Raymond Wacks is Emeritus Professor of Law and Legal Theory at the University of Hong Kong, where he was Head of the Department of Law from 1986 to 1993. He was previously Professor of Public Law and Head of the Department of Public Law at the University of Natal in Durban. He has lived in Italy since taking early retirement in 2002.
This book provided a clear overview introduction to privacy, from literature review, the value and dilemma of privacy and the laws regarding privacy. It briefly described various technical aspects of privacy risks, not limited to cyber privacy, such as CCTV, RFID, biometrics, GPS, Drone, etc. The most important part was the review of privacy from legal perspectives, from Chapter 3 through Chapter 5. The author, who has published numerous books and articles on law, provided a great overview of laws regarding privacy both in the western and around the world. It was very helpful to understand the historical background of laws on privacy.
Some thoughts: 銉籒o doubt that privacy is an enduring value and constitutional rights. The value of privacy as a general moral, political, or social value is undeniable, but the more the notion is stretched, the greater its ambiguity. In pursuit of clarity, it is arguable that at its heart lies a desire, probably a need, to prevent information about us being known to others without our consent. 銉籑any people see technology as a threat to privacy but instead technology brings about more solutions to protect user鈥檚 privacy. Medias tend to drive public attention towards cyber privacy, especially bullying internet companies. But in fact, those companies don't usually have access to individual level data, and they cannot disclose user information even when subject to a court order. 銉籌 think the two keys to unlock the privacy-centric era are technology and law. Enhanced privacy laws are enforced in many countries but the headlines of personal data leaks are on the news everyday. (Yesterday, the news on TV revealed that a city official lost an USB which contains ~500k personal information of the city鈥檚 citizens after being completely drunk and sleeping on the street) Cloud, security and privacy enhancement technology must be applied more widely across private and public sectors.
I generally like the VSI series but this VSI on privacy is rather dated and its focus narrow and myopic. It was written under the background of the bombshell revelation by Edward Snowden back in 2013. However time has passed so much so that mass surveillance in the US/UK is, no doubt, deeply problematic but pale in comparison with other totalitarian regimes equipped with more sinister technologies such as face detecting technology and their unrestricted access to users' personal data via social networking apps. Much more troubling is the arguments put forward by these regimes against privacy. For example, if you have nothing to hide, then why fear surveillance? Isn't surveillance good if it can prevent people from committing crimes? Do you not want to feel safe on the street? Rather than dealing with these questions, this VSI gives a bland discussion on the history and contents of the technical laws, regulations and court cases.
The legal expert Raymond Wacks wrote a book introducing the concept of Privacy: A Very Short Introduction. I read the edition that was published in 2015. The book has illustrations, including diagrams and cartoons. The book has a section of references and an index. The book is 鈥淔urther Reading鈥� (Wacks 143-148). Wacks writes, 鈥淧rivacy is a concern to protect sensitive information鈥� (Wacks 2). Wacks is a legal scholar, so the book examines mainly privacy from a legal perspective. Wacks writes, 鈥淎lthough the law is an indispensable instrument in protecting privacy, the subject teems with several other dimensions, social, cultural, political, psychological, and philosophical. I attempt in this little book to consider these, along with several other forces that shape our understanding of the concept of privacy鈥� (Wacks xv). The book is also focused on the interactions between privacy and technology. Wacks writes, 鈥渢he advent of Big Data, Cloud, and other technological advances, some still inchoate, pose grave-some would say lethal-dangers to the survival of privacy鈥� (Wacks xiii). I read the book on my Kindle. Wacks defines the terms Big Data and Cloud in the book (Wacks 9-10, 111). The book also covers the relationship between celebrities and the paparazzi in different legal systems. The book also covers the history of the concept of privacy. The book is a well-done introduction and thoughtful to the concept of privacy.
This book is full of overly-complicated language and boring generic factoids about what should be a fascinating topic. For example (on the subject of DNA testing) "It raises too the intractable problem of the subject's blood relatives - and even partners and spouses - whose interest in learning of the data is far from trivial." Arrrrggh.
Also, the author spends multiple chapters basically complaining that there is no definition of privacy and the different domains it includes, when there are plenty of great definitions he could have worked from (or made up his own).
This is a terrible book about a great topic. Read "Privacy" by Garret Keizer instead.
This book was originally written nearly ten years ago, and while it's been updated, in 2015, the second half of the book deals rather oddly, in my view, with the subject of 21st century privacy. The first three chapters are, by and large, a reasonable review of the issues and the difficulties of tying down what privacy might mean. The back half then reviews the technology and computing issues, but doesn't seem easily to connect the two. Anyway, a useful intro to the subject, and I'll be delving deeper.
It is not a book exclusively about Edward Snowden, or NSA data collection. It talks about privacy from both sides, its definition and its execution in the legal context. The book is hard to follow (with lots of jargon), if you are not from the humanity field. It takes more than one read to understand the context.
I once read an article somewhere that said celebrities get paid a bunch of money in exchange of their privacy. Might be a bit hard to argue.
This is a book full of threats, i might say. I managed to learn so many things, love that the writer included trivial parts such as the telephone tapping and paparazzi.
A good book however the simple fact that this book was written over 10 years ago means that the nature of privacy and the technologies that must be reckoned with have changed drastically. The best sections are the the philosophical and legal discussions on what exactly is privacy, privacy related to free speech, and the difference between American and European interpretations of privacy
Privacy has increasingly been considered one of the major individual rights. And yet, until recently the right to privacy has not been explicitly defined in almost any legal framework. In the common law jurisdictions the right to privacy has largely been slipped into the law through some high-profile legal cases, of which the most famous instance has been the "Roe v. Wade" case in the United States. This case granted the legal right to abortion by inferring a right to privacy, which for a century had been deemed to stem from "emanations of a penumbra" of the constitution. The right to privacy has been more systematically imbued into the laws of civil law jurisdictions, most notably in recent years the legal system of the European Union. All these examples hopefully illustrate the fact that privacy is not such an easy and straightforward topic as it may at first seem, and this book does a superb job of guiding the reader through many legal and cultural complexities of this intriguing subject.
The book is very good at contrasting different attitude towards privacy in the United States and Europe. However, there is much less attention that is paid to the privacy standard and norms in the rest of the World. The book also deals with the tension that is present between our ideals of privacy and free speech. In particular, it is not always easy to discern when the right to voice one's opinions and broadcast facts about others infringes on the expectation of privacy that we have about our personal lives. This becomes a serious issue for individuals who become public figures: does the fact that they are public figures somehow voids many of their privacy rights? One just needs to remember the tragic death of Princess Diana to realize that these are not just academic debates, but can have potentially deadly real-life consequences.
Another big issue that this book covers is the challenges that are posed to privacy due to new communication technologies, and Internet in particular. On the surface it seems that Internet is a perfect heaven for people who want to explore new ideas, activities or communications. In the words of an old New Yorker cartoon, online no one knows that you are a dog. However, with the increased interconnectivity there is also an increased danger of various websites and companies gathering your personal information and using it later on for whatever purpose they deem fit. In many respects online websites know more about their users than even the most intrusive police states in the past. This book deals with all those new online privacy concerns, and how various jurisdictions and companies are dealing with them.
Overall, this is an interesting and well-balanced book that provides the reader with a history of thinking on the subject of privacy, as well as with some modern and practical considerations. It is a good starting point for anyone who is interested in exploring this subject.
Tutti parliamo e sparliamo di privacy. Spesso per貌 non abbiamo chiaro di che cosa stiamo parlando, perch茅 sotto l'ombrello "privacy" si mettono per esempio il diritto a non essere fotografati in giro - diritto alla solitudine, potremmo chiamarlo - e quello a non volere che le informazioni su di noi siano conosciute da altri senza il nostro consenso preventivo - diciamo un diritto all'autodeterminazione. Questi campi si sovrappongono in parte ma non sono uguali, e trattarli come un unico blocco non 猫 l'opzione ottimale. Il tema tra l'altro 猫 in continuo divenire: questa versione del saggio di Raymond Wacks non 猫 una semplice traduzione della seconda edizione inglese del testo, ma Andrea Monti, che l'ha tradotto, ha collaborato con l'autore per aggiungere ulteriori informazioni su quello che 猫 capitato in quest'ultimo anno. Purtroppo le sentenze finora pubblicate che cercano di delimitare la materia, e non solo rispondere al quesito puntuale, sono per la maggior parte statunitensi, dove il concetto di privacy 猫 declinato in maniera piuttosto diversa da come lo facciamo in Europa (non 猫 un diritto a s茅 stante, ma un contrappunto alla libert脿 di espressione che invece 猫 codificato nel Primo Emendamento), e questo traspare dal testo che non pu貌 fare altro che citarle. Forse l'aggiunta di una guida (ancora pi霉 sintetica, chiaro!) al testo aiuterebbe il lettore non avvezzo a temi giuridici a non perdersi: a volte mi 猫 parso che Wacks mettesse troppa carne al fuoco, non permettendomi di seguire con facilit脿 il filo del suo discorso.
Does a good job of reviewing many questions and dilemmas about what information about us should be kept private (why or why not? what constitutes a 'right to privacy', what is privacy?, etc.), how laws in Europe and the U.S. address the issue, and the many complications that surround the issue. The book can get dry, but the subject is one I think everyone, especially in these days of ever-lessening privacy, needs some awareness and consideration of.
Dryer than VSI normally are. I learned that Privacy in a broad sense must be balanced with freedom of Speech. Although basically Wacks Raymond raised all the alarms about digital privacy in their typical ways. Struggled to finish, even though the topic is close to me.
This book was a great overview of the field of Privacy, in particular from a legal point of view. However, the language is not easy, so the "short introduction" title may be misleading: it took me some time to read and appreciate.