We the people of Facebook nation
Subtitle: a constitution for the web-and why we need it
By: by Lori Andrews
Publisher: Free Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 253
ISBN-13: 9781451650518
Subjects: Internet; Civil rights; Political aspects; Law and legislation; Online social networks
Description: A leading specialist on social networks writes a shocking expose of the widespread misuse of our personal online data and creates a Constitution for the web to protect us. Social networks are the defining cultural movement of our time. Over a half a billion people are on Facebook alone. If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest nation in the world. But while that nation appears to be a comforting small town in which we can share photos of friends and quaint bits of trivia about our lives, it is actually a lawless battle zone, a frontier with all the hidden and unpredictable dangers of any previously unexplored place. Social networks offer freedom. An ordinary individual can be a reporter, alerting the world to breaking news of a natural disaster or a political crisis. A layperson can be a scientist, participating in a crowd sourced research project. Or an investigator, helping cops solve a crime. But as we work and chat and date (and sometimes even have sex) over the web, traditional rights may be slipping away. Colleges and employers routinely reject applicants because of information found on social networks. Cops use photos from people's profiles to charge them with crimes, or argue for harsher sentences. Robbers use postings about vacations to figure out when to break into homes. At one school, officials used cameras on students' laptops to spy on them in their bedrooms. The same power of information that can topple governments can also topple a person's career, marriage, or future. What the author proposes is a Constitution for the web, to extend our rights to this wild new frontier.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The Facebook nation; title: George Orwell; title: meet mark Zuckerberg; title: Second self; title: Technology and fundamental rights; title: The right to connect; title: Freedom of speech; title: Lethal advocacy; title: Privacy of place; title: Privacy of information; title: FYI or TMI?: social networks and the right to a relationship with your children; title: Right to a fair trial-social networks and the judicial system; title: Right to a fair trial-defendants; title: The right to due process; title: Slouching toward a constitution.