Cyber Privacy: Who Has Your Data and Why You Should Care

Amazon, Google, Facebook, governments. No matter who we are or where we go, someone is collecting our data: to profile us, target us, assess us; to predict our behavior and analyze our attitudes; to influence the things we do and buy—even to impact our vote. We live in an era of unprecedented data aggregation, and it's never been more difficult to navigate the trade-offs between individual privacy, personal convenience, national security, and corporate profits. Technology is evolving quickly, while laws and policies are changing slowly. April Falcon Doss, a privacy expert and former NSA and Senate lawyer, has seen this imbalance in action. She wants to empower individuals and see policy catch up. In , Doss demystifies the digital footprints we leave in our daily lives and reveals how our data is being used—sometimes against us—by the private sector, the government, and even our employers and schools. She explains the trends in data science, technology, and the law that impact our everyday privacy. She tackles big questions: how data aggregation undermines personal autonomy, how to measure what privacy is worth, and how society can benefit from big data while managing its risks and being clear-eyed about its cost. It's high time to rethink notions of privacy and what, if anything, limits the power of those who are constantly watching, listening, and learning about us.