Presenter(s)/Discussion Leader(s):
The Library Freedom Project: Kade Crockford, Jessie Rossman, Alison Macrina
Privacy and intellectual freedom are fundamental in library service to the public. Come to this program and learn how to how to apply digital privacy principles and tools in your library to continue supporting privacy and intellectual freedom.
The Library Freedom Project, a partnership among librarians, technologists, attorneys and privacy advocates, aims to bring to life the promise of intellectual freedom in libraries. Through educating librarians about surveillance threats, privacy rights and responsibilities, and the digital tools to stop surveillance, the Project's goal is to "create a privacy-centric paradigm shift in libraries and the local communities they serve."
In the program you will learn about:
- threats to privacy from government and corporate surveillance,
- librarians’ privacy rights and responsibilities, and
- technology tools that can help thwart surveillance.
Speakers will also address protecting the rights of children and young adults to search for the information they need without being tracked or blocked, and will include information about student privacy and how to apply the Child Online Protection Act.
Three speakers will share their expertise in different aspects of privacy as they relate to libraries, librarians and library workers, and patrons.
* Kade Crockford is director of the Technology for Liberty Project at the ACLU of Massachusetts and runs the PrivacySOS website. She will review some of the major surveillance programs and authorizations, including the USA PATRIOT Act. Kade focuses particularly on the uses of surveillance against historically marginalized communities like Muslim Americans, people of color and political activists, and illustrates the effect of surveillance on speech and writing.
* Jessie Rossman, staff attorney for the ACLU of Massachusetts and surveillance law expert, offers a “Know Your Rights” training for librarians, detailing the contours of federal and local privacy law, as well as providing information on how to respond when served with an information request such as a National Security Letter, administrative subpoena, or warrant.
* Alison Macrina, MLIS, director of the Library Freedom Project and a 2015 Library Journal Mover & Shaker, closes the workshop by demonstrating technology tools that can help thwart surveillance from intelligence agencies’ dragnets and data collection by corporate entities. Alison teaches about tools that can be installed on public computers or taught to patrons in computer classes. They provide practical ways for everyday people to prevent search tracking, to browse the web anonymously, and to encrypt some of their online communications.
More about the speakers.
Registration required.
Intended Audience:
Academic and public librarians, trustees, library legal counsel, and others interested in privacy, surveillance, and online tools related to these practices.
