compliance obligation to a positive view of privacy as an opportunity to build a better web.
Table of ContentsPrivacy and You — In the book’s first section, “Privacy and You,” Heather reviews the fundamental concepts, definitions, and frameworks behind privacy and data protection.Privacy and Your Work — In the second section, “Privacy and Your Work,” Heather discusses how to integrate a healthy approach to user privacy into everything you do, whether you are a designer, a developer, or a project manager.Privacy and Your Users — “Privacy and Your Users” covers issues around user privacy where you can make a difference.Privacy and Your Future — In “Privacy and Your Future,” Heather suggests a few critical areas that make the web a better place and lay the ground for future developers, designers, and project managers to build a better web for tomorrow’s users.Privacy and Health Data — In the final section, “Privacy and Health Data,” Heather addresses an even more pressing recent the obligations we have to safeguard user privacy and health data, and how to do it as best we can.
- GenresDesign
230 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 26, 2023
4 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 7, 2023
I've read a lot of books on privacy over the years and have even presented on the topic at some of the same shows as Heather. This book's presentation of the topic is, by far, the best I've seen. As a developer myself, and as someone who mentors developers, privacy is a topic most just, at best, snicker at and it's been difficult to convince nearly anyone of its importance. This book has given me a number of new tricks to do so.
As I finished this yesterday, the day Threads launched, it's also an apt reminder of just how bad so much tech is. As I watch the truly misguided deride EU tech policy instead of Meta, this book is a wonderful reminder, and really does a great job of spelling out, not only why we should care about privacy but also about the different approaches to privacy by the US and EU in general.
As I finished this yesterday, the day Threads launched, it's also an apt reminder of just how bad so much tech is. As I watch the truly misguided deride EU tech policy instead of Meta, this book is a wonderful reminder, and really does a great job of spelling out, not only why we should care about privacy but also about the different approaches to privacy by the US and EU in general.
August 22, 2023
I think the book would have benefited greatly from an exploration of WHY privacy is important. A reasoned explanation of its connection to other rights and concepts.
The book contrasts the European and US legal approaches to privacy, with a clear preference for Europe's stronger appreciation for it. But does not go deeper, to justify that preference, and convince the reader of privacy's importance.
The book contrasts the European and US legal approaches to privacy, with a clear preference for Europe's stronger appreciation for it. But does not go deeper, to justify that preference, and convince the reader of privacy's importance.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews