What Stays in Vegas: The World of Personal Data-Lifeblood of Big Business-and the End of Privacy as We Know It

Synopsis

In What Stays in Vegas, Reuters journalist and Harvard fellow Adam Tanner exposes the greatest threat to online privacy. It’s not the NSA, but private American firms. These are companies like Caesar's Entertainment in Las Vegas that operate behind the scenes, behind the tiny script of legal agreements, with little to no oversight. #147;This is the information age, and information is power!” screamed DocuSearch, "America’s Premier Resource for Private Investigator Searches & Lookups" in 1996--and they were right. Despite the fact that Caesar's casinos are decades old and can’t boast an array of singing gondoliers like the glitzy and glamorous Venetian, thousands of enthusiastic clients continue to pour through the ever-open doors of their hotels. The secret to the company’s success lies in their one unrivaled asset: Caesar’s Entertainment is able to track the activities of every hapless gambler that walks in. The company knows exactly what games he likes to play, what foods he enjoys for breakfast, for which holidays he prefers to visit Las Vegas, who his favorite hostess is and exactly how to keep him coming back for more. Caesar’s dogged data-gathering methods have been so successful that they’ve inspired companies from across industries to ramp up their own data mining in the hopes of boosting their targeted marketing efforts. Some do this themselves. Others rely on data brokers. And not all sit on the right side of the legal line. Even if you’ve never set foot in a casino or signed up for American Airlines’ frequent flier miles program#151;companies like Acxiom, Instant Checkmate, and People Smart that few have ever heard of, are still gathering information on you at every turn. Today, pretty much anyone has the power to publish revenge porn or slanderous gossip that will easily rise to the top of a simple Google name search. The reality is that we live in an age where our information is harvested and manipulated whether we like it or not. And it is growing ever more difficult for those businesses that choose not engage in questionable behavior to compete with those that do. Tanner’s ominous and timely warning resounds: no one is safe. With societal and legal boundaries on the use of personal data still largely undefined, the potential for abuse can be utterly disastrous. As to what stays in Vegas? The answer: almost nothing. . .

Copyright:

2014

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

Book Size:

336 Pages

ISBN-13:

9781610394192

Related ISBNs:

9781610394185

Publisher:

PublicAffairs

Date of Addition:

06/19/21

Copyrighted By:

Adam Tanner

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Nonfiction, Business and Finance, Law, Legal Issues and Ethics, Sociology

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.