The Privacy Pirates: How Your Privacy Is Being Stolen and What You Can Do about It - Hardcover

by Leslie Gruis (Author)

In The Privacy Pirates, former National Security Agency intelligence officer Dr. Leslie Gruis explains the origins of American privacy and its deep connection to freedom and the American dream. She discusses some of the controversial issues, covering everything from attempts to protect privacy rights-many unsuccessful-to abuses of privacy by large companies and accusations of privacy invasion by the government. All of it is explained in plain language, with humor and clarity, and is accompanied at the start of every chapter by the compelling story of 14-year-old Alice and her family as they attempt to negotiate a modern world full of Privacy Pirates.

"Your rights are under attack from the Privacy Pirates," says Gruis. "Government intrusion is nothing compared to the things companies like Facebook and Google are getting away with every day."

Take the journey with Alice, get informed about your privacy rights, and learn how you, too, can defeat the Privacy Pirates.

Author Biography

Leslie Gruis worked at the National Security Agency for 30 years. Initially recruited as a mathematician with a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, Dr. Gruis rose to lead an organization that funded start-ups for classified applications. She then entered the high-level policy arena, where she produced a number of key strategy documents that influenced privacy practices. Her work was shaped by the ongoing public debates about intelligence community activities--like the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) programs--and by the revelations of whistle-blower Edward Snowden. In her second career as a writer, Dr. Gruis has focused on how modern technology erodes Americans' privacy rights and what we can do to restore and preserve these rights. She is also the author of a more academic book on privacy (Privacy Past, Present, and Future). Dr. Gruis writes for traditional and online media, appears on radio and television, and speaks at conferences. She lives in Maryland with her family.