The Unwanted Gaze - by Jeffrey Rosen (Paperback)

About the Book

A legal-affairs analyst for "The New Republic" explores the legal, technological, and cultural changes associated with the gradual erosion of privacy rights for Americans and proposes ways of countering the invasion of privacy. This paperback edition includes a new Afterword.

Book Synopsis

The Unwanted Gaze is an important book about one of the most pressing issues of our day: how changes in technology and the law have combined to demolish our rights of privacy, and what we can and must do to re-secure them.

In a world in which Ken Starr can subpoena Monica Lewinsky's bookstore receipts and deleted e-mail messages can be used as justification for firing employees, it's clear that private information of all kinds can be taken out of context and wielded against us. Where exactly did our constitutional guarantees on privacy go? In superbly lucid prose, Jeffrey Rosen tells not only where those privacy rights went but also how we can get them back. The Unwanted Gaze is utterly indispensable for anyone who cares about the future of his or her private life.

Review Quotes

"Brilliant and haunting...a pleasure to read."-The Washington Post Book World

"Rosen makes a complex subject fascinating by showing us how vulnerable we all are. His message: Pay attention. It could happen to you."-The Denver Post

"This remarkably rich and detailed book sharpens our understanding of a problem that most of us prefer not to think about."-The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Jeffrey Rosen is an associate professor at the George Washington University Law School and legal affairs editor of The New Republic. He is a graduate of Harvard College; Balliol College, Oxford, where he was a Marshall Scholar; and Yale Law School. His essays and book reviews have appeared in many publications, including The New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker. He lives in Washington, D.C.