Surveillance, Privacy and Protection ...

With all of news lately about hacking and the CIA (see for example, articles in Wired or the New York Times), it seems appropriate to turn to a couple of new books on this subject:

THE ART OF INVISIBILITY by Kevin D. Mitnick, former hacker turned security consultant and author of Ghost on the Wires, maintains with his publisher that “your every step online is being tracked and stored, and your identity literally stolen.”  He uses real life examples that will likely alarm some readers and provides suggestions (using passphrases, two-factor authorization, VPN’s, etc.) for protecting privacy.  The insinuation of conspiracy-like activity by big government, corporate and other trackers has Mitnick explaining the pros/cons and misconceptions about devices such as burner phones. With over a dozen chapters (there is even one on wiretapping) and a roughly 15 page bibliography, THE ART OF INVISIBILITY provides some valuable insight for older teens and adults in a well-researched manner. 

EYES AND SPIES: HOW YOU'RE TRACKED AND WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW written by Tanya Lioyd Kyi and illustrated by Belle Wuthrich is a relatively short (135 page) text aimed at middle school and slightly older readers. It, too, has chapters on computer surveillance, data mining, and personal privacy, plus Kyi adds topics of interest to tweens and teens like cyberbullying.  The first few chapters, for example, explore the pros and cons of using RFID or GPS so that students can be tracked and parents know when they arrive at school. Other amply illustrated sections look into data collected when shopping.  EYES AND SPIES also has a further reading section and an extensive source list. School Library Journal’s review said that this should be “required reading for middle and high schoolers.”  It is certainly a starting point for discussion. There is much to ponder, and as the author notes, “the real questions aren’t whether technology helps or hinders surveillance, [or whether it] protects or endangers privacy.  The real questions are these: (1) How are societies going to use these new tools? And (2) Where do we … draw the line between privacy and protection?”