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Title: The Limits of Privacy by Amitai Etzioni ISBN: 0-465-04090-X Publisher: Basic Books Pub. Date: 04 April, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $21.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.86 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent public policy book
Comment: If one seeks a current book that is creating great controversy in the public policy field, "The Limits of Privacy" should fulfill your search. This book combines philosophical discussions with actual issues and then draws its own conclusions. Whether one agrees or not with the author's opinions, this book definitely creates spirited debate.
The author, Amitai Etzioni, is a leading proponent of the commutarian viewpoint. Commutarians argue that policies should consider what is best for the community while simultaneoulsy attempting to protect privacy rights. A balance needs to be established between these two goals as they often are in conflict. Amitai Etzioni argues that individual rights should be protected except when such preservation presents a clear threat to the community welfare.
The author claims in this book there are public safety and health concerns which are adversely affected by attempts to defend personal privacy rights. Etzioni argues these concerns should be evaluated according to their moral, legal, and social aspects. In this book, the common good wins out over privacy issues in most of the issues presented, namly universal identification, Megan's law, testing infants for HIV, and encryption for online privacy. On examining the issue of the privacy of medical records, the author sides with the advocates of individual privacy versus the community welfare.
The prescription for policy analysis, as presented by the author, is that privacy concerns should be considered first with policies restricting such persoanl privacy being accomplished with as minimal intrusion as possible. Crtics will argue the author seems to readily advocate proceeding with such intrusions.
Regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with each conclusion, most readers should find this an insightful book with coherent yet controversial arguments. It will spark much rich debate.
Rating: 5
Summary: One man's view of privacy
Comment: This book gives the pros and cons of several policies and practices concerning privacy. I found it refreshing to have a book that tries to be balanced. People at the extremes will not agree with the author's view that technnology is not all bad or all good. It is not a technical discussion but I didn't find it to violate technical plausibilty at any point.
Rating: 1
Summary: The people don't always know best.
Comment: In a recent New York Times column, Bob Herbert alluded to a conversation he had recently with famed author William Manchester. Manchester mentioned that he had learned over the years that the majority is not always right. He cited two examples where he felt they were clearly wrong: 1) during the McCarthy era, only 29% of the public felt McCarthy was acting inappropriately; and 2) despite all evidence to the contrary, 70% of the American people still believe there was a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy.
I mention these comments, because it seems to me that they point up one of the dangers in letting community standards dictate behavior. Certainly most reasonable people today (with the exception of die-hard conservatives like William F. Buckley) would agree that McCarthy's tactics were way out of line, but at the time, they were seen as legit by a 2/3 majority of the American public. This indicates one of the leading flaws in Professor Etzioni's argument: the community can not be counted on to enact laws that will ensure the protection of those who behave differently or who disagree with the majority opinion. I am afraid that Manchester's comments ring true. For that reason, I believe that a logical consequence of communitarianism is retribution towards those who step out of line or depart in any way from "community standards". Behavior may be banned merely because a majority of the people don't like it, not because there is anything intrinsically wrong with it. Look at the ignominious history of sodomy laws in this country. Would Professor Etzioni wish to see these laws extended? If it suited the community, would he like to see prohibitions against gays in the military?
All in all, I would like to see Professor Etzioni address these issues more thoroughly and satisfactorily in his next book.
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Title: Ben Franklin's Web Site: Privacy and Curiosity from Plymouth Rock to the Internet by Robert Ellis Smith, Sangram Majumdar ISBN: 0930072146 Publisher: Privacy Journal Pub. Date: June, 2000 List Price(USD): $19.25 |
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Title: Privacy in the Information Age by Fred H. Cate, Michael H. Armacost ISBN: 0815713150 Publisher: The Brookings Institution Pub. Date: November, 1997 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Technology and Privacy: The New Landscape by Philip E. Agre, Marc Rotenberg ISBN: 0262511010 Publisher: MIT Press Pub. Date: 03 July, 1998 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Watchman, The by Jonathan Littman ISBN: 0316528579 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 31 March, 1997 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government Saving Privacy in the Digital Age by Steven Levy ISBN: 0140244328 Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc. Pub. Date: 15 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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