The Private Is Political - by Ray Brescia (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The Private Is Political not only exposes the threats to our personal and political identity in the age of Surveillance Capitalism, it also offers a roadmap for an effective means of reining in the worst abuses of Big Tech companies and their authoritarian enablers"--

Book Synopsis

Exposes the threats to our personal and political identity in the age of surveillance

It has become alarmingly clear that our online actions are less private than we're led to believe. Our data is routinely sold and shared with companies who want to sell us something, political actors who want to analyze our behavior, and law enforcement who seek to limit our actions.

The Private is Political explores the failure of existing legal systems and institutions to protect our online presence and identities. Examining the ways in which the digital space is under threat from both governments and private actors, Ray Brescia reveals how the rise of private surveillance prevents individuals from organizing with others who might help to catalyze change in their lives. Brescia argues that we are not far from a world where surveillance chills not just our speech, but our very identities. This will ultimately stifle our ability to live full lives, realize democracy, and even shape the laws that affect our privacy itself.

Beyond merely identifying the harms to individuals from privacy violations, Brescia furthers our understanding of privacy by identifying and naming political privacy and the integrity of identity as central to democracy. The Private is Political empowers consumers by outlining a roadmap for a comprehensive privacy regime, leveraging various institutions to collectively safeguard privacy rights.

Review Quotes

"A sound academic analysis of privacy through a theoretical and legal lens."-- "Library Journal"

"At once urgent and sober, The Private is Political fundamentally reframes the threat that panopticon surveillance technologies pose to self-government and then designs institutions to meet and defeat the danger. Brescia's wide-ranging analysis--which embeds vivid facts in powerful theories from law, philosophy, and political economy--provides an essential guide to the way we must learn to live now, if we want to keep our democracy."--Daniel Markovits, Yale Law School

"A farsighted book that portrays the devastating consequences of unfettered surveillance capitalism."-- "Kirkus Reviews"

"The Private is Political is a must read for anyone concerned about the future of our privacy and of our democracy. Brescia's highly original focus on 'political privacy' allows him to show us what is truly at stake in the privacy wars: our very identity and, with it, our capacity for civic action and social change. Having pinpointed the problem, Brescia offers cogent and achievable steps for reclaiming control over our identities and our society. The growing power of AI, and the metastasizing threats to democracy, make this the perfect book for its time."--Dennis Hirsch, Ohio State University Moritz College of Law

"A substantial piece of scholarship that will advance thinking about the critical questions related to information privacy today. Brescia infuses early American history with contemporary American legal and political theory to raise a fundamental concern with digital surveillance. The stakes of his argument are clear: privacy is essential if we are to maintain our ability to engage in political change."--Anupam Chander, Georgetown University Law Center

"Brescia deftly explains how political privacy--the shelter under which we are able to build and express our identity and community--plays a critical role in a healthy democratic society. The Private is Political expertly illustrates the negative effects of eroded political privacy, and promotes an alternative approach to protecting this critical component of democracy."--Jeffrey L. Vagle, Georgia State University College of Law

"Technology shapes our political identities and the institutions we create and then use to make real the policies we want. Ray Brescia draws on a wide range of social scientific learning about political identity, institutions, and social movements to critique the current state of our law affecting the role of social media in shaping political identity. His intriguing proposal for 'digital zoning, ' a regulatory regime predicated on robust disclosure and user choice, should become an important part of the on-going discussions about what our regulatory regime should become."--Mark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law emeritus, Harvard Law School

"Pushing us to look beyond the shoe ads following users around the internet, Brescia masterfully directs us to prioritize the ways political identity, civic engagement, and democratic society demand strong privacy protections."--Meg Leta Jones, author of The Character of Consent: The History of Cookies and Future of Technology Policy

About the Author

Ray Brescia is the Associate Dean for Research & Intellectual Life and the Hon. Harold R. Tyler Professor in Law & Technology at Albany Law School. He is the author of Lawyer Nation: The Past, Present, and Future of the American Legal Profession and The Future of Change: How Technology Shapes Social Revolutions; and editor of Crisis Lawyering: Effective Legal Advocacy in Emergency Situations; and How Cities Will Save the World: Urban Innovation in the Face of Population Flows, Climate Change, and Economic Inequality.