The decline of privacy: How the loss of privacy impacts our lives and our livelihoods

The Decline of Privacy: How the Loss of Privacy Impacts our Lives and our Livelihoods reviews the current state of privacy. Privacy, as deconstructed by Alan Westin, consists of four components: solitude, the conscious withdrawal from others in an easily recognizable manner; intimacy, a different level of privacy within family or friendships which protects an individual as a member of a special unit; anonymity, protection in a more public setting from continuous recognition and physical surveillance; and reserve, the tacit agreement of close associates to respect each other's privacy. The Decline of Privacy examines the degradation of these components as a consequence of technological innovation. It explores the grim personal, commercial, and societal implications of a world without solitude, intimacy, anonymity, and reserve. Finally, The Decline of Privacy assesses whether privacy's decline can be reversed and evaluates the conditions necessary to solve the crisis of diminishing privacy.