IFLA statement on privacy in the library environment

Introduction The rapid advancement of technology has resulted in increasing privacy implications for library and information services, their users, and society. Commercial Internet services, including those used to deliver library and information services, collect extensive data on users and their behaviour. They may also sell data about their users to third parties who then act on the data to deliver, monitor or withhold services. Using identification and location technology, governments and third parties can analyse a library user’s communication and activities for surveillance purposes or to control access to spaces, devices and services. Excessive data collection and use threatens individual users’ privacy and has other social and legal consequences. When Internet users are aware of large-scale data collection and surveillance, they may self- censor their behavior due to the fear of unexpected consequences. Excessive data collection can then have a chilling effect on society, narrowing an individual’s right to freedom of speech and freedom of expression as a result of this perceived threat. Limiting freedom of speech and expression has the potential to compromise democracy and civil engagement

I Always Feel Like Somebody’s Watching Me: Student Perceptions of Library Data Privacy

Data privacy has emerged as a controversial topic in higher education. As librarians, we recognize the importance of privacy and confidentiality for allowing patrons to learn and explore without unnecessary barriers or fear of repercussions. However, there is a growing trend of data collection and analysis in libraries that impacts a patron’s right to privacy. In a presentation given at the 2019 South Carolina Library Association Annual Conference, we explored issues of click-through-consent, data invasion, and awareness of the types of data tracked. We asked for audience engagement as we discussed future directions including a survey on student perceptions of data privacy in libraries

From the Guest Editors

Protecting patron privacy is a core tenet of the ethics of librarianship. The American Library Association's Privacy: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights (2019) emphasizes that protecting the privacy of library users is key to ensuring intellectual freedom because surveillance and monitoring produce a "chilling effect on users' selection, access to, and use of library resources." In 2005, librarians in Connecticut made headlines by standing up against the FBI and the USA Patriot Act to protect patron records (Cowan, 2006). Faced with a clear threat to privacy, these librarians sued the U.S. government in defense of their patrons' rights. However, the daily erosion of privacy facing patrons today is often more insidious and the day-to-day work of protecting privacy in libraries is less visible. This issue of the Oregon Library Association Quarterly is dedicated to stories of how library workers across Oregon try - and sometimes struggle - to live up to our professional responsibility to protect privacy. These stories come from all corners of our library ecosystem, from public and academic institutions and from large and small communities. The articles presented here provide snapshots of some of the current challenges that libraries face around privacy, as well as some practical tips for dealing with these challenges. We have also included a short guide to relevant state laws, which we hope provides context for the issue as a whole

Georgia Library Association Research and Assessment Interest Group Spring Conference

The COVID-19 pandemic might be altering nearly all our lives, but the Georgia Library Association’s Research and Assessment Interest Group continued with another year of a half-day conference showcasing Georgia libraries’ efforts towards assessment, the user experience, and data-driven decision making

Using Business Databases to Inform Data Privacy Practices

Data Privacy is an active practice that requires users to actively participate in informed consenting for their personal data protection. Part of that process is gathering information about the companies that request access to users data. In this lightning talk, an information literacy librarian will walk participants through the metacognitive process of deciding which data to share with companies when interacting with their online interfaces. This process starts with acknowledging the value of personal data collection, then a walk through which business databases users can engage with to better understand how their data exhaust is bought and sold to data analytics, which will then in turn inform their decisions when asked to do routine tasks online such as accepting cookies and installing browser extensions. By the end of this talk, participants will be encouraged to draw connections between their own data privacy choices and the information resources available to inform their decision-making process. This is an entrée into the ways in which we can make business research skills applicable to our day to day decisions

All in for Privacy: Cultivating a Community of Information Privacy Awareness

The Library Freedom Project supports librarianship’s values of freedom of information and privacy by providing relevant tools and education to LIS professionals. A group from the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western aligned with the project to encourage student participation in local and global privacy issues. Our programming encourages hands-on use of open source and anti-surveillance software, such as Tor Browser for anonymous web browsing. In addition, we detail how we configured our Tor relay to route anonymous encrypted global traffic, so that other libraries can join the 280 relays currently running in Canada and 7000 worldwide

Training Peer-to-Peer Research and Writing Tutors

Since 2019, the Mason Library\u27s Center for Research & Writing provides library research services and writing tutoring to undergraduate students and instructors across the curriculum. Staffed by twelve to fifteen undergraduate Research & Writing Tutors, they teach workshops in classes on library research and writing topics, meet one-on-one with students for consultations, staff the drop-in Research & Writing Help Desk, and participate in continuous professional development and training. With only three faculty librarians staffing our library serving 2700 undergraduates and over 300 instructors, the Research & Writing Tutors are essential to providing front-line library services. Adopting a peer-to-peer model has significantly altered the way library services are provided, service data is gathered, and the ways librarians work with students and faculty. In this presentation I\u27ll answer the most commonly asked questions about our fully integrated service model. I\u27ll share specifics about the curriculum in our training course, Tutoring Research & Writing, and our journey trying various models of training before we developed the course in 2019. Pulling from information and library science literature, writing center studies, information literacy, and composition studies students in the course are encouraged to consider the integration between research and writing processes and to develop their skills to help other students with research and writing. While concepts of privacy and confidentiality, and working with all learners has always been included in our training, increasingly, our curriculum focuses on developing skills such as boundary setting and assertiveness, supporting students in distress, and working with neurodiverse students and universal design principles. This presentation offers library administration, librarians, and writing center professionals ideas for beginning to integrate services and an example curriculum for training of undergraduate peer tutors of research and writing. Participants will consider pros and cons of the model and what may or may not work at their institution

Four Facets of Privacy and Intellectual Freedom in Licensing Contracts for Electronic Journals

This is a study of the treatment of library patron privacy in licenses for electronic journals in academic libraries. We begin by distinguishing four facets of privacy and intellectual freedom based on the LIS and philosophical literature. Next, we perform a content analysis of 42 license agreements for electronic journals, focusing on terms for enforcing authorized use and collection and sharing of user data. We compare our findings to model licenses, to recommendations proposed in a recent treatise on licenses, and to our account of the four facets of intellectual freedom. We find important conflicts with each