A Little Privacy, Please
Database Nation
By Simson Garfinkel
O'Reilly & Associates, 2000, 312pp.
$24.95
By Eugene E. Kim
Simson Garfinkel's Database Nation has a simple message: Today's technology threatens our privacy, it's only going to get worse, and we're not doing enough about it. While Database Nation is certainly not the first to convey this bleak message, this book is unique in its breadth and tone. In the spirit of Silent Spring, Rachel Carson's landmark book on humankind's destruction of the environment, Garfinkel targets the citizen on the street. He wants to scare us into doing something.
Scare us he does, but while Garfinkel succeeds in his mission of building awareness, his overall thesis is less convincing. It's clear that today's technology and business practices may compromise privacy, but it's not so clear that this is a completely ominous prospect. However, Garfinkel does offer numerous real-life anecdotes and frightening statistics.
Case in Point
Consider the case he presents of Nancy and Steve Ross who owned a home in New Jersey and spent a year in the early 1980s traveling and living elsewhere. Due to a snafu with the IRS's computer, which had recently been upgraded, the IRS thought that the couple had failed to pay all of their taxes that year, and sent multiple notices to the house in New Jersey. The problem was that the couple wasn't living there, and the IRS's mail had the words "Do not forward" stamped on the envelope.
