Privacy and the Library

Privacy and the LibraryApril Martin, Jonathan Koroshec,

Deb Hamilton, Heidi Kittleson and Lyndsey Runyan.

Overview

• Moore, “Privacy: Its Meaning and Value”• What is Privacy?• Laws and Programs Concerning Privacy• Historic Privacy Cases• Ethics of Privacy in Libraries• Privacy Exercises• Challenges and Solutions

Moore, “Privacy: Its Meaning and Value”

Bodily Privacy

• “The right to control access to one’s body capacities and powers…” (215).

Information Privacy

• “The ability to control patterns of association and disassociation with our fellows that afford each of us the room to become distinct individuals” (215).


• “A right to privacy is the right to maintain control over the inner sphere of personal information and access to one’s body, capacities, and power” (218).

• “Controlling access to ourselves affords individuals the space to develop themselves as they see fit” (216).


• “Rights are not free floating moral entities-rather, they are complex sets of claims, duties, obligations, powers, and immunities” (217).

• Privacy helps to stabilize groups and social orders (222).

• Our physical surroundings help to facilitate privacy-doors, hallways, locks (222).


• Schwartz, “Privacy helps maintain status divisions within groups. A mark of status is a heightened level of access of control” (222).

• Moore, “Privacy also protects and leaves room for deviation within groups. Via deviation and experiments in living new ideas are introduced into groups and if good, are adopted” (222).

What is Privacy?• Oxford English Dictionary defines privacy as:

“The state or condition of being withdrawn from the society of others or from public interest; seclusion.”

• Warren and Brandeis: “The right to be left alone.”

• ALA’s definition of a right to privacy in a library (physical or virtual):“The right to open inquiry without having the subject of one’s interest examined or scrutinized by others.”

Confidentiality• The ALA makes a

distinction between privacy and confidentiality:

“Confidentiality exists when

a library is in possession of personally identifiable information about users and keeps that information private on their behalf.”

Why privacy is important:• We don’t want people to

have to make a choice between library services and privacy.“One cannot exercise the right to read if the possible consequences include damage to one’s reputation, ostracism from the community or workplace or criminal penalties.” -Office for Intellectual Freedom of the ALA.

Why is privacy so important in libraries?

• It is the right to search and receive information without fear of government profiling, or exposure to your community or family. (Klinefelter, p. 256)

• In order to promote a free society people must have the ability to access any information without being scared of the consequences. This is important in order for our society to achieve “intellectual and spiritual maturity.”

• Legally we have an obligation to protect patrons’ privacy.

Laws and Policies That Support Privacy

• 1st Amendment- Privacy in association. • 3rd Amendment-Privacy in the home.

• 4th Amendment- Individual privacy over person, houses, papers, and effects.


• 5th Amendment- Zone of privacy to prevent self incrimination.

• 14th Amendment-Due process and equal protection under the law, especially with regard to sexual and marital activity.


• Personally Identifiable Information- Privacy Act of 1974.

• Consumer privacy laws- Electronic Fund Transfer Act, Right the Financial Privacy Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Gramm-Leach-Bailey Act (GLBA), and Federal Trade Commission Policies.

• Medical Privacy- HIPAA.

Laws and Policies That Support Privacy in Libraries

FERPA- Family Education Rights and Privacy Act

ECPA- Electronic Communications Privacy Act

COPPA- Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act

NCIPA- Neighborhood Children’s Internet Protection Act.

State Laws and Statutes

Laws and Policies that Interfere with Privacy

• National Security Programs- – Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)– Terrorism Information Awareness (TIA) and

LifeLog– Novel Intelligence from Massive Data (NIMD)– Multistate Anti-TeRrorism Information

eXchange (MATRIX)– Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening

System II (CAPPS II)– DCS1000 aka Carnivore

Laws and Programs That Interfere with Privacy in Libraries

• 1970- Senate Subcommittee on Investigations requested the ATF division of the IRS to create a broad program to investigate who was reading about explosives and guerilla warfare.

Laws and Programs That Threaten Privacy in Libraries

• Senator Sam Irvin (D-NC), “Throughout history, official surveillance of the reading habits of citizens has been a litmus test of tyranny.”

• Resolved with guidelines agreed to by the ALA and the IRS that recognized the right of patron policy as well as the government’s responsibility for conducting investigations.

Library Awareness Program• Library Awareness Program- operated by the

FBI from 1973-1980s.

• 1) To restrict access by foreign nationals, particularly Soviet and East Europeans, to unclassified scientific information.

• 2) To recruit librarians to report on any foreigners using America’s unclassified scientific libraries.

Library Awareness Program

• Brought to public attention by a New York Times article in 1987 which outlined a visit by FBI agents to Columbia University.

• 1988 Congressional hearings

• 1988 ALA passed a Resolution in Opposition to FBI Library Awareness Program.

USA PATRIOT Act

• Passed quickly with a wide margin after 9/11. Rep. Jim McDermott referred to the bill as a “wish list” of legislative and law enforcement changes.

USA PATRIOT Act

• Increases law enforcement’s ability to search records.

• Regulates financial activity of foreign individuals and entities.

• Broadens discretion in detaining and deporting immigrants.

• Broadens the definition of terrorism to include domestic terrorism.

USA PATRIOT Act in Libraries• Increases use of National Security Letters allowing for

searches without a court order that include a gag order.

• The ALA challenged the extension of FISA, “requiring the production of any tangible things (including books, records, papers, documents, and other items) for an investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities, provided that such investigation of a United States person is not conducted solely upon the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution.”

USA PATRIOT Act in Libraries

• In a resolution passed on June 29, 2005 the ALA stated that "Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act allows the government to secretly request and obtain library records for large numbers of individuals without any reason to believe they are involved in illegal activity.”

• ALA’s stance criticized by Ashcroft and others as “fear-mongering.”

USA PATRIOT Act• Most of the act was reauthorized in 2005.

• Changes included gagged NSL recipients being allowed to contact an attorney, however they have to notify the FBI of who they contact, and their attorney is gagged.

• Limited searches within libraries to electronic communications via Additional Reauthorization Amendments Act.

Historic Privacy Cases 1923-1972: Paving the Way for our Future

Concepts of Privacy Rights

Interpreting the Bill of Rights

• Meyer v. Nebraska (1923)• Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925)• Olmstead v. United States (1928)• Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942)• Tileston v. Ullman (1943)• Poe v. Ullman (1961)• Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)• Loving v. Virginia (1967)• Katz v. U.S. (1967)• Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972)• Roe v. Wade (1972)

Ethics of Privacy in Libraries• ALA Code of Ethics

• ALA Library Bill of Rights– Included in the ALA Intellectual Freedom Manual

• More focus on privacy in the library– Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights

• ALA Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries

Ethics of Privacy in Libraries• I. Resources should be provided for the entire

community.• II. Libraries should provide resources presenting

all points of view. • III. Libraries should challenge censorship.• IV. Libraries should cooperate with those

concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

• V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

• VI. Meeting spaces should be available to anyone.

Ethics of Privacy in Libraries

• Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights

– Access to Digital Information, Services, and Networks

– Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries

– Privacy


Privacy

“The American Library Association affirms that rights of privacy are necessary for

intellectual freedom and are fundamental to the ethics and practice of librarianship.”


Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries

“A strong intellectual freedom perspective is critical to the development of academic library collections

and services that dispassionately meet the education and research needs of a college or

university community.”


Access to Digital Information, Services, and Networks

“Information retrieved, utilized, or created digitally is constitutionally protected unless

determined otherwise by a court of competent jurisdiction.”

Privacy Exercises• For these exercises we need

people to clump together into groups of about 5.

• What would you do in this scenario?

• If something needs to be done, how would you go about it?

• What rights are present or lacking?

• Please take five minutes and then share your thoughts.

Scenario 1• You are visiting the

Fremont Public Library. You have your children with you and are heading towards the children’s section as you pass behind an older gentleman, who is on the public computers, viewing graphic images of naked women.

Scenario 2• You are at the reference desk

and a patron brings up a hold belonging to her daughter. She doesn’t want her daughter to read this book for it is “inappropriate”. She wants you to cancel the hold. The daughter is 14 and not present. The book is Lady Chatterley’s Lover.

Oh La La

Scenario 3• You are visiting your local public library.

Walking by a teenager, who is on her personal computer, you notice she is looking at a website describing how to make dry ice bombs.

Intellectual Freedom Committeeof the ALA

Solutions Addressing Library Policy

• Data Security• Stale Data

Destruction• Employee Education• Patron Education• Functional Practices• Alternative Services

Personalized Library Services Posing Privacy Security Risks

• Assigned Passwords• IP Address & Proxy-

Server ID Verification

• Licensed Databases• Material

Reservations• ILL• Special Collections

Steps to improve Library Privacy

1. All libraries should have comprehensive policies about privacy.

2. Libraries should provide education and transparency about privacy and the library.

3. Libraries need to be quicker and more responsive to technological innovation and changes.

• “The American library has become, in many respects, the Nation’s most basic First Amendment institution. Indeed, libraries serve as a primary resource for the intellectual freedom required for the preservation of a free society and a creative culture.” William D. North

References• Adams, H. R. (2005). Privacy in the 21st century: Issues for public, school, and academic libraries. Westport, Conn:

Libraries Unlimited. Print.• American Civil Liberties Union. (2005). National Security Letters. http://www.aclu.org/national-security_technology-

and-liberty/national-security-letters. Electronic.• American Library Association. (2007). Access to Digital Information, Services, Networks. Retrieved from

http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/statementsif/interpretations/accessdigital.cfm. Electronic. • American Library Association. (2008). Code of Ethics of the American Library Association. Retrieved from

http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/codeofethics/codeethics.cfm. Electronic.• American Library Association. (2009). FBI in your Library. http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?

Section=ifissues&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=21662. Electronic.• American Library Association. (2006). Intellectual Freedom Manual. Retrieved from

http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/iftoolkits/ifmanual/intellectual.cfm. Electronic.• American Library Association. (2007). Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries. Retrieved from

http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=Interpretations&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=8551. Electronic.

• American Library Association. (2007). Interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/statementsif/interpretations/default.cfm. Electronic.

• American Library Association. (2007). Library Bill of Rights. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/statementspols/statementsif/librarybillrights.cfm. Electronic.

• American Library Association. (2003). Principles for the Networked World. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/wo/referenceab/principles/principles.pdf. Electronic.

References• American Library Association. (2002). Privacy: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights. Retrieved from

http://www.ala.org/template.cfm?section=interpretations&template=/contentmanagement/contentdisplay.cfm&contentid=34182. Electronic.

• American Library Association. (2006). Questions and Answers on Privacy and Confidentiality. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/template.cfm?section=interpretations&template=/contentmanagement/contentdisplay.cfm&contentid=34114. Electronic.

• American Library Association. (2005). Resolution on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology and Privacy Principles. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=ifresolutions&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=85331. Electronic.

• American Library Association. (2006). Resolution on the Retention of Library Usage Records. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/template.cfm?section=ifresolutions&template=/contentmanagement/contentdisplay.cfm&contentid=135888. Electronic.

• American Library Association. (2002). Resolution on the USA Patriot Act and Related Measures That Infringe on the Rights of Library Users. http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=ifresolutions&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=11891. Electronic.

• Bowers, S. L. (2006). Privacy and Library Records. Journal of Academic Librarianship. 32 (4), 377-383. Electronic.• Cain, M. (2003). Cybertheft, network security, and the library without walls. Journal of Academic Librarianship. 29

(4), 245. Electronic.• Coombs, K. A. (2004). Walking a Tightrope: Academic Libraries and Privacy. Journal of Academic Librarianship. 30

(6), 493-498. Electronic.• Foerstel, H. N. (2004). Refuge of a scoundrel: The Patriot Act in libraries. Westport, Conn: Libraries Unlimited. Print.• Foerstel, H. N. (1991). Surveillance in the stacks: The FBI's library awareness program. Contributions in political

science, no. 266. New York: Greenwood Press. Print.

References• Garoogian, R. (1991). Librarian/Patron Confidentiality: An Ethical Challenge. Library Trends. 40 (2), 216-33.

Electronic.• King County Library System. (2008). Confidentiality of Patron Records and Files.

http://www.kcls.org/usingthelibrary/policies/patronrecords.cfm. Electronic.• King County Library System. (2009). Privacy Statement. http://www.kcls.org/usingthelibrary/policies/privacy.cfm.

Electronic.• Klinefelter, A. (2007). Privacy and Library Public Services: or, I Know What You Read Last Summer. Legal Reference

Services Quarterly. 26 (1/2), 253-279. Electronic.• Linder, D. (2009). Exploring Constitutional Law.University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School. Retrieved from

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/home.html . Electronic.• Moore, A. D. (2003). Privacy: Its Meaning and Value. American Philosophical Quarterly. 40 (3), 215-227. Electronic.• The Seattle Public Library. (2002). Confidentiality of Library Borrower Information. Retrieved from

http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=about_policies_confidentiality. Electronic.• The Seattle Public Library. (2010). Confidentiality and the USA PATRIOT Act. Retrieved from

http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=privacy_patriot. Electronic.• The Seattle Public Library. (2010). The Seattle Public Library Web Site: Privacy Notice. Retrieved from

http://www.spl.org/default.asp?pageID=privacy_splpolicy. Electronic.• Starr, J. (2004). Libraries and national security: An historical review. First Monday, 9. Retrieved from

http://131.193.153.231/www/issues/issue9_12/starr/index.html. Electronic.• Sturges, P. (2002). Remember the human: the first rule of netiquette, librarians and the Internet. Online Information

Review. 26 (3), 209-216. Electronic.• University of Washington, University Libraries. (2008). UW Libraries Privacy Statement. Retrieved from

http://www.lib.washington.edu/About/privacy.html. Electronic.

Documents

Privacy and the Library