Privacy Part 1: What Data is Being Collected and By Whom?

In our current information ecosystem, respect for user privacy is a key distinguishing characteristic of libraries. Few communities have been as vehement and long-standing in their support of people’s right to intellectual freedom and privacy protections as librarians have been.  There are core elements of library services that are now provided by third parties, providing user services on behalf of the library.  These vendors might not have the same respect for patron privacy as librarians do and in order to ensure consistency in library services, librarians providing access to digital services and content to patrons need a thorough understanding of privacy in a library context.

This two-part webinar series will provide the community with a deeper understanding of the privacy implications of the services they are contracting for. Part one of this series will cover, what types of data is being collected about user behavior.  Understanding what can and is being collected, for what purpose, and with whom these data are shared is a critical first component of being able to exert privacy controls on behalf of patrons.  This session will discuss the technical side of data collection of personal information by providers.  Some of this data collection is acknowledged by the user, such as for the purpose of personal information management, while other data is processed without the awareness of users, or potentially even the library.   

The second part of this series will cover the privacy policies that govern engagement with user services.  Some of these policies are dense and full of legal terminology, which few have the time or expertise to comprehend fully.   During this session, presenters will break down key components of privacy policies and describe the ramifications of agreeing to these policy terms. This session will provide an overview of privacy policy terminology, and a grounding of some of the relevant legal underpinnings of these policies.