The Privacy Pirates

Author: 

Gruis, Leslie N.

Credentials: 

Leslie Gruis served at the National Security Agency for 30 years. Originally recruited as a mathematician with a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, Dr. Gruis was talent-spotted for her people and policy-setting skills and rapidly became a rising star. She ascended through the ranks, became the head of an organization that funded start-ups for classified applications, and then entered the high-level policy arena just as the intelligence community began to face unprecedented privacy challenges. These included the role of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court in targeting Americans and major changes to the intelligence community forced by the privacy revelations of whistle-blower Edward Snowden. Dr. Gruis’s long-standing interests in the rights of Americans and the American dream coalesced in a deep interest in privacy as a concept. She influenced intelligence community policy on privacy for the rights of Americans and wrote a number of classified policy documents on that subject. Upon retirement, Dr. Gruis began a second career writing about the privacy rights of the American public. She focused on what Americans are entitled to know and what can be done to protect them from exploitation by giant commercial organizations. Dr. Gruis is the author of Privacy: Past, Present, and Future. She also writes for traditional and online media, appears on radio and television, and gives frequent public appearances. Dr. Gruis lives in Maryland with her family.

In The Privacy Pirates, former National Security Agency intelligence officer Dr. Leslie Gruis explains the origins of American privacy and its deep connection to freedom and the American dream. She discusses some of the controversial issues, covering everything from attempts to protect privacy rights—many unsuccessful—to abuses of privacy by large companies and accusations of privacy invasion by the government. All of it is explained in plain language, with humor and clarity, and is accompanied at the start of every chapter by the compelling story of 14-year-old Alice and her family as they attempt to negotiate a modern world full of Privacy Pirates.

“Your rights are under attack from the Privacy Pirates,” says Gruis. “Government intrusion is nothing compared to the things companies like Facebook and Google are getting away with every day.”

Take the journey with Alice, get informed about your privacy rights, and learn how you, too, can defeat the Privacy Pirates.

Market: 
Political Science, Social Science, Law, American Studies, Ethics, Security Studies, Cyber Security, Privacy, Privacy Studies, Computer Science, Intelligence, National Security, Information Technology, Constitutional Law, U.S. Constitution
Release Date: 
March 15, 2023
ISBN: 
9781680538250 Hardcover
Price: 
$24.95
Trim Size: 
6x9
Pages: 
100
Illustrations: 
None
Publisher: 

ACADEMICA PRESS
1727 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 507
Washington, DC 20036
academicapress.editorial@gmail.com