Protect Your Privacy Online, at Home and at Work

For Immediate Release
For more information, a review copy, cover art, or an interview with the author, contact:
Theresa Pulido (707) 827-7118 or theresa@oreilly.com

Protect Your Privacy Online, at Home, and at Work
O'Reilly Releases "Computer Privacy Annoyances: How to Avoid the Most Annoying Invasions of Your
Personal and Online Privacy"

Sebastopol, CA--No one needs to tell you that personal privacy is an increasingly rare commodity.
Identity theft has become the fastest growing crime on the Internet. Spammers fill our inboxes
while scammers threaten to drain our bank accounts. Left unprotected, a home PC can be turned into
a hacker's plaything in less time than it takes to reboot. And that doesn't begin to include
threats to our privacy from agencies with hidden agendas, eavesdropping employers, and an
increasingly intrusive federal government. 

But it doesn't have to be that way, "Computer Privacy Annoyances: How to Avoid the Most Annoying
Invasions of Your Personal and Online Privacy" (Tynan, O'Reilly, US $19.95), provides advice with
attitude on what consumers can do to protect the privacy they've got left, and to take back what
they've lost. Served up with liberal doses of wit and backed by rock-solid research, Computer
Privacy Annoyances offers step-by-step instructions for combating the worst privacy and security
threats.

"History shows time and again that data collected for a helpful purpose invariably ends up being
used for another, less benign one," says author Dan Tynan. "But it also shows that when citizens
raise hell and actively fight back, intruders will back down often enough to make it a battle worth
waging." 

"Nobody knows more about privacy in the Internet age than Dan Tynan. This book explains exactly why
the dangers are so real--and provides step-by-step instructions for defending yourself, your
information, and your money." -- Harry McCracken, Editor in Chief, PC World  

"Computer Privacy Annoyances" provides a wealth of information for protecting privacy, complete
with a few lessons in hell-raising.  The book is organized around the five areas where privacy is
most at risk:

--Privacy at Home--Reveals exactly how vulnerable your personal data is on your home computer, and
shows you how to lock down your system
--Privacy on the Net--The inside skinny on erasing your browser footprints, rooting out spyware,
winning the war on spam, shopping securely online and keeping your kids safe on the Net
--Privacy at Work--How to figure out if your boss is spying on you, handle background checks, keep
an eye on your personnel records, deal with surveillance cameras and desk searches, and avoid other
on-the-job privacy intrusions--Privacy in Public--Unveils what happens to your personal information
when you shop, use public libraries, enroll in school, travel by air or car, visit the doctor, go
to the bank, or even eat out in restaurants
--Privacy and Uncle Sam--Exposes what kind of personal information local, state and federal
agencies collect, who they share that information with, and what you can do to seal records, access
your files, detect wiretaps and cope with the IRS and other scary bureaucracies

"All the tools you need to take back your privacy rights, delivered with snappy wit. Who knew
Fighting the Man could be so much fun?" -- Dan Miller, executive editor, MacWorld

It's definitely a brave new world. "Computer Privacy Annoyances" is for anyone not quite ready to
surrender their personal information in the name of convenience, technology, or homeland security.

To learn more about the Annoyances book series, visit www.annoyancescentral.com, where you can
check out our "Expert's Blogs" for more privacy tips and advice on how to fix those annoying little
things with your hardware and software.


Additional Resources:

For more information about the book, see:
http://annoyances.oreilly.com

For a cover graphic in jpeg format, go to: 
ftp://ftp.ora.com/pub/graphics/book_covers/hi-res/0596007...

Computer Privacy Annoyances
Dan Tynan
ISBN: 0-596-00775-2, 178 pages, $19.95 US, $27.95 CAN, £12.95 UK
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
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