What Every Librarian Should Know about Electronic Privacy

Citation

MacDonald, R. (2009), "What Every Librarian Should Know about Electronic Privacy", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 485-486. https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830910988630

On one level, What Every Librarian Should Know about Electronic Privacy describes the threats to private information faced by users of publicly‐accessible computers; library users of such computers often have few opportunities to develop computer skills and little awareness of how the internet works, and so they are prime targets for identity theft and other privacy crimes. However, what really drives this book is the clash between the ideas in the American Library Association (ALA)'s Library Bill of Rights and those represented by the US Patriot Act. The ALA holds that access to information cannot truly be free if individuals are worried about who is looking over their shoulder while they are accessing it; thus, even as libraries provide access to information, they have a duty to protect the privacy of their users. While a preoccupation with the US government's invasion of its citizens' privacy makes this book very US‐centric, the author's warnings about online dangers are applicable to libraries worldwide.

The first chapter describes typical library computer users (seniors, low income adults, teenagers, children, tourists), emphasising their likely reasons for being online, online behaviour and particular vulnerabilities. The next three chapters employ fictional character studies to describe privacy threats to such users, including identity theft, intrusive business activities, questionable activities of the US government (of which there seem to be rather a lot), and dangers particularly concerning children. Three more chapters focus on more library‐centred issues: there is a discussion of RFID systems in libraries and the associated privacy (some potential problems are illustrated with real‐life examples from the retail world, and from libraries that have tried to implement such systems against users' wishes); another chapter discusses library records, noting that libraries, like most organisations, keep far too much information about their clients for far too long; and an entire chapter examines what the US Patriot Act means for US libraries, and the privacy of their users and staff. Two final chapters offer some practical advice concerning how to tackle electronic privacy issues in libraries, and how to begin educating library users about protecting their personal information.

Jeannette Woodward has written several books on diverse aspects of librarianship and technology, so it is no surprise that What Every Librarian Should Know about Electronic Privacy is effectively written. The tone feels slightly hysterical at times, but perhaps the US really is as scary a place as Woodward paints it: her anecdotes about FBI visits to her library during the Nixon era are disturbingly similar to documented episodes involving heavy‐handed government agencies today. Perhaps because of this, Woodward does a good job of explaining the vulnerabilities of many users of public computers in libraries, the privacy threats they face (even those tech‐savvy teenagers may succumb to a sort of personal information diarrhoea when setting up Facebook entries), and why librarians should be thinking about how to help them. This is an interesting and readable book that many librarians could benefit from reading – both as professionals and as private internet users.