The Digital Person, by Daniel J. Solove

These days, there are vast databases of information filled with information about people - what they have bought, what they have read, what they have looked at and even who they associate with on the web and in real life. All this information is neatly stored in databases all over the world, collected by private companies as 'marketing research'. These digital dossiers are pieced together by private institutions and governments creating digital biographies which tell a story to the readers. Whether that story is really our story remains a matter of opinion - though it does not seem to be too much of a stretch to think that most people consider themselves larger than their own purchasing habits, date of birth and identification.

Privacy, as a concept, is a strange part of our human nature. Actors are great examples; they get paid to stand in front of cameras and yet on occasion have been known to verbally and even physically retaliate against paparazzi. Privacy, by itself, is not an easy thing to consider. And because of that, negotiating whether modern Law protects our privacy is not very black and white. In The Digital Person: Technology and Privacy in the Information Age, Daniel J. Solove takes the reader through the history which created modern law related to privacy and gives various insights into how issues of privacy in an age of databases can be made possible.

For the layperson, the prelude for Solove's writing of the different directions of Law as related to privacy is worth the read in and of itself. Using metaphors derived from both George Orwell's 1984 and Franz Kafka's The Trial allows for an easy read even while Solove allows for the weaknesses in the metaphors. This is a great start to a book which demonstrates an author who can hold more than two different ideas in his mind - he can hold conflicting ideas within his mind and write of them so that it is easily understood. If there is a strength of this book which is head and shoulders above other strengths, it is this ability of the author.

The book builds on these metaphors and others pressed against real world examples of how the information collected about people is presently used - and misused. The author writes of how governments do use marketing information provided by private companies to make decisions that citizens are unaware of - with actual cases presented.

The Digital Person: Technology and Privacy in the Information Age is not a book as much as a journey through Law and its applications as applied to something which matters to all of us: Our information. There are no concrete solutions in the book, but perspectives are given and weighed - presented to the public in a readily understandable form. The book seems meant to enable larger discussions for citizens to discuss Privacy in a modern context while allowing them insight into how the information collected on them may be used. It gives a depth of understanding of one's Rights.

As the author writes (Chapter 12):

...Ideally, technology empowers us, gives us greater control over our lives, and makes us more secure. But digital technologies of data gathering and use are having the opposite effect. Increasingly, companies and the government are using computers to make important decisions about us based on our dossiers, and we are frequently not able to participate in the process...

On the KnowProSE scale, The Digital Person: Technology and Privacy in the Information Age receives a 9 out of 10 based on being well written, informative and balanced.

Privacy Rights Explained To Everyone

Aug 16, 2007 by Taran Rampersad product

The Digital Person, by Daniel J. Solove

This book gives the basis for modern Privacy related laws, and empowers the average person to understand how changes in technology as well as the uses of it can impact them, as well as explaining the possibilities of future Laws related to privacy.

On the KnowProSE scale, the book receives a score of 9 out of 10 - hard won through balanced presentation of various perspectives and easy reading. If you want to start understanding Privacy in a legal context, this book is an excellent start.

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