Social media equals the death of privacy? A book explores this hard-to-answer question

Lori Andrews, professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law and the director of the Institute for Science, Law and Technology, just released the book I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy.

I strongly believe we’re about to see the rise of something like a Facebook nation, a social entity without borders and – until now – without laws.

Andrews, professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law and the director of the Institute for Science, Law and Technology, believes that very few of us — even those considering themselves Internet savvy — understand just how much information we give away about ourselves through social media every day. “Facebook has the power and reach of a nation,” Andrews says. “With more than 750 million members, Facebook’s population would make it the third-largest nation in the world. It has citizens, an economy, its own currency, systems for resolving disputes and relations with other nations and institutions.”

What about a new ol’ western town without a Sheriff?

“Every democratic nation has governing principles about what rights its citizens have over property, privacy, life and liberty,” Andrews says. “The citizens of Facebook Nation deserve no less.”

I Know Who You Are and I Saw What You Did: Social Networks and the Death of Privacy is available now for $15.83 on Amazon.

[Via New York Times – Image courtesy of TechWench]