MichaelZimmer.org

I’ve written frequently about how the shift from accessing information in offline spaces to online spaces has particular privacy implications. For example, strikingly different privacy norms and expectations emerge when comparing information-seeking activities in libraries vs. bookstores vs. Google Book Search. Today, Fred Stutzman revealed a particularly troublesome example of how relying on the “My [...]

This week I received a formal reply to my July 2 letter to the Shorewood, Wisconsin Public Library regarding its requiring I provide my social security number to obtain a library card, that confirms the anecdotal evidence that the library might have changed its policy and/or procedures in this regard: Michael Zimmer, PhD Assistant Professor [...]

While I never received a reply to my letter to the Shorewood, Wisconsin Public Library regarding its requiring I provide my social security number to obtain a library card, I do have anecdotal evidence that the library might have changed its policy. This week my wife obtained her library card, and while the paperwork still [...]

Continuing the theme of privacy issues related to my new home library system (and I still haven’t received any reply from the Shorewood Public Library regarding their collection of patron social security numbers), the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the West Allis Public Library is using RFID chips to help manage their collection. By including [...]

Blogging has been extremely light as I’m in the process of relocating to Milwaukee. To that end, I recently visited my local community’s public library to sign up for a card, and was shocked to see that they required me to divulge my social security number in order to obtain a library account. I’ve sent [...]

Chronicles of Dissent reports the story of librarian Brenda Biesterfeld, who says she was fired after alerting authorities that a patron was viewing child pornography on library computers. Apparently she notified her supervisor (Hill) who told her merely to give the patron a warning, and not to notify the police. Biesterfeld notified the policy anyway, [...]

Recalling the (in)famous DOJ v Google matter, where Google resisted attempts by government to obtain thousands of user search queries, we learn today that federal prosecutors had sought the identities of thousands of people who bought used books from Amazon, but the online bookseller resisted, with the court ruling in their favor. From the AP [...]

Chronicles of Dissent points to this troubling story of a county in Oregon that is outsourcing the operation of their (formerly public) libraries to Library Systems and Services (LSSI), a private, for-profit company. LSSI tries to downplay any affect privitizing the institution of the library might have: “The average citizen, when they walk into the [...]

Everyone seems to have their personal stories about being hassled by increased airport security. Mine centers on a trip from New York to Boston I took a few weeks after 9/11. Airport security pulled me aside at La Guardia, searched through all my bags, asked me a few questions, etc. The same thing happened at [...]

Paul Neuhaus, a reference librarian at Santa Clara University, has assembled a wiki of state laws on the confidentiality of library records. This is a great resource providing instant access to the relevant statutes, such as New York’s: New York State Statutes Section 4509. Library [fig 1] records. Library records, [fig 1] which contain names [...]