ERIE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

 

LIBRARY RESOURCE CENTER

 

POLICY STATEMENT ON THE PRIVACY OF
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES IN LIBRARIES

 

 

“We protect each library user’s right to privacy and confidentiality
with respect to information sought or received and resources
consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted.”
--Article 3, Code of Ethics of the American Library Association

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

             In 1999, The American Library Association Council charged the Library and Information Technology Association with the task of “examining the impact of new technologies on patron privacy and the confidentiality of electronic records.”¹   The final report of this task force specifically calls upon libraries to “adopt a privacy statement on web pages and post privacy policies in the library which cover the issues of privacy in internet use as accessed through the library’s services.”²

 

            We concur with these findings and state emphatically our belief that “when users recognize or fear that their privacy or confidentiality is compromised, true freedom of inquiry no longer exists,” and that “rights of privacy are necessary for intellectual freedom and are fundamental to the ethics and practice of librarianship.”³  Furthermore, the Confidentiality of Library Records law, New York State Civil Practice Law and Rules, Section 4509, explicitly states, “Library records 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…computer databases searches…shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed…except…upon request or consent of the user or pursuant to subpoena, court order or where otherwise required by statute.”4

 

 

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¹Final Report, ALA Task Force on Privacy and Confidentiality in the Electronic Environment, 7/00

²Ibid.

³”Privacy: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights,” ALA, 6/19/02

4New York State CPLR, Section 4509, 1988

 

 

 POLICY STATEMENT ON THE PRIVACY OF
ELECTRONIC RESOURCES IN LIBRARIES

  

  1. The librarians and library staff recognize the rights of library users to freely access electronic information in the library on an equitable basis.  If the number of computers is small compared to the number of users, there may be time, place and manner restrictions applied to make Internet accessibility fairer.
     

  2.  By New York State law and by the ethics of librarianship, the identities of the users of electronic resources in libraries, including electronic databases, e-mail, and chat rooms, as well as periodicals, books, and any other information retrievable by electronic means, like the identities of the users of print and audiovisual resources in libraries, are confidential and will not be revealed except under the conditions so specified in the New York State Confidentiality of Library Records law, CPLR Section 4509.
     

  3. Library staff will ensure that library circulation records retained in electronic format are kept only as long as they are needed for the proper operation of the library.
     

  4. Library staff will ensure that their users are made aware of their rights to private inquiry in the use of electronic resources and of the limitations of those rights is such limitations exist in their library.
     

  5. Library staff will do all they can, given the physical layout of their facilities and the exigencies of their budgets, to make sure their users’ privacy is respected while the users are accessing electronic information on public terminals