No one needs to tell you that personal privacy is an increasingly rare commodity. Identity theft has become the fastest growing crime on the Internet. Spammers fill our inboxes while scammers threaten to drain our bank accounts. Left unprotected, a home PC can be turned into a hacker's plaything in less time than it takes to reboot. And that doesn't begin to include threats to our privacy from agencies with hidden agendas, eavesdropping employers, and an increasingly intrusive federal government.
But it doesn't have to be that way, Computer Privacy Annoyances (O'Reilly, US $19.95), provides advice with attitude on what consumers can do to protect the privacy they've got left, and to take back what they've lost. Served up with liberal doses of wit and backed by rock-solid research, Computer Privacy Annoyances offers step-by-step instructions for combating the worst privacy and security threats.
"History shows time and again that data collected for a helpful purpose invariably ends up being used for another, less benign one," says author Dan Tynan. "But it also shows that when citizens raise hell and actively fight back, intruders will back down often enough to make it a battle worth waging."
"Nobody knows more about privacy in the Internet age than Dan Tynan. This book explains exactly why the dangers are so real--and provides step-by-step instructions for defending yourself, your information, and your money, " says Harry McCracken, Editor in Chief of PC World.
Computer Privacy Annoyances provides a wealth of information for protecting privacy, complete with a few lessons in hell-raising. The book is organized around the five areas where privacy is most at risk:
It's definitely a brave new world. Computer Privacy Annoyances is for anyone not quite ready to surrender their personal information in the name of convenience, technology, or homeland security. The book contains "all the tools you need to take back your privacy rights, delivered with snappy wit, " according to Dan Miller, executive editor of MacWorld. "Who knew fighting the Man could be so much fun?"
To learn more about the Annoyances book series, visit AnnoyancesCentral.com where you can check out our "Experts' Blogs" for advice on how to fix those pesky computer annoyances.
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Computer Privacy Annoyances
Dan Tynan
ISBN: 0-596-00775-2, 178 pages, $19.95 US, $27.95 CA
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