Net Privacy

Billion-dollar fines for Facebook. CambridgeAnalytica. Edward Snowden. Apps on our smartphones tracking our every move.Privacy may be a defining issue of our age, but it is also one of the leastunderstood. Our digital world confuseswhat we know about privacy – what is public, what is private. Do oldethical and legal norms apply to new, digital media? How did the conditions of privacy become so uncertain that we areunsure about our own right to privacy? What can protect us from allowingcorporations, governments, hackers and insidious websites to know more about usthan we want them to?

Rigorous and engaging,this book examines the minutiae of our digital lives while drawing on aphilosophy of ethical and legal frameworks based on the thinking of philosopherImmanuel Kant. With a firm eye on the cutting edge of digital developments,Sacha Molitorisz outlines a robust model of individual consent.

Of urgent importance, this book spells out conceptual and practical steps to ensure our shared future is not dystopian. It shows not only that informed privacy is fundamental to us as individuals, but that in the digital world we need an enforceable regulatory framework to secure our relationships with others and to safeguard our democracies.

‘If you undress in front of an open window, it’s your ownfault. Sacha Molitorisz makes you realise that you’re undressing in aglasshouse and your clothes are made of cellophane.’ – Shaun Micallef, satirist and ex-lawyer

‘…[A] comprehensive analysis that offers a much-needed guide to, and therebyhope for, preserving and enhancing privacy, and with it, human dignity anddemocracy that are otherwise profoundly threatened on numerous fronts…’ – Charles Ess, University of Oslo

‘Net Privacy is a must-read for regulators, scholarsand anyone else grappling with issues around online privacy. It conciselyexplains how technological innovation has fundamentally reshaped privacy andprovides a compelling alternative vision for privacy law and regulation.’ – James Meese, RMIT University

‘Net Privacy delivers both a call to action, and an action plan, on one of the mostimportant and complex issues of our time.’ – Kayleen Manwaring, UNSW

‘Written in a highly readable style, and drawing on a richset of allusions to popular culture and cross-country comparisons, Molitorisz drawson Kantian ethics as a universal measuring stick, providing a prescription forprivacy that would shore up our individual and relational autonomy. Amuch-needed account in troubled digital times.’ – Sara Bannerman, McMaster University

‘Molitorisz brings an engaging philosophical discussion to the networkedcomplexities of internet privacy threats and abuses in a way that is bothattractive and accessible for his readers.’ – Tim Dwyer, University of Sydney