Cyrus Farivar, speaking to a gathering of EFF-Austin supporters, discusses his book Habeas Data: Privacy vs. the Rise of Surveillance Tech, about the last fifty years of surveillance and privacy law.

Cyrus is Senior Tech Policy Reporter at Ars Technica, an author, and a radio producer. His earlier book, The Internet of Elsewhere: The Emergent Effects of a Wired World – about the history and effects of the Internet on different countries around the world, including Senegal, Iran, Estonia and South Korea—was published in April 2011. Plutopia’s Jon Lebkowsky interviewed Cyrus about the earlier book in a conversation on >the WELL.

He previously served as the Sci-Tech Editor, and host of “Spectrum” at Deutsche Welle English, Germany’s international broadcaster. He has also reported for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, National Public Radio, Public Radio International, The Economist, Wired, The New York Times and many others.

Bonus content on YouTube: Cyrus Farivar Question and Answer Session