Privacy: A Personal Chronicle

by Simon Davies

Privacy has become one of the most important public policy issues of our time, but how did we get here? What events and campaigns inspired this crucial issue? In A Personal Chronicle, author Simon Davies, one of the pioneers of the privacy movement, recounts his personal experience from the 1980's in establishing the global privacy advocacy movement and tells the inside story of some of the campaigns that ended up changing the world. From the pre-Internet analogue era to the time of mass digital surveillance, this is the narrative of one person's journey through the maze of one of the modern world's most important and controversial rights.The book takes you on a journey from the remote deserts of Africa to the board rooms of the world's most influential corporations. It recounts campaigns that held the most powerful entities on earth to account. And, perhaps more important, it describes how an ordinary person – with the guidance of astute campaigning tactics - can help shift the perceptions of entire nations. It also offers a digestible primer for anyone interested in this field and who wants to understand the basis of law and technology.

349 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 2, 2019

Reviews

[James Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

As privacy books go, this one is quite extraordinary. It tells the inside story of how many of the big privacy campaigns were organised, and it provides a gripping sort of tale about the huge effort that needs to go into influencing the biggest companies and governments in the world. If you want to know ow we got here in privacy and why it is so important, this book is a good place to start.

For me, “Privacy: A Personal Chronicle” is fascinating in that it highlights the sheer ignorance and idiocy of organisations that invade our privacy. It seems they never learn that people are more aware of their privacy rights than the “privacy hyenas” could ever imagine.

The book also provides an excellent primer on law and technology. The style is easy to read and definitely doesn't require any expert knowledge. I felt at the end of it that I was finally getting to grips with this complex topic.

I loved many of the stories in the book, but the one that got to me most is the battle against the biggest banking conglomerate in the world, and how the campaigners succeeded in shaking it to its foundations. A great read!