KIRKLAND, Wash. “ Spiders may be as common as grass, but according to Sheila Dean, we shouldn't overlook them. Spiders are courageous, tenacious and vigilant. If someone or something knocks down their web, they will bring their habitat back to normal. Until they die, they keep making and remaking their webs to maintain balance in their world. And we can learn a lot from a spider's self-advocacy, especially when it comes to our privacy.
In her two new series installments: Privacy, the Creative Act and Dropping in From Above, Dean invites readers to explore their basic notions of privacy and the right to a reasonable expectation of it. She then exposes the risks to our privacy and the life-changing effects of involuntary privacy loss. To help readers understand how to create privacy, she details the rights and responsibilities individuals have to their personal information and helps them understand how to be aware of threats, just like those elements capable of knocking down spider webs.
œWhen you manufacture your own privacy, like the spider, you will trust your personal sensitivity to things that have meaning to you and your family, developing confidence in your own warning ˜systems' to fend off invaders, explains Dean. œThe spider builds a resilient environment to alert it to any ongoing threats, and there are steps individuals can take to be just as watchful for hidden dangers.
In addition to outlining a workable threat model that allows readers to identify threats, she also recommends actionable steps for readers, including:
¢ Read all privacy-related notices
¢ Understand the choices presented to you that relates to your personal information
¢ Review your information for accuracy
Beyond data protection, Dean arms readers with templates to impact policies affecting data subjects, including sample letters to elected officials and governmental agencies.
œThis book is intended to both alert readers to the risks to their privacy and provide them with practical activities to help them, like the spider, protect themselves and others, adds Dean.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sheila Dean is an author and privacy consultant based in Washington State. She is a thought leader and policy maker on privacy and identity, and regularly promotes privacy policy protection in media. Her online series, œPrivacy Is a Spider, is for people who want to adopt an individual privacy plan to reclaim their personal data. Visit https://www.SheilaMDean.com to learn more. Media requests filed via the author's site's contact page.
