Michael Zimmer.org

From May 2 through May 8, 2010, libraries across the nation will celebrate Choose Privacy Week for the first time. This American Library Association campaign invites library professionals, users, and friends into a national conversation about privacy rights in a digital age. The UWM School of Information Studies and UWM Libraries have joined together to provide a venue for local librarians, information professionals, and patrons to discuss the emerging privacy and ethical challenges for libraries in the new “2.0” era, titled:
Emerging Privacy and Ethical Challenges for Libraries in the 2.0 …

The proposed Google Book Search Settlement Agreement has been the target of numerous criticisms, not the least of which has been its incredible impact on — and incredible silence about — users’ intellectual privacy. Well before the settlement even emerged, I tried to highlight some of the privacy concerns related to the growing reliance on Google Book Search for our information-seeking needs. More recently, as the possible approval of  settlement looms, various advocacy groups have again brought attention to the fact that Google might gain even greater ability to monitor …

I shared my thoughts on privacy and the Google Book Settlement at the “Google Books Settlement and the Future of Information Access” conference organized by the UC-Berkeley School of Information. My remarks focused on my desire to trust Google when they say they’re “thinking hard” about these issues and promise to “protect readers’ privacy rights”, while noting their track record is reason enough to cause us some pause, which is why we’re pushing so hard as advocates on these vital concerns.

As the possible approval of the Google Book Search Settlement Agreement looms, various advocacy groups have brought attention to the fact that Google might gain even greater ability to monitor the books you browse, the pages you read, and even the highlights and marginal notes you make on digital copies of books.

Amazon has remotely removed copies of George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm from user’s Kindles while crediting their accounts, indicating that the books were improperly added to the Kindle store by a company that did not have the rights to them. More than just an eBook reader, the Kindle represents the latest cog in Amazon’s large-scale infrastructure of intellectual surveillance.

I’ve written frequently about how the shift from accessing information in offline spaces to online spaces has particular privacy implications. For example, strikingly different privacy norms and expectations emerge when comparing information-seeking activities in libraries vs. bookstores vs. Google Book Search.
Today, Fred Stutzman revealed a particularly troublesome example of how relying on the “My Library” feature of Google Book Search might mean you have even less privacy with regard to your online intellectual endeavors:
I was shocked to find out that saving a book to your library requires that the book …

This week I received a formal reply to my July 2 letter to the Shorewood, Wisconsin Public Library regarding its requiring I provide my social security number to obtain a library card, that confirms the anecdotal evidence that the library might have changed its policy and/or procedures in this regard:
Michael Zimmer, PhD
Assistant Professor
School of Information Studies
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Dear Dr. Zimmer,
I received your letter regarding social security numbers and library card registration and shared it with the Shorewood Library Board of Trustees.  The provision of a social security number during the …

While I never received a reply to my letter to the Shorewood, Wisconsin Public Library regarding its requiring I provide my social security number to obtain a library card, I do have anecdotal evidence that the library might have changed its policy.
This week my wife obtained her library card, and while the paperwork still requested both a valid social security number and a drivers license, the person assisting my wife stated that these were optional. My wife didn’t even have to ask about whether providing this personal and sensitive information …

Continuing the theme of privacy issues related to my new home library system (and I still haven’t received any reply from the Shorewood Public Library regarding their collection of patron social security numbers), the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the West Allis Public Library is using RFID chips to help manage their collection. By including bibliographic data in the microchip, the library can automate circulation functions: books can simply be passed by an RFID reader to scan the bibliographic data, rather than needing to be physically opened for a bar …

Blogging has been extremely light as I’m in the process of relocating to Milwaukee. To that end, I recently visited my local community’s public library to sign up for a card, and was shocked to see that they required me to divulge my social security number in order to obtain a library account. I’ve sent the following letter to the library director as well as the library board.
(Please let me know if your public library also requires an SSN to get a card).
July 2, 2008
Elizabeth Carey
Director of Library Services
Shorewood Public …

Chronicles of Dissent reports the story of librarian Brenda Biesterfeld, who says she was fired after alerting authorities that a patron was viewing child pornography on library computers. Apparently she notified her supervisor (Hill) who told her merely to give the patron a warning, and not to notify the police. Biesterfeld notified the policy anyway, and after a 2nd occurrence and notification, the patron was arrested. Hill demanded to know how the police learned of the incidents, as she wanted it handled internally. The police protected Biesterfeld’s identity. However, she …

Recalling the (in)famous DOJ v Google matter, where Google resisted attempts by government to obtain thousands of user search queries, we learn today that federal prosecutors had sought the identities of thousands of people who bought used books from Amazon, but the online bookseller resisted, with the court ruling in their favor. From the AP story:
Federal prosecutors have withdrawn a subpoena seeking the identities of thousands of people who bought used books through online retailer Amazon.com Inc., newly unsealed court records show.
The withdrawal came after a judge ruled the …

Chronicles of Dissent points to this troubling story of a county in Oregon that is outsourcing the operation of their (formerly public) libraries to Library Systems and Services (LSSI), a private, for-profit company. LSSI tries to downplay any affect privitizing the institution of the library might have:
“The average citizen, when they walk into the library, they will see well-trained, well-educated, customer-service-oriented people working in the library,” said Bob Windrow, director of sales and marketing at Germantown, Md-based Library Systems and Services, or LSSI, the company taking over. “They won’t know …

Everyone seems to have their personal stories about being hassled by increased airport security. Mine centers on a trip from New York to Boston I took a few weeks after 9/11. Airport security pulled me aside at La Guardia, searched through all my bags, asked me a few questions, etc. The same thing happened at Logan for the return flight. Not only was I patted-down at the main screening area, I was pulled aside at the gate to have my bags checked one more time before boarding the plane.
I’ve joked …

Paul Neuhaus, a reference librarian at Santa Clara University, has assembled a wiki of state laws on the confidentiality of library records. This is a great resource providing instant access to the relevant statutes, such as New York’s:
New York State Statutes
Section 4509. Library [fig 1] records.
Library records, [fig 1] which contain names or other personally identifying details regarding the users of public, free association, school, college and university libraries and library systems of this state, including but not limited to records related to the circulation of library materials, computer database …