The author finds our privacy under assault by the courts, by new technology, and by changing cultural attitudes. He uses this book to show that we have less privacy now than people did in the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries, and that we will soon have even less unless new approaches are designed. For example, material that would be private if spoken to another person can often be subpoened and written about in the newspaper if included in an electronic note to yourself or in a personal diary. This trend is viewed negatively for exposing what we think are private moments to public scrutiny in embarrassing ways that harm our relationships with others, despite having done nothing wrong. The other harm he cites is the increased stress we feel in having fewer places to let down our hair in private. The legal challenge comes primarily from sexual harassment legislation that permits extensive investigation into the sexual behavior and thoughts of defendants and those they come into contact with. For public officials, this is compounded by the Independent Counsel statute. For everyone, a general restriction in constitutional liberties is involved. As a substitute, the author suggests letting these areas be covered by privacy statutes and precedents for protecting plaintiffs and defendants.
The technology challenge is related to electronic records, which can easily be captured (even if they are private). Court cases have permitted unsent messages and erased messages to be exposed in public. He encourages greater use of encryption, limits of court intervention, and letting employees have realms of electronic privacy at work.
Culturally, he argues that the nation has taken steps that are too strong to reduce sexual harassment, and that the results are worse than the original problem because witnesses and innocent parties often experience strong harms as a result. He sees this as a reversal in a many centuries trend towards more and more individual privacy and less and less privacy for public figures.
For many, this book will be controversial because he offer refers to the Paula Jones case against President Clinton and the subsequent investigations by Special Counsel, Kenneth Starr. Many of the people who lost their privacy in these cases are not exactly popular figures for what they did, which will cloud the arguments. However, he also looks at other famous cases which round out his arguments in more satisfying ways.
I was interested in his argument that public censure rather than legal remedies should play more of a role in enforcing desirable public behavior.
Anyone who is not a lawyer will find the arguments here probably a bit too much like a law review article, although they are made about as reader friendly as legal arguments can be made. Lawyers who have studied the progress of the right to privacy in its historical context in advertising, birth control, and protection for private conversations will no doubt be shocked by how much those rights have been eroded in recent years.
Those who feel strongly in favor of national security and stopping sexual harassment will probably disagree with this book. But they will probably benefit from understanding what the potential cost of losing privacy may be from this book.
I was particularly impressed by his argument that much information taken from a private into a public context will be misunderstood. We will not always have a chance to explain our side, especially as witnesses in public trials or as subjects of journalistic articles. The damage can be severe and lasting. For example, the author cites a case of a man who was described as being a lousy date on the Internet. A woman who read this information just before her first date could not keep it out of her mind, which included an unflattering description of the man's private physique and love-making characteristics.
Looking ahead, I think we can assume that privacy will be even more challenged in the future. This is a good time to be having this debate, and taking appropriate action. The establishment of massive databases about individual behavior represents grave potential harm to each of us. This would be a good subject for debate in the current presidential election.
Overcome your misconception about how much privacy you have left, and what you can safely do in private! We need our privacy to function well in our personal and professional lives. Otherwise, our civilization will be stalled even more than it is today. What solutions do you favor?
