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Librarians As the First Line of Privacy Defense

Posted by timothy on from the hope-you-enjoyed-the-alex-comfort-books dept.

The Guardian features a look at the influence of librarians in the evolving fight for various of the liberties that here on Slashdot we group together as Your Rights Online. The article points out that the evolution of libraries from book repositiories to more general centers for information technology means that librarians have been pressured in many small ways to give up their patrons' privacy, and have (at least often) successfully resisted that pressure, including some from the NSA. A small slice: The first politician to discover the danger of underestimating what happens when you have thousands of librarians on your case was attorney general John Ashcroft who, in 2003, accused the American Library Association of “baseless hysteria” and ridiculed their protests against the Patriot Act. ... US libraries were once protected from blanket requests for records of what their patrons were reading or viewing online, but the legislation rushed through after after 9/11 threatened to wreck this tradition of confidentiality in ways that presaged later discoveries of bulk telephone and internet record collection."

17 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. More on the Connecticut Four by Dupple · · Score: 4, Informative

    This is from about a month ago

    http://www.thenation.com/artic...

    --
    Watch those corners
  2. We're fucked by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    My local librarians don't even understand why you wouldn't want them keeping a record of who used the computer and when. Some librarians may understand privacy, but most of them are completely clueless about technology.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:We're fucked by drhamad · · Score: 2

      That's true, many are not good with technology. But they don't have to be. Their tech services departments push out certain systems that they use. Most libraries don't maintain client records, for instance, because of this. Actually really annoying from a usability standpoint, but good from a privacy one.

      --
      -Daniel
    2. Re:We're fucked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Some librarians may understand privacy, but most of them are completely clueless about technology.

      It depends. I'm the primary systems admin for an academic library on a very large university campus, and in many cases our librarians are at the vanguard of pointing out privacy issues as they relate to technology. They're not DevOps ninjas backflipping over Happy Hacking keyboards while coding in the night, but they know what's up.

    3. Re:We're fucked by Udom · · Score: 2

      My library enables third parties to access users' computers by piggy backing on the library connection, and the search string is included in the url of accessed pages. One of those sharing the connection is google analytics, which can then link the search terms with the IP. At the same time Google drops tracking cookies. The library sees nothing wrong with this arrangement.

  3. Holden Caulfield; even before the webz by rmdingler · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Since The Catcher in the Rye gained cult like status after being referenced by several shooters in infamous assassinations,

    it was always rumored to be on that list of books the government kept track of at public libraries.

    Though it's been referenced in popular culture (conspiracy movies and novels) several times, it's curious but perhaps unproven.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

  4. Ook! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    Ook!

  5. Practicing librarian here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Offering my two cents.

    It's true that libraries operating in this century are faced with the grim spectre of obsolescence. With the advent of the Internet and the ubiquity of computers, tablets, and smartphones, most people have a wealth of information at their fingertips that dwarfs anything to be found among the physical holdings of your local library.

    However, this is beside the point.

    Libraries offer more than a given collection of information. They offer the principles of universal access, privacy, and the freedom of ideas, all of which seem to have fallen by the wayside in modern times. The American Library Association maintains an Office for Intellectual Freedom specifically dedicated to teaching ethics, supporting privacy and confidentiality, and fighting censorship. Your library is one of the few organizations today that is actively looking out for your best interests and those of your fellow citizens, and asks for virtually nothing in return, save for a few tax dollars to keep the lights on. When you think about all the other stuff your taxes will be used for--including the NSA's continued efforts to spy on you--I believe that's a more than fair trade.

    In his interview with John Oliver, Edward Snowden said that by conducting surveillance on Americans, the NSA is effectively holding a gun to your head and asking you to trust that they won't pull the trigger (unless you give them a reason).

    Your library is asking the NSA to put down the gun.

    1. Re:Practicing librarian here by bmo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      >obsolescence of libraries

      Last century, people were foretelling the future and saying that the Internet was going to be the death of brick-and-mortar retail stores.

      I went to buy some suits a month ago. I didn't buy them online, because honestly, my sense of style is nonexistent. You might even call it a negative value. I was lamenting that I was too far away from my favorite store and I didn't know of who to go to, and I was tipped off to a place in Manchester NH (I'm in Concord). In short order, they got me what I needed, and I looked just spiffy according to my fiance.

      Online, I would have spent weeks looking and eventually might have found something that looks nice on a hangar, but probably makes me look goofy.

      Likewise libraries. Most people going into libraries are looking for specific information and they're fuzzy about where to look. Librarians offer the same level of personal service that the above retailer offered. Librarians are more than just nerdy stock-keepers and book hoarders.

      Add on to this that libraries are also meatspace social gathering places if you check out the bulletin boards at the entrances.

      Because of this, libraries aren't going away any time soon.

      --
      BMO

  6. So old an issue... but nip it in the bud. by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 4, Interesting

    After 9/11, FBI announced that it would (without any Constitutional or Congressional authorization) demand records from local libraries. Records about who checked out which books, when.

    The head of our local library board (who I don't mind saying is a bit of a heroine of mine) said: "We have no choice? FINE. We'll stop keeping records!"

    And they did.

    The only records they keep now are currently-checked-out books, which realistically they have to do. In addition to that, they keep records of overdue books. ONLY until the overdue is paid, then EVERYTHING is deleted and you're back to zero.

    It was my local library's "Fuck You" to the Federal government. And they made it stick.

    1. Re:So old an issue... but nip it in the bud. by drhamad · · Score: 2

      Yep, that's what almost every library does, and for that very reason.

      --
      -Daniel
    2. Re:So old an issue... but nip it in the bud. by hey! · · Score: 2

      I'd send them hard copy printouts in 6 pt type on anti-copy security paper. It's perfectly legible, even in a photocopy, but a pain to OCR.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    3. Re:So old an issue... but nip it in the bud. by anyGould · · Score: 3, Insightful

      So? Can't "the man" just request the list of currently checked out books once a week? It should be sufficient to automatically reconstruct the vast majority of lending metadata.. Seems likely the FBI doesn't really care all that much (there's probably an just A.D somewhere that has this book malarkey on his yearly performance pay evaluation).

      They could, but then the equation changes from "I need to know about Bob, go get his lending history from the library" to "I need to do a bunch of paperwork every week, get all the information on everyone, and then store it, in case I someday need to look up Bob (or Sue, or Mike)".

      It's the extra layer of hassle that makes all the difference. If Bob suddenly becomes interesting, then they're only going to get his current checked out books. If they want that massive database, they have to be constantly filing paperwork.

  7. National Security Letters by Lennie · · Score: 4, Informative

    Librarians where also among the first to fight the National Security Letters:

    http://media.ccc.de/browse/con...

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    New things are always on the horizon
  8. John Ashcroft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Haven't thought about that peice of shit for a while... what an asshole.

  9. Or so they say by PPH · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Back when the American Library Association was supposedly standing up to Ashcroft and his ilk, my library card mysteriously expired. The one that I applied for decades ago, just by filling out a little card. No problem, they told me. Just apply for another. It will only take a few minutes. And please show some form of government-issued picture ID.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  10. Ex Library worker here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I used to be the IT Manager of our local library, and literally 2 weeks into my new job there, I got a call from the Secret Service. Apparently, someone went onto one of our computers, went onto a forum, and made threats to Obama. They wanted all our records, and everything. So, I went to my boss and the Executive Director about it, and they told me "If they don't have a warrant, they don't get shit".

    I tell that to the Secret Services, and never heard from them again.