Patron Privacy in the Library - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Patron Privacy in the Library

Sara Benson, Copyright Librarian

Not Legal Advice

I am providing legal information, not legal advice . . .

Our Good Friend the Constitution

Patron privacy can be traced all the way back to the US Constitution:

First Amendment Right to Free Speech

Griswold

v. Connecticut

, 381 U.S. 479 (1965) (“not only the right to utter or to print, but the right to distribute, the right to receive, the right to read … and freedom of inquiry”).

Right to Free Speech applies to speech over the internet as well

Also protected under Illinois state law

Library

Records Confidentiality

Act—75 Illinois Compiled Statutes 70/1

The default rule . . .

“The

registration and circulation

records

of a library are

confidential information

.”

“No

person shall

publish

or make

any information

contained in such

records

available to the public

. . .”

IL State Law: What does it mean?

Yes, we are a library (so this law applies to us).

"

library" means any public library or library of an

educational… society

Registration records are very broadly defined . . . (think:

icard

information, signatures for media records, etc.)

"registration records" includes any information a library requires a person to provide in order for that person to become eligible to borrow books and other materials

Circulation records are also broadly defined . . . (think name, e-mail address, etc.)

"circulation records" includes all information identifying the individual borrowing particular books or materials.

Are there any exceptions?

Yes, you may release information provided in library records if . . .

(1) You are required to do so under a COURT ORDER (not just a subpoena)

OR

(2) The information is requested by a SWORN LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER

&

it was impractical to get a court order (i.e. not enough time)

&

officer has probable cause to believe that there is imminent danger of physical harm.

EVEN THEN, you may only provide the police with: information to identify a witness, suspect or victim of a crime (and you MUST STILL WITHHOLD circulation records indicating sources reviewed, etc. without a court order).

Observation or Record: Legal Standards

State library statutes

do not prohibit

the release of the recollection of observations, even though this information may overlap with the content of a record:

What material if any did you observe X using or borrowing today?

Consider a Policy to expand the definition of record, if appropriate to circumstances.

State library statutes

do protect records

.

Release of protect records must comply with statutory exceptions, but in the absence of such exceptions,

a policy may be appropriate

.

R

elease of record requires a court order.

*Tomas Lipinski slide created for an

iSchool

class (used

with permission).

Our Library Confidentiality Policy

The U of I Library formally recognizes:

That all

records

identifying the names, social security numbers, or I.D. number of library patrons are confidential in nature;

That such

records

are not to be revealed to anyone other than the patron in question without either the express written permission of the patron in question or the adherence to proper legal and University procedures regarding required access to such information;

That library employees are encouraged not to keep records with personally identifiable information, unless that information is necessary, and to destroy such records as soon as possible.

Our Library Confidentiality Policy

That the confidentiality of patron records requires that such records should be consulted by library employees only for LEGITIMATE purposes such as locating or recalling library materials, processing overdue notices and fines, adding or deleting names to the database,  making collection development decisions, resolving billing matters, or investigating violations of Library circulation policies, including but not limited to, the following

:

Legitimate

Consultation of Patron Records

expired I.D. number with overdue items still charged

patrons who repeatedly claim to have returned books

patrons who have manipulated the system to set their own due dates outside the Library’s established patron loan periods

patrons with outstanding Library accounts who have been referred to collection

Our library confidentiality policy

Library employees may not view patron records for such purposes as idle curiosity, personal interest, or general monitoring.

Special requests for confidential information to be used for research purposes shall be addressed to the University Librarian.

Examples of inappropriate requests

CIRCULATION AND PATRON RECORDS

A request for the circulation records of a faculty, student, staff or other library card holder by someone else.

A request by a faculty member for the identity of students who borrowed reserve items.

A request to review the circulation records of a student suspected of plagiarism.

A request to see interlibrary loan borrowing records.

A request for addresses, phone numbers, I.D. numbers or other personal information contained in the borrower database.

A request to see a list of individuals who are not members of the university community but who have been granted library borrowing privileges.

A request by a parent for information such as fines or other fees by the library to Students Accounts Receivable without the student’s permission.

Bottom line?

Consider all identifying information, and other information in library

records

and circulation

records

as . . .

CONFIDENTIAL

Do

not share

that information.

If requested to share it, contact Dean Wilkin who will likely work with University Counsel to resolve the dispute (except, in the extremely rare circumstance that a law enforcement officer is telling you there is imminent danger . . .)

Note…

Illinois State law “does

not prevent a library from publishing or making available to the public reasonable statistical reports regarding library registration and book circulation where those reports are presented so that no individual is identified therein

.”

So, general statistics are okay, but no individualized information.

Good news?

There’s almost no case-law interpreting this statute… so libraries are not being sued over it (or it is at least not making it to court)…

What about Federal Law?

Remember that librarians have been fighting for privacy all along . . .

When the Patriot Act was first enacted and the FBI tried to obtain patron records and librarians refused to comply with record requests, the FBI called us:

Radical Militant

Librarians!

The patriot Act

Section 215 of the Patriot Act (the so called “library records” provisions) allowed for sweeping records requests from libraries (trumping state library privacy laws) and permitting the issuance of gag orders preventing librarians from discussing the investigations.

Luckily, Section 215 is a thing of the past (it expired on June 1, 2015)

The Freedom Act

Unlike Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the Freedom Act:

Prohibits bulk collections of records

Ensures that any NSA/FBI records request must relate to a specific investigation

Strengthens judicial review of gag orders

“The

ALA recommends that libraries seek legal counsel to ensure proper handling of National Security Letters (NSL). They are documents signed by officials of the FBI and other agencies, without prior judicial approval, which compel disclosure information

.” (ALA Privacy

Toolkit Talking Points)

NSLs

are usually accompanied with a gag order, prohibiting disclosure of the fact or nature of the request, however, this information can (and should) be shared with the library’s lawyer.