The Digital Person: Technology and Privacy in the Information Age

Ex Machina: Law, Technology, and Society Series

by Daniel J. Solove

A startling account of personal data dossiers and the newest grave threat to privacy

Seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, electronic databases are compiling information about you. As you surf the Internet, an unprecedented amount of your personal information is being recorded and preserved forever in the digital minds of computers. For each individual, these databases create a profile of activities, interests, and preferences used to investigate backgrounds, check credit, market products, and make a wide variety of decisions affecting our lives. The creation and use of these databases―which Daniel J. Solove calls “digital dossiers”―has thus far gone largely unchecked. In this startling account of new technologies for gathering and using personal data, Solove explains why digital dossiers pose a grave threat to our privacy.

The Digital Person sets forth a new understanding of what privacy is, one that is appropriate for the new challenges of the Information Age. Solove recommends how the law can be reformed to simultaneously protect our privacy and allow us to enjoy the benefits of our increasingly digital world.

This is the first volume in the series EX LAW, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY.

Genres: Nonfiction, Law, Technology, Politics, Research, Academic

283 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Daniel J. Solove is the Eugene L. and Barbara A. Bernard Professor of Intellectual Property and Technology Law at the George Washington University Law School. He is also the founder of TeachPrivacy, a company that provides privacy and data security training programs to businesses, law firms, healthcare institutions, schools, and other organizations. One of the world’s leading experts in privacy law, Solove is the author of 10+ books and textbooks and 100+ articles. His articles have appeared in the Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, and Columbia Law Review, among others. Professor Solove writes at LinkedIn as of its “thought leaders,” and he has more than 1 million followers. He more routinely blogs at Privacy+Security Blog, https://www.teachprivacy.com/privacy-...

Reviews

[Tommy /|\ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Solove does an excellent job in the first chapter of this book, outlining the dangers of online digital information. Written in 2004, its still a relevant read even in today's modern internet environment. In the first chapter, Solove tears down the metaphor of Big Brother from Orwell's 1984, and showcases how the government is not the true problem with the hoarding and abuse of data - its big business. But after the first chapter, Solove essentially spends the rest of the book containing to bash against the concept of an Orwellian society and comparing and contrasting that against Frank Kafka's "The Trial." The endless comparisons and praise for Kafka's work over Orwell's turns this into a comparison/contrast review between two different authors with today's digital environment as the backdrop. Essentially, the book becomes unreadable from a position of internet privacy in today's society, and more of a long-running, semi-engaged masturbatory review of Kafka's "brilliance" as a writer on what the author believes today's modern environment has become. In essence, save your time and money - rent the movie version of Kafka's book instead.

[Francesca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Theoretically dense but not in a way that felt particularly rewarding to get through. Quite a straightforward exploration of pretty convoluted ideas, which sounds like a good thing but really each point was left underdeveloped as lacking nuance . Had really high expectations but I’ve read a lot of articles and pdfs on similar topics that were more enjoyable. Solove’s book has an incredibly wide scope which endeared me toward the book at the beginning but now I can’t help but think it would have been a lot better being half the length with a few chapters fleshed out at greater length. For example the whole section dedicated to Orwellian philosophy and French existentialism sounds amazing but I felt needed a lot more work & the author seemed to get a bit lost in his love for philosophy and forgot to keep reemphasising its relevance to the digital age

[l · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read an article on The Atlantic that mentioned this book in the context of 1984's rising sales in the face of the NSA phone-taping email-monitoring scandal. The article mentioned this book's discussion on how the privacy breaches that we are facing today are incorrectly framed as Orwellian when they are in fact closer to those encountered in Kafka's The Trial. This interested me enough to pick up the book though it's American and 10 years old (not that I have anything against reading about American law or somewhat outdated books - I just think that it might be wise to avoid them as lawschool is (unfortunately) all about clearly spitting out the precise information that was given to you). It was a very good read and changed the way I'll think of privacy issues. I now wish that I was taking IP etc next year.

[Salem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good argument/proposal for how to legislate privacy and data collection in the information age. I particularly liked Solove's extension of metaphor. In addition to considering the "Big Brother" effect on privacy, Solove also addresses the "Joseph K." effect on privacy as more salient to several use cases. (See Kafka's "The Trial.")

The bright side here was around the ways privacy as a legal concept has been developed through legislation through the years. This gives me some hope that it's possible, and that we're still in early days. Obviously, all things considered, the sooner the better. But that there's a path forward and it's one we've trod before is a good thing.

Excellent read.

[Tawfiqam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for anyone interested in policies around privacy especially in cyber space. This is a complex topic that involves people's perceptions, economics, public policy, and legal code as well.

The only reason I am not giving Solove's book a 5 is that I think parts of it seemed repetitive.

[Ac · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm mad I paid 20 bucks for this wtf. I thought it was going to have a lot of crazy stories regarding people's private info being released somewhere or something. It was a bunch of stuff about databases and how they're designed to hoard a bunch of your info and how to make it better. Didn't like it.

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solove does a good job of describing the privacy concerns facing individuals in the current information age and presenting well-reasoned solutions for what society can do to continue to enjoy privacy protection.

[Alina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating stuff, but unfortunately a good bit of the material is dated as soon as it's printed.