INFORMATION MANIPULATION PART II: SURVEILLANCE

Started off slow but then George Christian spoke of his experience getting an national security letter requesting some patron information.  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/31/nyregion/31library.html

Then he reenforced the concept that patron information is data that should be protected by libraries and in fact must legally be protected in some cases.  His observation is that organizations must be prepared if something like this occurs.  All requests for information must go to the director and the board needs to be on the same page and if a library is going to stand up to the FBI, the city attorney must also be on board and not just rushing to roll over.

One of the other speakers brought up the question of how much data do we really need to store.  She then went on to describe easy ways to hack into databases, essentially you end a solved password with the command "or 1=1".  She then suggested taking your local computer geek out to lunch to learn all the ways that information can be hacked.  Make sure you know how the  company behind the ILS treats the information, where does it go and who has access.

The best speaker was some guy named Adam ( I remembered his name) who talked about what's going on in Washington from a legislation stand point, which is nothing.  Actually there is a bill to end bulk collection of metadata which the ALA supports.  The ALA is also trying to modernize the electronic communications privacy act, and to prevent the NSA being allowed to collect information and the provide it to all law enforcement agencies.

http://www.districtdispatch.org

Description: 

What does the collection and retention of bulk phone records and other personal information mean for the public and for our library users? Is personal information and Internet access being managed and manipulated by the government and/private companies? Featuring Thomas Susman, Esq., American Bar Association, Director of Government Affairs. A panel of respondents include George Christian, Executive Director of Library Connection and one of the Connecticut Four involved in the FBI/NASA challenge, Vivian R. Wynn, President of Wynn Library Consulting and Chair of the ALA Committee on Legislation and others to discuss the challenges and implications.