Ideal for high school and lower undergraduate readers, this book provides a holistic and multifaceted look at the state of health in the United States today by examining a wide variety of health indicators against necessary background and contextual information. Wellness by the Numbers: Understanding and Interpreting American Health Statistics presents the factual data that underlies health summaries-information that is not often readily available to readers. The statistical data regarding a variety of health indicators, accompanied by contextual information and analyses, serves to inform high school and lower undergraduate readers about the state of health in America today. Just as importantly, this book will document how scholars and health professionals analyze data to draw conclusions and sharpen readers' critical thinking skills. The book begins with an introductory essay that provides a conceptual framework for readers and a general overview of the topic of analyzing health across the nation. The "Locating Accurate and Current Data on Health-Related Information" section clearly explains the process of analyzing and interpreting statistical information, describes how to find authoritative sources of data, and defines the steps to reading and interpreting data and how to draw conclusions from the information. Each of the more than 40 key health topics includes an introduction of the particular health indicator being discussed, presents the data in tables, charts, or figures with concise analysis and interpretation, and concludes with discussion questions that challenge the reader to find additional meaning or patterns in the data. Provides up-to-date, easy-to-understand, and thematically organized information on many key health topics Covers a wide array of important and often controversial health topics, from cancer risk to depression to teen pregnancy Models data analysis and interpretation to demonstrate how scholars and health professionals analyze data to draw conclusions, thereby guiding readers through thinking critically about the information presented Presents thought-provoking discussion questions that invite readers to explore topics further and think more deeply about the information presented

In today's globalized society, the war on terror has negatively affected privacy rights not just in the United States, but everywhere. When privacy rights are curtailed around the world, American efforts to spread freedom and democracy are hindered, and as a consequence, Americans are less secure in the world. Ironically, the erosion of individual privacy rights, here and abroad, has been happening in the name of enhancing national security. This book sheds light on this apparent contradiction, and argues that governments must do more to preserve privacy rights while endeavoring to protect their citizens against future terrorist attacks. It is easy to forget that prior to 9/11, privacy rights were on the march. Plans were in the works, in the areas of legislation and regulation, to protect personal privacy from both governmental intrusion and corporate penetration. The need for such protections arose from the swift advances in information technology of the 1990s. But the attacks of 9/11, and the responses of governments to this new level of the terrorist threat, put an end to all that. Not only is privacy no longer emphasized in legislation, it is being eroded steadily, raising significant questions about the handling of personal information, surveillance, and other invasions into the private lives of ordinary citizens.

Passage of the European Data Protection Directive and other national laws have increased the need for companies and other entities to improve their data protection and privacy controls. Clients, stakeholders, and the public are clamoring for it. Klosek introduces the various legal means to protect personal data in the United States and the European Union, targeting her book at American and international businesses that may have difficulty complying with the European Directive. She explains its main elements and practical effects, presents primary components of national privacy laws abroad and in the United States, and gives advice on some steps companies can take to improve the level of protection they afford to the data they possess.

Klosek offers a comprehensive review of the American and European systems for providing protection to personal information in the Internet age. She explains the European Data Protection Directive, the national data protection laws of the fifteen countries of the European Union, and the laws and other initiatives for protecting individual personal data. She endeavors to discuss the protection of personal data in general but focuses on, and emphasizes, the protection of personal data within the context of the Internet. In doing so, she provides much useful, fascinating information on the obvious and non-obvious means of collecting and processing personal data through the Internet. Among its unusual features, the book helps United States corporate decision makers assess the effect data protection laws will have in Europe and the U.S., and how companies that are operating web sites that cross international boundaries can ensure they stay in compliance with data protection laws in countries in which their web sites may be accessible. The book is essential reading for corporate compliance executives, corporate communications and other top-level organizational administrators, particularly in Internet industries.

An attorney and certified information privacy professional offers a resource book for citizens seeking to understand, use, and defend their right to know under freedom of information laws in the United States. The Right to Know: Your Guide to Using and Defending Freedom of Information Law in the United States sets out in plain language freedom-of-information best practices for ordinary citizens, activist organizations, journalists, bloggers, and lawyers. Jacqueline Klosek, an expert in U.S. information law, educes practical lessons from dozens of case studies to show how readers can use freedom of information laws to protect themselves, but also to protect the environment, and public health and safety, as well as to expose governmental and corporate crime, waste, and corruption. Finally, the book shows American readers how, in contrast to what is going on in most democracies, their right to know is being progressively curtailed, why this is so dangerous to democracy, and what they can do to help reverse the alarming trend. 15 illustrations

Protecting Your Health Privacy empowers ordinary citizens with the legal and technological knowledge and know-how we need to protect ourselves and our families from prying corporate eyes, medical identity theft, ruinous revelations of socially stigmatizing diseases, and illegal punitive practices by insurers and employers. It's a new era in healthcare. Gone are the day when access to your medical records is limited to you and your doctor. Instead, today, a diverse group of constituencies have interest in and access to your health information. A cascade of changes in technology and the delivery of healthcare are increasing the vulnerability of your medical information. Accordingly, it is now more important than ever to take control over your own health information and take steps to protect your information against privacy breaches that can adversely impact the quality of your health care, your insurability, your employability, your relationships, and your reputation. In clear, non-technical language, privacy lawyer Jacqueline Klosek teaches readers the basics you need to know as an individual healthcare consumer about the ongoing wave of national and state legislation affecting patient privacy: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) of 2009, and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. She untangles the increasingly complex ways by which health care providers, insurers, employers, social networking sites, and marketers routinely collect, use, and share our personal health information. Protecting Your Health Privacy: A Citizen's Guide to Safeguarding the Security of Your Medical Information empowers ordinary citizens with the knowledge and know-how we need to protect ourselves and our families from prying eyes, medical identity theft, ruinous revelations of socially stigmatizing diseases, and illegal punitive practices by insurers and employers.

This concise and current guidebook to the legal issues involved with conducting e-business is a one-stop source for both domestic and cross-border laws and regulations. Any business that conducts commerce via a Web site must deal with these issues with regard to numerous situations. This book addresses the legal ramifications of developing and hosting websites, explains how to minimize liability through the use of website Terms of Use and user agreements, explicates specific international issues arising from the conduct of e-commerce, examines online marketing and advertising, online privacy issues, and online intellectual property rights.

Entrepreneurs, executives, and corporate counsel from enterprises of all sizes and in all industries will benefit from this useful legal roadmap.