None of Your Damn Business: Privacy in the United States from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age

by Lawrence Cappello

Capello investigates why we’ve been so blithe about giving up our privacy and all the opportunities we’ve had along the way to rein it in.

Every day, Americans surrender their private information to entities claiming to have their best interests in mind. This trade-off has long been taken for granted, but the extent of its nefariousness has recently become much clearer. As None of Your Damn Business reveals, the problem is not so much that data will be used in ways we don’t want, but rather how willing we have been to have our information used, abused, and sold right back to us. In this startling book, Lawrence Cappello targets moments from the past 130 years of US history when privacy was central to battles over journalistic freedom, national security, surveillance, big data, and reproductive rights. As he makes dismayingly clear, Americans have had numerous opportunities to protect the public good while simultaneously safeguarding our information, and we’ve squandered them every time. None of Your Damn Business is a rich and provocative survey of an alarming topic that grows only more relevant with each fresh outrage of trust betrayed.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, American History

352 pages, Hardcover

Published October 3, 2019

Reviews

[Reagan Faith Waggoner]

“Lastly, it is my sincere hope that if someone should ask you what you’re currently reading, you’ll be as accurate as possible when it comes to the title.” - “None of Your Damn Business”

Ok, I have not lived up to the instruction of this quotation, simply because I would feel unnatural saying a word such as that, but the principle and tone is exceedingly valid and well-utilized.

This book is well-composed and considered, and I admire the author's academic yet conversational approach to the history of the debate on privacy. Rather than isolating specific facets of privacy, he approaches privacy as a whole, from tabloids to physical surveillance to the modern day.

I enjoyed the first two sections of this book far more than the final three... I am not sure why, but my interest or sense of urgency decreased as the book progressed. It took me a while to read this book, relatively speaking.

Fascinating takeaway that Griswold vs Connecticut - government ban on contraceptives violated the right of marital privacy - was the first representation of privacy. The final chapter of this book pertained to reproductive rights and abortion, a hotly contested topic, but exceedingly relevant to the privacy debate. I did not realize the extent of privacy law affected and formed by Griswold and Roe.

“The power of the photographic image is such that both in the 1920s and even today, most people believe in its objective truth.”

As stated previously, I found the section on tabloids exceedingly entertaining, and it is quite relevant to modern society. Essentially, Cappello divides the privacy discussion into several categories:

- Photojournalism (1890-1928)
- National Security (1917-1961)
- Wiretaps, Bugs, and CCTV (1928-1998)
- Big Iron and Small Government (1933-1988)
- Reproductive Choices/Contraceptives/Abortion (1961-1992)

His exploration of invasion of privacy in the name of efficiency was fascinating... Even under small-government presidents such as Reagan, aggregation of data to improve efficiency invaded privacy and led us closer to where we are today. The scholars and quotations cited throughout this book are fascinating and surely worth the read.

I highly recommend sections one and two, and the rest if you have the time and energy. Well-composed book approachable for readers of all backgrounds.

[Mara]

Cappello gives us an in-depth look at various types of privacy and the debate surrounding it in the US. He's particularly skilled at showing the links between the different kinds of privacy (from organization privacy through to decisional privacy) and the importance of viewing privacy as a full spectrum, rather than trying to isolate one kind of privacy from another. He also notes that giving up certain aspects of privacy over the years in the name of national security seemed like a good idea at the time, but points out that once given up, those rights are awfully hard to get back.

Although the writing is dense, it is far from dry, as the author's wit and sense of humor peek through often. This book is excellent for anyone interested in the history of the debate over privacy.

[DJ Williams]

this book is an exploration of a pretty interesting historical subject, but its tone is pretty consistently dry and boring. you also get the sense that the author isn't especially accustomed to narrative writing and the editing could have been a lot better.

[Orrin Byland]

Academic. Good contextualization of Privacy arguments. Likely going against the spirit of this book by posting that I've read it and writing a review on a social media app