THE FIGHT FOR PRIVACY

How our intimate lives have been compromised and what we can do about it.

A law professor and vice president of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, Citron, author of Hate Crimes in Cyberspace, explores how corporations and governments, as well as unscrupulous individuals, have laid siege to our privacy. She surveys some of the most invasive and egregious examples of privacy violations that have become common in the last decade or so, ranging from secret video recording, hacking of personal digital devices, “sextortion” schemes, cyberstalking, cyberflashing, deepfakes, nonconsensual pornography, and various modes of digital surveillance and data collection. Citron demonstrates how specific groups—especially women and members of the LGBTQ+ community—have been particularly subject to abuse, and she highlights in her treatment of individual cases how grievous the personal toll on victims can be. The author argues persuasively that what currently limits efforts to address privacy violations are the weakness of legal protections, a widespread laxity in the pursuit of offenders, and a broader cultural confusion or apathy about what is at stake in the defense of privacy across all platforms. At present, she writes, the “law lacks a clear conception of what intimate privacy is, why its violation is wrongful, and how it inflicts serious harm.” Despite this grim message, this is a hopeful and inspiring book, offering plausible suggestions about a variety of meaningful reforms that could be enacted in the near future. Citron’s detailed, carefully argued recommendations include the application of civil rights laws to privacy violations, much tighter regulation of the tech industry, an expansion of the range of criminal law, stricter enforcement of existing laws, and the cultivation of political support by raising public awareness about the urgent need for change. Such interventions, Citron makes clear in this timely and compelling book, might help forge a “new compact for social norms.”

An informed, bracing call to action in defense of our private selves.