Looking for something to do this weekend? Here's a little project that will give you sense of satisfaction and security: Fix-up Your Privacy This Weekend

There is a lot of public talk about online privacy these days. I find a lot of it misinformed; some of it borders on fearmongering. But some of it is indeed well-placed. This piece on the excellent Lifehacker website is particualrly good both for the stance it takes on privacy in general and for the practical advice it gives.

Interestingly, the privacy we have come to expect as a right is a fairly recent phenomenon. Privacy as a concept didn't emerge until the advent of early modern Europe and it is closely connected to the development of the middle class. Prior to that (and still today in places where low incomes limit the size of living space) people had a different understanding of private space and private life.

Late medieval bedchamber: a different sort of privacy.

We're better at managing privacy than you think.