Review: Habeas Data: Privacy vs. the Rise of Surveillance Tech

Habeas Data: Privacy vs. the Rise of Surveillance Tech by Cyrus Farivar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I found this a fascinating and well-written book. I work in IT dealing with eDiscovery, records management, and archiving. I have an interest in how the laws on privacy impacts the electronic traces we leave behind in the world, often hidden in the corporate repositories I work with. And, I have some history reading mysteries and watching Perry Mason, so there’s an interest in the law. “Habeas Data” provides details on the issues I face at work, and does it in an approachable style, a mix of “Perry Mason” and Malcolm Gladwell. The author discusses a number of legal cases in the history of privacy and surveillance in the US. Some I had heard of, some not, but all are told as stories. Also, because the issues in privacy are being caused by the indelible march of technology, the author describes the technology of the time of each case, and also reflects on how that technology has changed since the original case. The oldest cases covered are a few decades old, the newest just a year or two – relatively fresh out of the headlines (think 2016 elections). It seems that a big issue, perhaps the biggest issue enabled by this march of technology is the incredible volumes of information we now routinely carry. Court decisions that allowed, say, search of the photos in the pockets of a suspect back in the 50s now don’t (or may not) allow search of photos in an iPhone in the pocket of a suspect, in part because there’s just too many photos for a person to consider searchable, and too much of their life enclosed in that piece of metal, plastic, and glass. While the increasing issues of privacy are troubling, “Habeas Data” provides the background to understand how changes in technology have driven changes and new definitions in law. If you have an interest in the topic of the legal aspects of privacy and surveillance in our modern world (from the American perspective), this is an excellent book.

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