Protecting Yourself Online: An Electronic Frontier Foundation Guide: Amazon.co.uk: Robert B. Gelman, Stanton McCandlish, Electronic Frontier Foundation: Books

Product Description

Like any new frontier, cyberspace offers both exhilarating possibilities and unforeseen hazards. As personal information about us travels the globe on high-speed networks, often with neither our knowledge nor our consent, a solid understanding of privacy and security issues is vital to the preservation of our rights and civil liberties. In reaping the benefits of the information age while safeguarding ourselves from its perils, the choices we make and the precedents we establish today will be central in defining the future of the electronic frontier.

Since 1991, the non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has worked to protect freedoms and advocate responsibility in new media and the online world. In "Protecting Yourself Online," Robert Gelman has drawn on the collective insight and experience of EFF to present a comprehensive guide to self-protection in the electronic frontier. In accessible, clear-headed language, "Protecting Yourself Online" addresses such issues as:

avoiding spam (junk mail) spotting online scams and hoaxesprotecting yourself from identity theft and fraudguarding your email privacy (and knowing when you can't)assessing the danger of viruseskeeping the net free of censorship and safe for your childrenprotecting your intellectual property

Produced by the leading civil libertarians of the digital age, and including a foreword by one of the most respected leaders in global business and the cyberworld, Esther Dyson, "Protecting Yourself Online" is an essential resource for new media newcomers and old Internet hands alike.

From the Author

Welcome to the New Frontier . . .
Greetings readers!

Users of the Internet continue to double in number about every year. This is having the effect of a social revolution, both in the online world, and the physical world in which we live. Few of us have time to learn a whole new language just because we have adopted a new technology, and that is where the Electronic Frontier Foundation comes in. In writing this book, I sought to distill the knowledge and experience of these pioneers to give an easily read and used primer to non-technical people who are new-to or considering getting online.

This book isn't for the experienced Netizen, or even skilled computer professionals, it's for mom, pop, and the kids. It's for retired Uncle Joe and for Mr. Busy Businessman or Ms. Congresswoman. It won't shield you from the dangers of viruses, hoaxes, or online stalkers, but it will help you recognize where the dangers are real, and where they are not. It will also give you some tools to protect yourself, as the title implies. And hopefully, it will give you a sense of the possibilities of how the use of these new communications technologies can make this world a better place for generations to come.

In the book, I invite readers to email me if they are interested in the critical issues that are defined by the topic "cyber-rights." I offer a free "cyber-rights" newsletter that comes to you via email a couple times a month. I'm offering it here to Amazon.com visitors whether or not you buy the book. If you're interested, just drop me a note to <cyberguy@bgamedia.com> and say that you saw my notes here. I'll be happy to add you to the subscriber list.

--RB Gelman (cyberguy)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Disappointed... 10 April 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I read this book and was very disappointed. The title is mis-leading, as there is really very little information about protecting yourself on-line. What little information could be found was introductory to say the least. I also felt that the book was a lobbying tool, trying to bring me over to the civil liberties world. A thumbs down...

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Had to counter that one-star review 7 Jan 1999

Sure, it's not too detailed, and sure, a lot of tech people are already going to be familiar with a lot of the information in it, but for novices, it's great. It's a great book to give the uncle who keeps sending you false virus alarms, or the grandmother that doesn't understand the civil liberties implications of the Communications Decency Act -- or the cousin that thinks hackers are going to break into her bank account if she buys a modem.

Not worth the money. 22 Sep 1998

If you need a book about how to protect yourself online don't buy this one, it won't help you. The authors are just taking stock of the well-known problems in the Internet and offer some links to other sides.