UVA law professor Citron (Hate Crimes in Cyberspace) warns in this persuasive and impassioned call for substantive legal protections for private data that "memories of our intimate lives are being created against our will by perpetrators who intrude on the seclusion that we expect, want and deserve." Noting that "intimate data gets captured whenever we browse, search, or use apps," Citron contends that the law "hasn't caught up to address the powerful roles that apps play in our lives." She cautions that bad actors can "download malware onto our personal devices" and gain "access to our photos, texts and calendars," and her chilling examples of privacy invasions and acts of exploitation include the story of an Azerbaijani journalist who was threatened with the release of intimate videos if she did not stop investigating political corruption in her country. To address the problem, Citron recommends that "privacy violations should be treated as felonies" and proposes, among other corporate policies, that businesses only be allowed to collect personal data if it is used for "a legitimate business purpose that isn't outweighed by a significant risk to intimate privacy" and they have obtained "individuals' meaningful consent to collect their data." Accessible legal reasoning and galling case studies make this a cogent argument for reform. (Oct.)

How our intimate lives have been compromised and what we can do about it. A law professor and vice president of the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, Citron, author of Hate Crimes in Cyberspace, explores how corporations and governments, as well as unscrupulous individuals, have laid siege to our privacy. She surveys some of the most invasive and egregious examples of privacy violations that have become common in the last decade or so, ranging from secret video recording, hacking of personal digital devices, "sextortion" schemes, cyberstalking, cyberflashing, deepfakes, nonconsensual pornography, and various modes of digital surveillance and data collection. Citron demonstrates how specific groups--especially women and members of the LGBTQ+ community--have been particularly subject to abuse, and she highlights in her treatment of individual cases how grievous the personal toll on victims can be. The author argues persuasively that what currently limits efforts to address privacy violations are the weakness of legal protections, a widespread laxity in the pursuit of offenders, and a broader cultural confusion or apathy about what is at stake in the defense of privacy across all platforms. At present, she writes, the "law lacks a clear conception of what intimate privacy is, why its violation is wrongful, and how it inflicts serious harm." Despite this grim message, this is a hopeful and inspiring book, offering plausible suggestions about a variety of meaningful reforms that could be enacted in the near future. Citron's detailed, carefully argued recommendations include the application of civil rights laws to privacy violations, much tighter regulation of the tech industry, an expansion of the range of criminal law, stricter enforcement of existing laws, and the cultivation of political support by raising public awareness about the urgent need for change. Such interventions, Citron makes clear in this timely and compelling book, might help forge a "new compact for social norms." An informed, bracing call to action in defense of our private selves. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

The internet has changed the world forever. It's an era when the norm is to overshare everything, but what about the secrets that people do not want others to know? Citron (law, Univ. of Virginia; vice president, Cyber Civil Rights Initiative) details shocking stories and global statistics about intimate privacy violations, which disproportionately affect underrepresented groups, especially women and the LGBTQIA+ community. In the United States, people are not protected from anyone exposing intimate details and images from their dating and sex lives or mining data from phone apps and releasing personal information that can ruin lives. The author lays the groundwork in this book for everyone to fight both legally and socially for change in the U.S. VERDICT Anyone who is deeply involved with using the internet in any form should pick up this book. It is important for everyone to understand how intimate privacy violations affect its victims and why the fight to make a change needs to happen as people continue to live their lives online.--Leah Fitzgerald