Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century (Paperback)

In revisiting this sphere in, what will undoubtedly be a key book of the first decade of the new century, Simpson Garfinkel has one key advantage over lawyers like Professor Alan Westin - Simpson Garfinkel is a journalist. And because his professional skill is with words he is able to paint a picture of the very real threat that "data shadows" pose to us in society far better than lawyers whose real skill is in teaching or in the courtroom. In a gripping and thought provoking three hundred pages Garfinkel shows the threat to freedom which are becoming manifest in our Internet enabled world through the variety and volume of databases which are being created beyond the control of the shadowed citizen.

But the tone of this book is not hysterical - it is factual. As example is laid upon example the direction humanity is taking is clearly laid out with a solution which is likely to be unpopular in the United States - government regulation. It is one of two weaknesses in his text: Garfinkel sets out the problem with clarity and sincerity but his solution, to this European, appears unworkable since we are already past the stage where the US Government could control data shadowing.. The US Government does not control the Internet world as their attempts to control private use of encryption and the regulation of domain names have shown. Instead the benefits of strong privacy protection need to be built into the next generation of e-business infrastructure - with support for such voluntary measures being given active support by government throughout the world. And the US law of torts needs to be extended by a determined judiciary to cover situations such as that of Nadia Velazquez who three weeks after she won New York's Democratic primary in 1994 received a telephone call from Pete Hamill, a reporter on the New York Post - someone at the St Clair Hospital in New York had faxed Velazquez's medical records to the New York Post. The records detailed the care that Velazquez had received after a suicide attempt. "When I found this information was being published in the newspaper and that I had no power to stop it, I felt violated. I trusted the system and it failed me."

As Garfinkel says the debate in "Database Nation" - "is not about the man who wants to watch pornography in complete anonymity over the Internet - it is about the woman who is afraid to use the Internet to organise her community against a proposed toxic dump - she is afraid because the dump's investors are sure to dig through her past if she becomes too much of a nuisance. It is not about people speeding on the nations highways who get automatically generated tickets mailed to them thanks to a computerised speed trap. It is about lovers who will take less joy in walking around city streets or visiting stores because they know they're being photographed by surveillance cameras everywhere they step. It is not about the special prosecutors who leave no stone unturned in their search for corruption or political misdeeds. It is about good, upstanding citizens who are now refusing to enter public service because they do not want a bloodthirsty press rummaging through their old school reports, computerised medical records and e-mail. ..."

Garfinkel's only other weakness is that his book does not sufficiently look outside the United States, in particular at World Data Flows and the changes being brought about by Electronic Commerce. One book which is not in his bibliography which should be there is "None of Your Business" by Peter P. Swire and Robert E. Litan (Brooking Institute Press 1998) which looks at the looming threat of Europe's data privacy regime on corporate America.

But all this is minor carping.

Simson Garfinkel's book is a work of great importance which should be read by anyone concerned about Freedom in the Internet Age. It is a fine exposition and analysis of where we are today and where we are going in the Database Nation.

Alistair KELMAN

Subtitled, the death of privacy in the 21st century, Simson Garfinkel charts a topical course through computerised personal information. Consider what might happen if you were to be able to link computer-held information about yourself. Scared? Think of everything held by distinct parties. Now join it all together. Everything from your electoral information, your tax records, your credit card bill, your mobile telephone calls, your web browser's history file, your supermarket loyalty card, your car's satnav. Now factor in face recognition from CCTV, cookies left behind from web sites, the boxes you tick when you sign an application form ...

Now think that all this could be drawn together. Now automate it so that a computer, not a person, makes decision on your life based on these related clues. Scary, huh?

And boy does he cover some ground - from medical records, web logs, satelite imagery, encryption products, mail redirection - we get the full gamut. His central tenet is clear - just what does personal information mean? What rights to you have over information about yourself? Your name, your date of birth, your income, your shoe size, your magazine subscriptions, your web life. All disparate facts, but when combined, a powerful profile and useful to many people. From an insurer worrying about you as a policy, to a prospective employer who's interested in seeing what you've said on the net, to the local council who noticed you've built a new outhouse on your land ... the truth is out there, but can you connect it up?

The body is yours, but what's right do you have to your identity? You can fight back - pay in cash, wear dark glasses, don't get ill, don't travel outside your country's borders, browser through an anonymiser - but the tide needs to be stemmed and only, apparently, the governments can do it ... but do they have the inclination?

A truly scary read and a wake-up call that information is, now more than ever, power. And if you've either it got it, or you ain't, just how to you decide who gets information about you?

-- Instead of just getting telemarketing calls at dinner time, marketers send thousands of e-mails to follow up on every transaction you make (15,000 restaurants send you an e-mail coupon when they learn you are coming to New York on your honeymoon).

-- Someone steals your identity by lifting a credit card application from your junk mail, spends $150,000 in your name, and ruins your credit record for 7 years so you cannot get a mortgage or another credit card (after yours are cancelled)-- because the credit bureaus cannot clean this information out of their systems.

-- You get locked in a "smart" elevator that has stopped functioning because it has recognized your fellow passenger as a criminal. You suffer from a psychotic assault by the criminal, as a result, who holds you hostage in the disabled elevator.

-- Telemarketers get through your caller ID screen by using software to pretend to call from your relatives' telephone numbers.

-- Your computer at work monitors your output, and sends you messages about needing to do more work.

George Orwell feared the government as "Big Brother" in "1984." Mr. Garfinkel says that we have Big Brother under control, but profit-making enterprises are going to get us instead. We are at risk from the universal use of the Social Security Number, "body identifying equipment" like fingerprint and voice print detectors, and massive data bases that are unwieldy.

When focused on describing the parts of the threat that have not yet manifested themselves, Mr. Garfinkel is brilliant and effective. When focusing on the solutions, he is less so. Basically, he wants to create federal laws and a federal agency (albeit a small one) that will monitor technology threats and inform Congress on the choices to protect people. I think Mr. Garfinkel is pretty naive in thinking this will be enough. How much has Congress helped us stop intrusions from other forms of free enterprise? Basically, Congress listens to special interests far more than citizens. I marked the book down one star for these weak solution proposals.

I do agree with Mr. Garfinkel when he says that technology is invasive. I think instead that we have to rely on our own efforts to protect our own privacy and that of people who we are responsible for. I also think we must business with companies that use our data in responsible ways, and demand full disclosure on privacy policies. For example, encryption technology can help a lot of companies allow us to work with these businesses in ways we prefer to. I can see the rise of intermediaries which provide confidentiality and data security. I certainly would like to do business with companies like that. Are there any entrepreneurs out there listening?

After you have finished reading this book, think about how you can protect yourself from the worst invasions of your privacy. A good start is to get your name taken off of bulk lists. Change your address (using P.O. boxes and private services) and e-mail address often, if necessary, to help. Inquire about what other uses are made of the information you generate. Ask to see your medical records. Find out how they are being sold, and make changes to put a stop to that abuse. Armed with this book, you can make a lot of progress in protecting yourself. Mr. Garfinkel deserves our thanks and support for providing this valuable information.