Civic News
Events / Privacy

Upcoming Hagley talk explores privacy concerns from 19th century to now

Vanderbilt University researcher Sarah E. Igo explains why privacy is not just an issue for the digital age.

The Hagley Museum. (Photo by Flickr user Doramon, used under a Creative Commons license)

The digital age has brought with it a mountain of privacy concerns — barely a week goes by that consumer information isn’t compromised by a breach or a company isn’t caught  sharing data improperly — not to mention the privacy implications of the smart devices in our homes (and pockets).

According to Sarah E. Igo, an associate professor in history at Vanderbilt University, concerns like these go back at least a century, to a time long before Alexa.

Igo will give a free talk on the topic, based on her book The Known Citizen: A History of Privacy in Modern America, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 8, in the Hagley Soda House Auditorium at the Hagley Museum and Library.

Via Hagley:

Going back to the late nineteenth century, Americans worried that popular journalism, government record-keeping, and police investigations could endanger their privacy. Her sweeping history, from the era of “instantaneous photography” to the age of big data, uncovers the surprising ways that debates over what should be kept out of the public eye have shaped U.S. politics and society. The book and her talk offer the first wide-angle view of privacy as it has been lived and imagined by modern Americans.

“Invasions of our privacy are not new,” said Roger Horowitz, director of Hagley’s Center for the History of Business, Technology, and Society, which organized the appearance as one of Hagley’s Author Talks. “We are fortunate to have the talented and eloquent Sarah Igo speak at Hagley to explain the long history behind them.”

Walk-ins are welcome, but RSVPs are encouraged. RSVP to Nicole Mahoney at nmahoney@hagley.org, or 302-658-2400, ext. 208.

Engagement

Join the conversation!

Find news, events, jobs and people who share your interests on Technical.ly's open community Slack

Trending

How venture capital is changing, and why it matters

What company leaders need to know about the CTA and required reporting

Why the DOJ chose New Jersey for the Apple antitrust lawsuit

A Delaware guide to the 2024 solar eclipse

Technically Media