Decent book, but doesn’t really say anything new. And I wish the positive tradeoffs would’ve been covered more for fairness.

It is a great book for people who likes non fiction books or are interested in learning some life skills ! Will totally recommend

Thank you to both #NetGalley and NYU Press for providing me an advance copy of renowned civil rights lawyer Ray Brescia’s latest #nonfiction work, The Private is Political: Identity and Democracy in the Age of Surveillance Capitalism, in exchange for an honest review.

#ThePrivateIsPolitical is yet another #nonfiction work scrutinizing the havoc that the sale of personal data (or information) wreaks on individuals, as well as the threat such activities pose to our democracy. The book proffers a roadmap to a comprehensive privacy regime that would empower consumers by leveraging various institutions to collectively safeguard privacy rights. Given the format, the length, and the proposals for potential solutions, the material reads similarly to a law journal note.

The book serves as a good general introduction to the subject and is recommended reading for either novices eager to learn more about the topic, or as a casebook for law students. While short in terms of chapters and a regurgitation for those who are familiar or experts in the space, the introduction, notes, and footnotes are well researched and can serve as good resources since they reference other well-known privacy works and incidents in the space.

Overall, solid reading for those interested in how privacy and data affect the political realm, or if looking for a refresher on such subjects. Otherwise, experts will note that many of the ideas and solutions have been proposed in this and adjacent spaces (e.g., metaverse), and there is nothing new under the sun here that has not already been part of the discussion for quite some time.