Rating: 
Summary: Good research, but too much fluff and "chicken-little"
Review: Michael Hyatt's book is a very comprehensive book on
privacy. Privacy is an issue of great variance of
importance to people. Some people are very private and
some do not seem to care at all about their privacy.
This range of concern is based on two factors. One is
trust, if you trust who you give your information to and
those organizations that use this information for
various purposes you have a very high tolerance on
privacy. The second is experience in events of privacy
abuse, if you have never had your credit card number or
identity used, or been stalked, you again will have a
very high privacy tolerance. The strength of this book
is that approaches privacy in degrees of the privacy you
want to attain. The book has very current information
and is supported by an even more up to date website.
The book seems to lack much original thought or
direction, but I think that is caused by the author
offering such a wide range of resources to meet the wide
range of privacy desired by the reader. The information
of the book is well summarized and referenced into a
series of "Practical Privacy Tips" lists and another
"Complete Privacy Checklist" in the appendix. This book
is a little shallow in technical areas, but that is
because it is written for the general population. The
reader with a high tech background will enjoy the range
of choices provided. Another element of the book I
enjoyed was the emphasis of having a family or businessprivacy plan. While privacy tolerance is a very private
issue, a compromise plan needs to be developed for your
household or office. This book is great privacy primer,
I would have given it five stars, but I had problems
with the emphasis on getting a lock box mailing address.
The author did not emphasize enough the need to
maintain that alternative address for a long time after
you move to another location. Change of address notices
only last six months and need to be renewed for several
years. I know when I got my post office box the mail
from the prior box users continued to be delivered
including what appeared to be preapproved credit card
notices. This minor flaw was out weighed by the quality
and volume of information on protecting your privacy.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Privacy Primer
Review: Michael Hyatt's book is a very comprehensive book on
privacy. Privacy is an issue of great variance of
importance to people. Some people are very private and
some do not seem to care at all about their privacy.
This range of concern is based on two factors. One is
trust, if you trust who you give your information to and
those organizations that use this information for
various purposes you have a very high tolerance on
privacy. The second is experience in events of privacy
abuse, if you have never had your credit card number or
identity used, or been stalked, you again will have a
very high privacy tolerance. The strength of this book
is that approaches privacy in degrees of the privacy you
want to attain. The book has very current information
and is supported by an even more up to date website.
The book seems to lack much original thought or
direction, but I think that is caused by the author
offering such a wide range of resources to meet the wide
range of privacy desired by the reader. The information
of the book is well summarized and referenced into a
series of "Practical Privacy Tips" lists and another
"Complete Privacy Checklist" in the appendix. This book
is a little shallow in technical areas, but that is
because it is written for the general population. The
reader with a high tech background will enjoy the range
of choices provided. Another element of the book I
enjoyed was the emphasis of having a family or business privacy plan. While privacy tolerance is a very private
issue, a compromise plan needs to be developed for your
household or office. This book is great privacy primer,
I would have given it five stars, but I had problems
with the emphasis on getting a lock box mailing address.
The author did not emphasize enough the need to
maintain that alternative address for a long time after
you move to another location. Change of address notices
only last six months and need to be renewed for several
years. I know when I got my post office box the mail
from the prior box users continued to be delivered
including what appeared to be preapproved credit card
notices. This minor flaw was out weighed by the quality
and volume of information on protecting your privacy.
Rating:
Summary: A useful and practical book.
Review: Most of us living in "the land of the free" have no idea how much of our personal business has become the business of big-business, big-government, big-medicine -- and big crime. In this volume, Mr. Hyatt provides not only clear and concise explanations of the problems -- but also provides numerous clear and easy-to-follow steps leading toward solutions. Mr. Hyatt also provides guides to "levels" of privacy, knowing that not everyone is in the same position or situation or has the same needs. (For example, while all of us should probably exercise far more computer security, not everyone needs an off-shore trust!) Regardless of individual need, most Americans could immediately implement enough security measures (with little or no cost) which would reduce their risk substantially. For me, the most useful element of the book was the additional resources provided, whether they be websites, books, etc. Thus, an individual with particular needs not treated in-depth will have a starting point in his own research. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A useful and practical book.
Review: Most of us living in "the land of the free" have no idea how much of our personal business has become the business of big-business, big-government, big-medicine -- and big crime. In this volume, Mr. Hyatt provides not only clear and concise explanations of the problems -- but also provides numerous clear and easy-to-follow steps leading toward solutions. Mr. Hyatt also provides guides to "levels" of privacy, knowing that not everyone is in the same position or situation or has the same needs. (For example, while all of us should probably exercise far more computer security, not everyone needs an off-shore trust!) Regardless of individual need, most Americans could immediately implement enough security measures (with little or no cost) which would reduce their risk substantially. For me, the most useful element of the book was the additional resources provided, whether they be websites, books, etc. Thus, an individual with particular needs not treated in-depth will have a starting point in his own research. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: A useful and practical book.
Review: Most of us living in "the land of the free" have no idea how much of our personal business has become the business of big-business, big-government, big-medicine -- and big crime. In this volume, Mr. Hyatt provides not only clear and concise explanations of the problems -- but also provides numerous clear and easy-to-follow steps leading toward solutions. Mr. Hyatt also provides guides to "levels" of privacy, knowing that not everyone is in the same position or situation or has the same needs. (For example, while all of us should probably exercise far more computer security, not everyone needs an off-shore trust!) Regardless of individual need, most Americans could immediately implement enough security measures (with little or no cost) which would reduce their risk substantially. For me, the most useful element of the book was the additional resources provided, whether they be websites, books, etc. Thus, an individual with particular needs not treated in-depth will have a starting point in his own research. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful explanation, great advice and resources
Review: Privacy has become an increasingly important issue for ordinary citizens who thought their personal and concealed. More and more, we've discovered that information we thought was confidential is, in fact, public knowledge . . . or nearly so. The question for us now is how to protect ourselves from the snoops-the marketers, bill collectors, stalkers, criminals, and so many others that shouldn't really know so much about us. Personal security is a major concern today, so this book is certainly timely. Hyatt reveals how much information about us is available for instant public access or can be uncovered with a little legal (or illicit) research. Shortly after reading in Invasion of Privacy that I should never give out my Social Security number, I looked into buying a car for my daughter. When the salesman and I came to the question of financing, he sat down at a computer terminal and asked for . . . you guessed it: my Social Security number. After enjoying a good laugh, I asked him why he needed it. His reply: so he could check on what kind of interest rate I could get for the credit. He tapped a few keys and instantly knew my credit rating . . . and a lot more information that I didn't think was any of his business. Real life evidence about what this book reports. And the book is filled with much more evidence of identity theft, credit card misuse, and how stalkers learn about their victims. And that's just scratching the surface! Reading Hyatt's information-packed book, you'll first learn about the threat. You can evaluate your own vulnerability using the self-assessment in the first of five appendices. With this knowledge in-hand, you have to decide what to do about your privacy. How important is your privacy to you? After learning about corporate spies, predators, and government surveillance, you'll read chapters that will help you determine your preferred level of privacy and security. The rest of the book describes in fine how-to detail what countermeasures are available to you. Hyatt covers Computers and the Internet, Banking and Finances, Your Physical Address and Mail Privacy, Medical Records, Identification Documents, and Telephone and Fax. You'll be amazed at your exposure and how you can overcome that openness. You may find yourself wanting even more resources after reading all the information and references in the main text of the book. A Comprehensive Privacy Resource List shows up as Appendix C. When you complete this book, you will feel considerably more aware of your circumstances. You'll know the secrets, so you will understand your vulnerability and what you can do to protect yourself. This topic is amazing as you dig into it, which Invasion of Privacy will help you do.
Rating:
Summary: Good research, but too much fluff and "chicken-little"
Review: Take out the fluff and chicken-little-the-sky-is-falling nonsense, and the meat of this book would make up a small pamphlet. There are many more informative authors on the subject of personal privacy. "The Privacy Rights Handbook" is a much better start.
Rating:
Summary: Required Reading!
Review: The information about us that's readily available on the internet is frankly more than a little scary. This book lays out all the hazards but has really practical solutions to each of them. I liked the book because it wasn't just a shock value story where I should just be afraid, it actually broke the problem down into smaller pieces and tells you what to do about it.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing spectacular
Review: The writing is what I call "culled from other areas" That is, the author refers to so many other articles and agencies that it seems that he doesn't have an original thought in his head except for make sure you don't give your social security number out. Some of these so called ideas are so run of the mill my mom used to tell me these things when I was a kid. Some are a little over the top like using an alias when applying for a telephone. It seems that the worse thing tha can happen to someone is identity theft and I agree 100% with that conclusion. But on average what I read here is that he doesn't want the reader to keep getting unsolicited emails, telemarketing calls and direct mail pieces at your house. Personally none of these things is really that annoying to me. yes, I hate being interrupted while I am eating but if you put a block on yoru phone and make your number unlisted most of these calls go away. Trust me, I have tested this out and it really does filter out the unwanted garbage. As far as direct mail goes, I only open what I find interesting. I like getting coupons and discount letters, especially at Xmas time. If I can save a buck I'll use one of their coupons, why not? Junk email is annoying at times but there are filtering devices built-in to most email programs nowadays. I do agree with the author that you should have one email address that you only give to family/friends and a few others that you can use as dump emails for all other garbage. This really is a great idea. I would not waste my money aon this book. Get it at the library or via eBay or half.com.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: This book for all of you out there that have any doubts is amazing! I was totally oblivious to all of the things that our government is taping into, and with this book I really have become more aware and am able to live with the knowledge of how these things effect my own personal life everyday and that can be more safe. Michael has made me realize just how easy things can be found out and how to protect myself and my family. This is definitely one to pick up!!
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