THE PRIVACY INVADERS

Mr. Brenton is a former Pinkerton detective and insurance inspector: it is too bad he didn't have a few feelers out before writing a sibling book to Vance Packard's The Naked Society (see page 195) dealing, as it does, with peer group activities, or, in what ways your life is bugged. While Brenton's credentials as a writer are satisfactory, he has not covered as many areas as Packard: he deals at greater length with fewer. Namely, if you apply for credit or insurance or a job, all the comprehensive questioning entailed; the use of the polygraph or lie detector by big companies in an attempt to ""pick off undesirables""; other means of corporate espionage which extends to possible leakage to the competition; the widespread use of mikes, cameras, electronic eavesdropping; the attitudes of the press- ""nosy"" to begin with; the invasion of the mailbox; the assault of philanthropic organizations. He has compiled a substantial enough dossier and, ironically enough, Vance Packard is on his list of references.