Living in a Wired World: Can Personal Privacy Survive in the 21st Century?

Imagine waking up one day in your own personal terrarium, where everything you do and say can be seen by anyone passing by. Sound scary? In a world of Web cams, social networking sites, and GPS-equipped phones, your dorm walls may be more transparent than you realize.

The University of Vermont Libraries present a lecture and book-signing by Burlington-based attorney and computer forensics expert Frederick Lane, about the challenges emerging technologies pose to one of our most controversial rights, on Wednesday, November 18th at 4:30 PM, in Billings North Lounge.

Lane’s American Privacy: The 400-Year History of Our Most Contested Right will be officially released by Beacon Press on November 23, 2009 and was recently selected as the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression’s book of the month.

Lane is the author of numerous books and articles on issues of intellectual freedom, including freedom of speech, privacy online and in the workplace, the impact of technology on our rights and liberties, and the separation of church and state. His work has been featured on Nightline, 60 Minutes, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-august-23-2006/frederick-lane).

“Is there anything more fundamental to human freedom than the right to privacy, to be able to live your life as you wish without the scrutiny or the interference of bullying authority?” asks legendary historian and activist Howard Zinn. “Frederick Lane’s book confronts us with this largely invisible threat, magnified by modern technology, and challenges us to defend our most basic rights.”

The presentation is free and open to the public.

Refreshments will be served. For more information, please call 802-656-9980 or e-mail selene.colburn@uvm.edu

See Billings on a campus map: http://www.uvm.edu/map/?Page=MAP&Building=53
Information on visitor parking at UVM: http://www.uvm.edu/tps/parking/?Page=visitors.html