EPIC

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Focusing public attention on emerging privacy and civil liberties issues

EPIC Alert 17.17 ======================================================================= E P I C A l e r t ======================================================================= Volume 17.17 August 31, 2010 ----------------------------------------------------------------------Published by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) Washington, D.C. http://www.epic.org/alert/epic_alert_1717.html "Defend Privacy. Support EPIC." http://epic.org/donate

======================================================================= Table of Contents ======================================================================= [1] Senators Question Full Body Scanners, Highlight Health Risks [2] EPIC Launches Body Scanner Incident Report Page [3] Facebook "Places" Embeds Privacy Risks [4] Agency Reconsiders Medical Breach Notification Rule [5] Lawsuit Filed for Travel Surveillance Records [6] News in Brief [7] EPIC Book Review: "Islands of Privacy" [8] Upcoming Conferences and Events

TAKE ACTION: Stop Airport Strip Searches!

- JOIN Facebook Group "Stop Airport Strip Searches" and INVITE Friends - DISPLAY the IMAGE http://thepublicvoice.org/nakedmachine.jpg - SUPPORT EPIC http://www.epic.org/donate/ [7] EPIC Book Review "Islands of Privacy" ======================================================================= "Islands of Privacy" - Christena Nippert-Eng In her book, "Islands of Privacy," Christena Nippert-Eng deftly explores the intricacies of societal and personal standards of privacy. Ms. Nippert-Eng integrates real life experiences of contributors with in-depth analysis of topics such as technology, secrets, the ownership of information, and breaches of privacy. The contributors' real life experiences keep the book interesting and give Nippert-Eng a chance to explore many facets of privacy in every day life.

Nippert-Eng begins by exploring the idea of secrets and the psychology and social effects of secret keeping and secret sharing. She interviews a variety of subjects who tell her funny, sad, and fascinating personal stories about secrets. Nippert-Eng discusses the social currency of secrets, exploring their value as a tool to build - and destroy relationships.

Nippert-Eng then explores secrets and privacy in a variety of contexts, including the telephone and email context. She does an excellent job of exploring the ways that technology and privacy interact. Nippert-Eng explores the advent of cell phones and emails in depth, probing her subjects about a variety of subjects including their feelings on cell phones, the ways that they integrate technology into their lives, and the methods they use to create boundaries and spheres of privacy.

She also explores privacy in more traditional realms: the home and in purses/wallets. The book contains a fascinating analysis of the privacy of purses and wallets and the strict the social boundaries that well-off particular private areas like these. Nippert-Eng probes these strong social conventions and polls subjects on the private vs. public status of items in their purses or wallets, while seamlessly integrating entertaining and enlightening personal narratives from subjects.

Nippert-Eng's book is, overall, an excellent study of what privacy and secrecy mean in the modern age, how social norms are evolving to meet the challenge posed by new technology, and what normal people do to protect their privacy.

--Ginger McCall