Data Exhaust and the Privacy of Patrons
Making a phone call? Purchasing on Amazon? Posting on social media? All of these actions result in the creation of metadata. All of this metadata can be summed up as data exhaust. You can try to avoid it, but the metadata is there and connected to you. When going about your day to day life, you are crafting a story that can be retrieved by various companies, organizations, and government officials whether you realize it or not. Simple actions can be analyzed to target you as a consumer, profile you as a potential employee, or connect you to criminal activities. Every piece of metadata can be used to paint a perception of you for others to see. But what does all of this mean for libraries and a patrons right to privacy?
According to the American Library Association, ALA, "All people, regardless of origin, age, background, or views, possess a right to privacy and confidentiality in their library use." (American Library Association, 2006) This means that regardless of what information patrons release, whether intentional or not, it must be safeguarded by libraries. When signing up for a library card, users entrust us with valuable information by willingly supplying us with their name, address, phone number, birth date, and for many their driver's license information. In exchange, we give them a magical card that allows them to take materials out of the library and into their home. The collection of data, however, does not end when the library card is issued. Everything a user does with that library card is recorded from what books they check out to their internet activity while on a library computer. Users willingly release their data and place their trust in the library, but how do we protect them and educate them on matters regarding their sensitive information?
As librarians, we stand by a users right to privacy. It is our responsibility to inform patrons of policies and procedures that we have transparency when it comes to what we stand by and what we are willing to do. Of course, while we stand behind privacy, it must be understood that if, and only if, a warrant is issued, it is our legal responsibility to relinquish the information. This action should not come as a surprise to users, and we must continuously update and review our policies and procedures so that users can see the rules we have in place for situations involving their intellectual freedom.
While we must continue to protect our user's information and maintain their trust, we can use their information to create programs, curate collections, and update policies based on their user information and check-out history. In the "Balancing Privacy and Strategic Planning Needs" case study, Yoose talks about how user information can be used without breaching their trust (Yoose, 2017). Through the process of de-identification, libraries can use user activity and demographics to better target users and garner their interest with library programs that match their interests. Yoose was quick to warn that this process required a process of de-identification that ensured user information was protected or it would be a violation of our users and go against our stance on privacy and intellectual freedom. Before jumping into this endeavor, libraries will need to determine if it falls in line with their code of ethics--but it worth considering if we are to maintain our users.
Metadata is inevitable; and in the library, the information obtained from users must be handled carefully. We have to continue to fight for our user's rights to privacy while also using what we know to grow as a library. All of this information is available to us when a patron signs up for a library card; they are trusting us with their personal information, and we cannot let them down. It is our ethical responsibility to protect our users right to privacy and intellectual freedom, and we must be careful and vigilant as we continue to protect their right to privacy.
Yoose, B. (2017). Balancing Privacy and Strategic Planning Needs A Case Study in De-Identification of Patron Data. Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy, 15–22. Retrieved from https://www.journals.ala.org/index.php/jifp/article/viewFile/6250/8393
As librarians, we stand by a users right to privacy. It is our responsibility to inform patrons of policies and procedures that we have transparency when it comes to what we stand by and what we are willing to do. Of course, while we stand behind privacy, it must be understood that if, and only if, a warrant is issued, it is our legal responsibility to relinquish the information. This action should not come as a surprise to users, and we must continuously update and review our policies and procedures so that users can see the rules we have in place for situations involving their intellectual freedom.
While we must continue to protect our user's information and maintain their trust, we can use their information to create programs, curate collections, and update policies based on their user information and check-out history. In the "Balancing Privacy and Strategic Planning Needs" case study, Yoose talks about how user information can be used without breaching their trust (Yoose, 2017). Through the process of de-identification, libraries can use user activity and demographics to better target users and garner their interest with library programs that match their interests. Yoose was quick to warn that this process required a process of de-identification that ensured user information was protected or it would be a violation of our users and go against our stance on privacy and intellectual freedom. Before jumping into this endeavor, libraries will need to determine if it falls in line with their code of ethics--but it worth considering if we are to maintain our users.
Metadata is inevitable; and in the library, the information obtained from users must be handled carefully. We have to continue to fight for our user's rights to privacy while also using what we know to grow as a library. All of this information is available to us when a patron signs up for a library card; they are trusting us with their personal information, and we cannot let them down. It is our ethical responsibility to protect our users right to privacy and intellectual freedom, and we must be careful and vigilant as we continue to protect their right to privacy.
References
American Library Association. (2006, July 7). Privacy: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/privacyYoose, B. (2017). Balancing Privacy and Strategic Planning Needs A Case Study in De-Identification of Patron Data. Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy, 15–22. Retrieved from https://www.journals.ala.org/index.php/jifp/article/viewFile/6250/8393
Good work! The privacy problems, as you point out, manifest widely within society. I've become very hardline, myself, in response to accepting that metadata has to be inevitable. Do we have to collect data about reading? Yoose's work, though, is a good example where maybe there is a middle way, but I've read some literature lately about how difficult it is to fully successfully de-identify data....
ReplyDeleteDr. MacCall