Discover simple strategies for protecting your personal and confidential information on and offline with this essential and easy-to-understand guide. We all know that the internet can serve as a hotbed for identity theft. But it isn’t the only place where your privacy can be breached. In fact, there are lots of ways you can protect your privacy (or diminish it) that have little or nothing to do with access to the internet. Your home, your photos, your trash can, your kids, your favorite restaurant or store—and even you have the ability to unknowingly reveal your private information to everyone from thieves to busybodies. But you don’t need to hire a specialist to keep your information safe—you can do it yourself with these 200+ easy-to-implement tactics, some of which include: —Shredding hard copies of bills — Turning off Bluetooth when not in use — Using a firewall — Hiding spare keys in an unusual place Keeping your information secure lies in your hands—make sure you’re not putting yourself at risk in your daily habits with this essential guide.

Digital devices have made our busy lives a little easier and they do great things for us, too – we get just-in-time coupons, directions, and connection with loved ones while stuck on an airplane runway. Yet, these devices, though we love them, can invade our privacy in ways we are not even aware of. The digital devices send and collect data about us whenever we use them, but that data is not always safeguarded the way we assume it should be to protect our privacy. Privacy is complex and personal. Many of us do not know the full extent to which data is collected, stored, aggregated, and used. As recent revelations indicate, we are subject to a level of data collection and surveillance never before imaginable. While some of these methods may, in fact, protect us and provide us with information and services we deem to be helpful and desired, others can turn out to be insidious and over-arching. Privacy in the Age of Big Data highlights the many positive outcomes of digital surveillance and data collection while also outlining those forms of data collection to which we do not always consent, and of which we are likely unaware, as well as the dangers inherent in such surveillance and tracking. Payton and Claypoole skillfully introduce readers to the many ways we are “watched” and how to change behaviors and activities to recapture and regain more of our privacy. The authors suggest remedies from tools, to behavior changes, to speaking out to politicians to request their privacy back. Anyone who uses digital devices for any reason will want to read this book for its clear and no-nonsense approach to the world of big data and what it means for all of us.

Who's watching you online? These days, it's hard to be sure. But the recent Edward Snowden revelations of NSA data mining and the constant threat of identity theft from criminals mean your privacy is in jeopardy. The Basics of Digital Privacy teaches you how to protect the privacy of your data and your identity while surfing, searching, and interacting with others in a virtual world. Author Denny Cherry teaches professionals how to keep huge databases secure, and he will introduce you to the basic concepts of protecting your identity, your financial data, and your personal information from prying eyes while using your computer and smartphone. You'll learn how to stay connected and conduct business online, while protecting your privacy with every keystroke and click. The Basics of Digital Privacy gives you clear, non-technical explanations of how to safely store personal information online, create secure usernames and passwords for websites, and participate in social media without compromising your privacy. Learn how to find out who's watching you online, and what the law has to say about your privacy rights. A great resource for anyone who ventures into the online world on a daily basis! - The most straightforward and up-to-date guide to privacy for anyone who goes online for work, school, or personal use - Real-world examples show you how cyber criminals commit their crimes, and what you can do to keep your identity and your data safe - Written by author Denny Cherry, who teaches top security professionals how to protect huge databases of information - Learn the best ways to create secure passwords, chat, text, email and conduct business online without compromising your identity and your personal data

This is a book about what privacy is and why it matters. Governments and companies keep telling us that Privacy is Dead, but they are wrong. Privacy is about more than just whether our information is collected. It's about human and social power in our digital society. And in that society, that's pretty much everything we do, from GPS mapping to texting to voting to treating disease. We need to realize that privacy is up for grabs, and we need to craft rules to protect our hard-won, but fragile human values like identity, freedom, consumer protection, and trust.

The whirlwind of social media, online dating, and mobile apps can make life a dream—or a nightmare. For every trustworthy website, there are countless jerks, bullies, and scam artists who want to harvest your personal information for their own purposes. But you can fight back, right now. In The Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy, award-winning author and investigative journalist Violet Blue shows you how women are targeted online and how to keep yourself safe. Blue’s practical, user-friendly advice will teach you how to: –Delete personal content from websites –Use website and browser privacy controls effectively –Recover from and prevent identity theft –Figure out where the law protects you—and where it doesn’t –Set up safe online profiles –Remove yourself from people-finder websites Even if your privacy has already been compromised, don’t panic. It’s not too late to take control. Let The Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy help you cut through the confusion and start protecting your online life.

"At what point does the sacrifice to our personal information outweigh the public good? If public policymakers had access to our personal and confidential data, they could make more evidence-based, data-informed decisions that could accelerate economic recovery and improve COVID-19 vaccine distribution. However, access to personal data comes at a steep privacy cost for contributors, especially underrepresented groups. Protecting Your Privacy in a Data-Driven World is a practical, nontechnical guide that explains the importance of balancing these competing needs and calls for careful consideration of how data are collected and disseminated by our government and the private sector. Not addressing these concerns can harm the same communities policymakers are trying to protect through data privacy and confidentiality legislation. Claire McKay Bowen is the Lead Data Scientist for Privacy and Data Security at the Urban Institute. Her research focuses on assessing the quality of differentially private data synthesis methods and science communication. In 2021, the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies identified her as an emerging leader in statistics for her technical contributions and leadership to statistics and the field of data privacy and confidentiality"--

The threats to privacy are well known: the National Security Agency tracks our phone calls; Google records where we go online and how we set our thermostats; Facebook changes our privacy settings when it wishes; Target gets hacked and loses control of our credit card information; our medical records are available for sale to strangers; our children are fingerprinted and their every test score saved for posterity; and small robots patrol our schoolyards and drones may soon fill our skies. The contributors to this anthology don't simply describe these problems or warn about the loss of privacy—they propose solutions. They look closely at business practices, public policy, and technology design, and ask, “Should this continue? Is there a better approach?” They take seriously the dictum of Thomas Edison: “What one creates with his hand, he should control with his head.” It's a new approach to the privacy debate, one that assumes privacy is worth protecting, that there are solutions to be found, and that the future is not yet known. This volume will be an essential reference for policy makers and researchers, journalists and scholars, and others looking for answers to one of the biggest challenges of our modern day. The premise is clear: there's a problem—let's find a solution.

Everything we do online, and increasingly in the real world, is tracked, logged, analyzed, and often packaged and sold on to the highest bidder. Every time you visit a website, use a credit card, drive on the freeway, or go past a CCTV camera, you are logged and tracked. Every day billions of people choose to share their details on social media, which are then sold to advertisers. The Edward Snowden revelations that governments - including those of the US and UK – have been snooping on their citizens, have rocked the world. But nobody seems to realize that this has already been happening for years, with firms such as Google capturing everything you type into a browser and selling it to the highest bidder. Apps take information about where you go, and your contact book details, harvest them and sell them on – and people just click the EULA without caring. No one is revealing the dirty secret that is the tech firms harvesting customers' personal data and selling it for vast profits – and people are totally unaware of the dangers. You: For Sale is for anyone who is concerned about what corporate and government invasion of privacy means now and down the road. The book sets the scene by spelling out exactly what most users of the Internet and smart phones are exposing themselves to via commonly used sites and apps such as facebook and Google, and then tells you what you can do to protect yourself. The book also covers legal and government issues as well as future trends. With interviews of leading security experts, black market data traders, law enforcement and privacy groups, You: For Sale will help you view your personal data in a new light, and understand both its value, and its danger. - Provides a clear picture of how companies and governments harvest and use personal data every time someone logs on - Describes exactly what these firms do with the data once they have it – and what you can do to stop it - Learn about the dangers of unwittingly releasing private data to tech firms, including interviews with top security experts, black market data traders, law enforcement and privacy groups - Understand the legal information and future trends that make this one of the most important issues today

Although most Canadians are familiar with surveillance cameras and airport security, relatively few are aware of the extent to which the potential for surveillance is now embedded in virtually every aspect of our lives. We cannot walk down a city street, register for a class, pay with a credit card, hop on an airplane, or make a telephone call without data being captured and processed. Where does such information go? Who makes use of it, and for what purpose? Is the loss of control over our personal information merely the price we pay for using social media and other forms of electronic communication, or should we be wary of systems that make us visible—and thus vulnerable—to others as never before? The work of a multidisciplinary research team, Transparent Lives explains why and how surveillance is expanding—mostly unchecked—into every facet of our lives. Through an investigation of the major ways in which both government and private sector organizations gather, monitor, analyze, and share information about ordinary citizens, the volume identifies nine key trends in the processing of personal data that together raise urgent questions of privacy and social justice. Intended not only to inform but to make a difference, the volume is deliberately aimed at a broad audience, including legislators and policymakers, journalists, civil liberties groups, educators, and, above all, the reading public. http://surveillanceincanada.org/

An Economist Book of the Year Every minute of every day, our data is harvested and exploited… It is time to pull the plug on the surveillance economy. Governments and hundreds of corporations are spying on you, and everyone you know. They're not just selling your data. They're selling the power to influence you and decide for you. Even when you've explicitly asked them not to. Reclaiming privacy is the only way we can regain control of our lives and our societies. These governments and corporations have too much power, and their power stems from us--from our data. Privacy is as collective as it is personal, and it's time to take back control. Privacy Is Power tells you how to do exactly that. It calls for the end of the data economy and proposes concrete measures to bring that end about, offering practical solutions, both for policymakers and ordinary citizens.