In the April 13, 2009 issue of Publishers Weekly is a news brief about the Campaign for Reader Privacy. They sent a memo to Congress in April in an effort to have the USA Patriot Act revised, believing it will likely be extended by the end of the year. The group is not opposing the extension of Section 215, which eliminated safeguards protecting the confidentiality of the records of bookstore customers and library patrons. Instead it seeks to exempt bookstore and library records from its provisions.
The group was formed in 2004 to restore reader privacy safeguards that were eliminated by the USA Patriot Act in 2001. Members of the Campaign for Reader Privacy include the ALA and the Association of American Publishers, among others. Some progress was made when the Patriot Act was re-authorized in 2006, including gaining the right to consult an attorney about a Patriot Act order and the right to challenge an order in court. However, the government can still search the records of anyone who it believes might be "relevant" to a terrorism investigation, even if that person is NOT suspected of criminal conduct! Thus the recent memo to Congress.
To learn more about the Campaign for Reader Privacy, or even to join, go to http://www.readerprivacy.org.
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Pam,
ReplyDeleteI really hope that the Campaign for Reader Privacy is able to persuade Congress to exempt library and bookstore records from the provisions of the U.S.A. Patriot Act. I don't see how learning about the reading habits of people helps to catch terrorists.
Roger Barnes
What is really crazy is that while people have heard "Patriot Act" a million times, they are unfamiliar with the details and the full extent of all the privacy invasions. Even in law school, I did not learn about all the issues with this act. It wasn't until I took a class with Dr. Preer that I started realizing how far and wide this act penetrates into our lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree Donna, I know that I do not fully understand the extent. It was not until I read it in our text for this class that I found out about the gag order that is attached to it. I had a problem with the the invasion of privacy but was total unaware that those ordered to turn over the information were also bound by a gag order to not divulge that it took place.
ReplyDeleteWhat is surprising to me working in a book store is that many customers actually expect that we keep records of what they've bought. We don't, as a company, track what customers read or sell their email to anyone. It almost seems like people have no expectation of privacy.
ReplyDeleteBecky, patrons at our library often ask if we can pull up their "record" to see their history of everything they've ever checked out and are surprised to hear that we don't keep that. People sometimes can't remember whether they've read something and get frustrated that we don't have it on record. We remind them it is for their privacy, but as you say, it seems they don't have that expectation.
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