For Seller

By: David Tortorelli

Award-winning journalist and TV commentator Dan Tynan has been writing about technology and it privacy implication for 20 years. In his book, Computer Privacy Annoyances, Dan offers practical solutions for protecting your personal information both on the Net and in the physical world. And does so in a surprisingly entertaining way. The following interview with Dan Tynan provides a behind-the-scenes look at Computer Privacy Annoyances.

David: What attracted you to the privacy issues addressed in your book?

Dan Tynan: I’m concerned about where our society is going in terms of respect for privacy and civil liberties in general. I feel like most people are asleep at the wheel, and the ship is being steered by people who do not have our best interests at heart — out-of-control (and largely unsupervised) data brokers and an increasingly encroaching federal government, to name two. We are at an absolutely crucial and unprecedented point in our history where technology can enable the kinds of snooping even Orwell couldn’t have dreamed up in his worst nightmares. We’ve always had government eavesdropping, we’ve always had people who would sell us out for a nickel. Computers and the Internet enable a kind of a one-stop-shopping for data thieves of every type that was not possible before. Everything you buy online, everything you read, your financial info from online banking, your medical information (from web browsing), your hobbies and interests and dark secrets (from Web browsing, email, and newsgroups), all of it gathered in one place that someone 8,000 miles away can access without your ever being aware of it. Thank God J. Edgar Hoover never had this capability. I wish to god George W. Bush did not.

David: Why did you decide to write this particular book?

Dan Tynan: The simple reason: Because Robert, my editor at O’Reilly, asked me to, and eventually offered a decent enough deal for me to say yes. (I’ve known Robert for nearly my entire writing career; he was a mentor to me at one point.) Privacy is a subject that has long interested me; I’ve written and edited many stories about it. Frankly, I thought it would be a topic that could sustain my interest long enough to complete a book (I’m a magazine writer, where a short attention span is a plus, professionally speaking.)

David: How did your own viewpoints evolve from the time you started the book to the time it was complete?

Dan Tynan: It was more of a confirmation of my suspicions than a change in viewpoint. One of the things that developed as I was writing this was that not only was the personal computer a single point of vulnerability, it was also the strongest weapon against privacy invasions. You can lock it down. You can research your options, and fight back, and tell others how to fight back. But only after you understand the problem first.

David: When talking to people who read your book, what are the one or two reader comments that stick out most in your mind?

Dan Tynan: People seem genuinely surprised that the book is not a complete snooze, that it’s actually an interesting read. Even funny, in bits, if not exactly a laugh riot.

The original title of this book was to be “Privacy Annoyances” (part of the “Annoyances” series). O’Reilly tacked on “Computer” as the book was being finished, over my protests, because they said ‘otherwise, staff in different bookstores may not consistently stock it in the same category.’ It seemed like a logical argument. But people I know who’ve read it have all commented on how they were: a) surprised to find it wasn’t all about computers, and b) were equally surprised to find how much of it applied to their lives. It’s really a general interest book.

Visit www.PrivacyAnnoyances.com to get free privacy tips and to learn more about Dan Tynan and Computer Privacy Annoyances.

David Tortorelli is president of Book Premieres - http://www.BookPremieres.com