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Paper Abstract: A summary of the book The Digital Person. The book details the explosion of the use of personal information over the internet. It explains why this is currently legal and why this is problematic for our culture and personal sense of freedom. Paper Introduction: A Summary of Solove\'s The Digital PersonIn The Digital Person Daniel J Solove elucidates the societal effects ofwhat he terms the digital dossier compilations of online informationthat exist about each of us in the hands of multiple businesses andgovernment agencies Solove writes that this growing phenomenon hasserious implications for individuals and society and that it must beaddressed to mitigate cultural problems now and in the future such as aloss of individual freedom and self-expression Solove advocates enactinglaws that restructure the architecture or Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Individuals must eitheragree to the terms or forego any relationship with these companies. Solove argues that amelioratingthe problem can only be accomplished by addressing the current architectureof privacy, both within the Internet and in society at large. The Fourth Amendment statesthat individuals will not be subject to search and seizure without"probable cause" (188). Solove sees case law as being relatively ineffectual in regulating theeffects of digital dossier use. Solove writes that this growing phenomenon hasserious implications for individuals and society and that it must beaddressed to mitigate cultural problems now and in the future, such as aloss of individual freedom and self-expression. A significant danger of digital dossiers is their potential use bygovernment agencies during times of crisis to profile groups and use themas scapegoats (182). Solove recommends thatcompanies be required to use an "opt-in system", whereby individuals mustspecifically consent to a company's dissemination of their information,rather than the current "opt-out" system, in which the individual mustproactively ask that his information not be disclosed (1 6). He tries to find out what he did toprecipitate this accusation and meets with a nameless, facelessbureaucratic court system that gathers information about individualswithout informing them of the process or reasons for the court's decisions.Joseph is left powerless, with no way to influence the system and decidehis fate. This is because, on the Internet, there istypically no one party that can be held accountable in court. Works CitedSolove, Daniel J. In most cases, thelegality of information dissemination in any particular situation is moot,because the individual does not know that his information is being used andwill not seek recourse (75). Currently, statutory lawdoes not protect individuals from release of personal digital informationby third parties; nor does it prohibit free use of information given toonline companies, such as Amazon.com (2 8). The information that is collected about us is done so without ourknowledge, and we may never know which parts of our lives are an open bookto businesses and government agencies that pay to obtain the information. In both cases,information from government records allowed individuals to be profiledbased on their racial/ethnic affiliation. Thereis no realistic mechanism for an individual to negotiate the contract.Thus, individuals are put in a take-it-or-leave-it position. To Solove, Joseph's struggle bears a striking similarity to thedissemination of personal information through anonymous channels on theInternet. Legal protection against invasion of privacy encompassesconstitutional, statutory, and judiciary law. Soloveattributes part of this power imbalance to the bureaucratic nature of largeentities (92). It follows from this that theprivacy of information of any sort is not considered to be subject to thedictates of the Fourth Amendment. There are companies whosesole business is collecting information about millions of people fromonline sources and then packaging and selling this to other companies andthe government. Thenefarious face of online information gathering, according to Solove, is thebureaucratic, data-centric structure underlying how the information isgathered and used. Events similar to this occurred in Nazi Germany andalso for Japanese-Americans detained during World War II. Print. Anycriticism of government policies is forbidden, and those who are believedto be antagonistic to such policies are imprisoned or killed. However, Solove notes, asubpoena is relatively easy to come by compared to a warrant, which must begranted by a judge for a probable cause (2 2). Solove explains that, similar to Joseph K.'s situation-but unlikeOrwellian totalitarianism-there is generally no malicious intent in onlineinformation gathering. Solove seesthe rise in identity theft as resulting primarily from poor Internetarchitecture (115). Companies purchase our personal information not toblackmail or control us, but to convince us to purchase their products. A common metaphor for the dissemination of personal information viathe Internet is Orwell's novel 1984 (29). People censortheir every move so as not to appear to be at odds with the government. Forexample, in Olmstead v. New York: New York University Press, 2 4. People's individual needs and requests are not necessarilyvalued by entities that operate as bureaucracies, and thus, as in TheTrial, there is little to nothing an individual can do to control the fateof his privacy online. It explains why thispractice is currently legal and how the information is currently flowingboth ways between industry and government. A Summary of Solove's The Digital PersonIn The Digital Person, Daniel J. The Digital Person. Solove advocates enactinglaws that restructure the "architecture," or overall patterns, of onlineinformation exchange in society (98). He writes that greater security measures for guardingpeople's information, within both the government and private sector, andeasier opportunities for individuals to correct errors in their records,would reduce the occurrence and severity of identity theft (12 -123). It is legalfor a Web site to collect and sell people's information unless the Website's privacy policy specifically forbids this. Currently,information that exists on the Internet is considered in the public domain,so it is available for anyone to collect and use. Solove explains that the growth of the Internet created theopportunities for marketers to access information that helped them target-market their products, increasing the return on investment of marketingdollars. However, he states that up until now,the courts have not allowed the Fourth Amendment to be used this way. Solove elucidates the societal effects ofwhat he terms the "digital dossier," compilations of online informationthat exist about each of us in the hands of multiple businesses andgovernment agencies (1). In addition to the potential for government officials to abuse thisinformation, Solove points out that the existence of personal informationin the government's hands can lead to self-censoring, similar to that in1984. Solove argues that bureaucracies, while useful in theirability to process information and take action on a mass scale, can alsolead to a way of treating people that is dehumanizing and robs people oftheir power to control the repercussions of their decisions (39). is told that he is under arrest,but is never told the reason why. The book describes a society inwhich an individual's every move is watched by the government. Solove argues that a market-based solution cannot be counted on toregulate privacy, and thus government intervention is needed (9 -92).Companies are in positions of power, and in the parlance of contractualrelationships, individuals are the "weaker parties." The online privacycontracts drafted by companies are worded vaguely. United States (1928), the Court ruled that wire-tapping a person's home is legal because it does not involve physicalintrusion into the person's property (197). Solove argues that what is required to safeguard people's privacy isan architecture that places the burden of responsibility on entities thatdisseminate personal information. Individuals may refrain from expressing personal views andaffiliating with causes that might be viewed by the government as beingsubversive, for fear of being accused of having anti-government intentions.Thus, the government's access to extensive private information about itscitizens may interfere with our freedom of expression and creative thought. In summary, The Digital Person exposes the profligate use of people'spersonal online information without their consent. Solove hearkens this to the McCarthy era, when thousands ofindividuals were accused of being Communists based on personal detailsgleaned by from both governmental and non-governmental sources. Five years later, this issue is evenmore pressing with the expansion of social networking sites such asMySpace, Facebook, and Twitter (personal observation). It would be incumbent upon these entities to place thewelfare of their beneficiaries (the people whose information they hold intrust) above their own financial interests. He offers an additional analogy in Franz Kafka's The Trial(36). Ostensibly, this was because people in the humanitiesultimately make less money than those in the sciences and, by the company'sreasoning, might be a greater credit risk. The extensive personalinformation available on the Internet is being purchased by the U.S.government for use in anti-terrorist profiling and other security measures(168-72). Solove cites a case in which a bank was found to be profiling collegestudents and selectively approving credit for those who had non-humanitiesmajors (5 ). This information may include a person's address, telephone number,income, date of birth, and even such personal things as medicalinformation, a person's mother's maiden name, and-of special interest tomarketers-one's preferences for consumer goods. Solove sees the Fourth Amendment as a potentialjumping-off point for future legislation that can protect the privacy ofpersonal digital information (19 ). This willrequire that both the government and the private sector be held as trusteesof personal information, and that the burden of privacy and protection beput upon the entities that collect and use personal information. Thecatch-phrase of the novel is "Big Brother is watching you." Solove argues that viewing the issue of Internet information privacyin terms of a purely Orwellian metaphor misses the true nature and dangersof the problem. People were beginning to grapple with the issue of online privacy whenSolove's book was published in 2 4. It is also legal for acompany to purchase such information from another party. To fill this void, many states haveenacted statutes that require a subpoena to be presented before personalinformation can be obtained for use in a trial. Companies do not need the business of any given individualbecause money flows in from transactions with thousands or hundreds ofthousands of customers; however, individuals need the services that onlinecompanies offer. Private information about individuals is gleaned from diversesources, including purchases that people make on Web sites such asAmazon.com, answers to surveys, profiles on social networking sites, andinformation collected by the government, classified by social securitynumber. In this story, a man named Joseph K. This illustrates how people'sprivate information can be used without their knowledge to make decisionsthat affect their financial and social welfare. Soloveexpresses hope that solutions can be achieved if people realize the extentof the problem of unauthorized digital dossier dissemination and therepercussions this has on our culture and our personal sense of freedom. Solove suggests a system whereincompanies who wish to disclose people's information are held in theposition of a trustee, in the same way that doctors are trustees for theirpatients (1 2). If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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