Shaw Books

Robert Shaw is the guy who in the early eighties (together with the likes of Crutchfield, Farmer and Packard) put information theory back into physics. He analysed the [un]predictability of dynamical systems (aka chaos) in terms of the amount of information the system can store, how fast it is losing it and replacing it with noise from the "heat bath", and information flow between parts of the system.

The book ties much of that work together and describes an experimental study of a simple dripping tap, analysed this way, as a case in point that even when we have a "theory of everything" with regards to elementary particles, we are only just starting to understand what makes even the simplest systems tick.

Phase space, Lyapunov exponents, noise, entropy, dimension of a "strange attractor", geometry from a time series, it's all coming together in this stunningly insightful voyage of discovery. The rough typewriter print, handwritten formulae and delightful cartoon illustrations convey well the sense of immediacy, of science in the making.

This is physics for the 21st century. If you're curious about nature, read it. You will never think the same again.

The book is fast-paced and highly focused on each topic. It begins with an excellent discussion of marketing vs. privacy, which is an important opening topic because many analysts believe that the failure of e-business to meet its potential is because of consumer mistrust of information that is collected about their buying habits. With the big issue out of the way, the author goes into a succinct and clearly explained chapter intended to be a primer on privacy law. This sets the context for the rest of the book.

Each subsequent chapter addresses a specific topic. Each is well written and the range of topics spans every aspect of e-business privacy both in the U.S. and in Europe. The chapter titles are:

Healthcare Law Mandates Security and Privacy, Privacy of Personal Financial Information,Internet Privacy for Children, European Union Privacy Protection Mandate, Information Privacy and Compliance Programs, Internal Protection Controls, Creating and Communicating Policies, Digital Signatures Liberate Electronic Commerce, Biometric Security Systems, Encryption Security for Electronic Commerce, Protecting Proprietary Information, Secrecy and Noncompete Agreements, Computer Insurance: Risks and Protection, Audit Checklists and Monitoring.

As you can see, the topics are divided among general purpose privacy (i.e., privacy of personal financial information), technical (i.e., biometric security systems) and industry- or region-specific (i.e., healthcare law; EU privacy protection mandate).

With such a short page count and wide scope this book is not going to provide detailed answers. However, it will force you to see the bigger picture and carefully examine which areas you will need to address in more detail. From there you can obtain consulting services, training for in-house staff and/or additional books that address your specific areas of interest at the level of detail you require. I personally think this book is valuable for the reasons stated above and highly recommend it to anyone who needs to see e-business privacy at a macro level.