Australians are likely to get a statutory right of privacy. Though it needs careful crafting, it's high time, writes Jock Given. Review of the books 'For your information: Australian privacy law and practice', published by the Australian Law Reform Commission, Sydney, 2008; 'Blown to bits: your life, liberty and happiness after the digital explosion' by Hal Abelson, Ken Ledeen and Harry Lewis, published by Addison-Wesley, Upper Saddle River, 2008; 'The spy in the coffee machine: the end of privacy as we know it' by Kieron O’Hara and Nigel Shadbolt, published by Oneworld, Oxford, 2008; and 'Privacy: a manifesto' by Wolfgang Sofsky, published by Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2008.
This is an updated version of 'Privacy is over, get used to it', a review essay first published in the Australian Literary Review, 4 March 2009. See: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/71198