No Place to Hide

What is going to be the consequence of massive accumulation of data and the mining of that data? It isn't just goverments. Viewed in clusters, this distributed 'personal' profile has drastic implications. No Place to Hide is a frightening read. To take this to its next step, I recommend "The Minerva Virus" The Minerva Virus builds on these concepts to investigate what would happen if all of this data were truely able to be combined and data-mined by a massively intelligent entity. The books go very well together.

O'Harrow describes harrowing circumstances which could have a negative, perhaps destructive impact on countless citizens who already fear an invasion of their privacy. Various data services in collaboration with government anti-terrorist initiatives continue to compile detailed information about millions of citizens. For them, there really is "no place to hide" even if most of these citizens have nothing to "hide" but certainly information they wish to protect. No doubt there are legitimate needs for creating a national intelligence infrastructure. That said, there are obviously ambitious, unscrupulous, and resourceful people with access to that infrastructure who can -- and have -- used it to their own malevolent advantage. Here are some of the questions to which O`Harrow responds: 1. What are the implications of the Intelligence Bill approved by the U.S. Congress last December? 2. How and why does the government outsource information to information companies? 3. How can individual citizens protect information about themselves which has nothing to do with national security? 4. To what extent are their rights threatened by unauthorized use of radio frequency identification chips (RFIDs), fingerprints, iris scans, and other boiometrics? 5. Why should there be legitimate concerns about Total Information Awareness, despite the fact that this surveillance system proposed by the Defense Department was rejected by the U.S. Congress? Whether or not you agree with all, most, or even some of what O'Harrow says in response to questions such as these, you need to be aware of the issues which he and others have identified. Frankly, I want to do all I can to support my government's efforts to protect its citizens from terrorist threats but I have several and serious concerns about the abuse of what I consider to be privileged information. I am appalled by the fact that it is now possible for anyone to purchase (for about $50) a dossier which includes everything needed to commit identity theft. I take all the recommended precautionary steps, of course, but even so.... It is possible but unlikely that when George Orwell wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four (first published in 1949), he envisioned then all of the potential implications of his warning that "Big Brother Is Watching You." To those who question that, I urge them to read O'Harrow's book.

It would most helpful and only correct if people would read this most revealing book BEFORE leaving a political commentary or review, which has nothing to do what so ever with the subject of this book. It is most misleading not to do so. This book is not about Saddam at all, but rather about frightening privacy issues that are facing Americans post 9/11 under the guise of Security and Protection for the USA. Really, do yourself a favor and read this well researched and most informative book. The author has more then done his homework. He has compiled thoroughly established facts in an understandable book that anyone, even those who DON"T take the time to read books before leaving reviews will find enlightening. This book is a most essential read for all Americans.

No Place To Hide is a crucial and essential book to read for an eye opening factual account of data collection and privacy issues all Americans face. Mr. O'Harrow has written a book with meticulous attention to details, facts and reveals the main players involved with the collection of data of every aspect of daily American lives and how that data is being supplied to any government agency that cares to purchase it. O'Harrow exposes the serious issue of private data technology companies and their marriage to government agencies, a marriage that is thriving while unchecked and ungoverned by guidelines or laws to protect every American's basic right to Privacy. This book leads one to formulate the question "Is giving up my basic rights to privacy and living in a unrestricted, constantly growing complex of surveillance, data collection and selling of that data to any government agency going to make my life a more secure and safe one? No Place To Hide is a concise and frighteningly revealing book that all Americans should read. O'Harrow arms us with an inside look at a growing partnership between private industry and government that needs to be controlled. A book that should remind all American's that we do have a voice in our Government and that we have serious Privacy and Civil Liberty issues at hand that we need to address as a nation. E. Ray

O'Harrow's book reads like a riveting spy novel. The stakes are high. How can America catch terrorists before they strike again? How can government help Americans feel safe in these uncertain times? The answer, according to powerful, self-styled, selfless techno-patriots is to buy their technology - lots of it - and records that have been amassed by commercial data brokers on every single American with details on the most intimate aspects of our lives ranging from where we live, where we bank, what we buy and how we like our sex - records that are often fraught with mistakes that finger innocents as criminals, deadbeats or worse. It's a kind of science fiction nightmare where J. Edgar Hoover and Joseph McCarthy have been reincarnated into big business seeking to profit off the fears of the post 9/11 world - only it's real, it's revolting and the politicians and bureaucrats are often complicit. If the techno-patriots are going to save us from the next Mohamed Atta, who's going to save us from them? Can they really do it, or is it all smoke and mirrors in the name of profiteering? Are there alternatives that are better, faster, more cost effective, reliable and less intrusive? Sadly, these questions are the cliff hangers that go unanswered in O'Harrow's thought provoking book. There is no protagonist - only a bunch of characters - often seedy - who are out to convince America that you'll be safer if government can peek at your knickers on demand. In a year where the U.S. will begin to implement Intelligence Reform legislation, the Patriot Act is up for review, and deficits are at all time highs to fight the war on terror, No Place to Hide is particularly timely. O'Harrow sets the table beautifully - it's up to every reader to decide whether America can stomach the meal being served. This is a mandatory read for policymakers and anyone who cares about what it means to live in America.