Privacy

This invaluable book certainly lives up to its title of what everyone needs to know about privacy in a rapidly evolving digital environment where we are constantly leaving data tracks. In a series of 10 chapters, the book answers nearly 130 questions related to privacy, beginning with its conceptualisation and relationship, for instance, to liberty, confidentiality and secrecy (I know from my own experience that a private debating society in Edinburgh is often characterised as secretive, when it is simply private). There are chapters on protecting personal information, privacy of health information, publicity and educational information, financial and credit information, law enforcement information, privacy within and beyond families and groups, privacy on the Internet and in social media, privacy and security, and finally privacy and democracy. Together, they marshal expertise in law, philosophy, political science, regulatory policy and bioethics. One critical issue is the extent to which we still have a choice to share information; then there is the balance to be struck between autonomy and security - invasion of privacy it is often justified in the name of security and a recent cartoon tellingly bore the caption "Forgotten your password? Email GCHQ". Interestingly, attitudes seem to differ between the US and Europe, with the former emphasising the right to know, and the latter the right to forget. This must be the definitive book on this important and sensitive topic.