Ohio Reference
Excellence
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Privacy & Confidentiality
Respect for patron privacy and a regard for the Ohio Confidentiality Law are part of
the reference process.
Respecting the Privacy of Patrons
Paragraph III of the American Library Association's Code of Ethics deals with patrons' privacy.
"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."
This means that you should not talk about patrons' requests
outside of the library environment. For example, you can't tell your spouse about who
dropped into the library to ask how to pick locks. You should not discuss any questions
(with anyone!) that would violate a patron's privacy. In discussing questions with your
fellow employees, make sure that other patrons can't overhear.
ALA Policy on Confidentiality of Library Records
The Council of the American Library Association strongly recommends that the
responsible officers of each library, cooperative system, and consortium in the
United States:
Formally adopt a policy that specifically recognizes its circulation records and
other records identifying the names of library users to be confidential. (See
also ALA Code of Ethics, Article III, "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" and Privacy: An
Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights.)
Advise all librarians and library employees that such records shall not be
made available to any agency of state, federal, or local government except
pursuant to such process, order or subpoena as may be authorized under the
authority of, and pursuant to, federal, state, or local law relating to civil,
criminal, or administrative discovery procedures or legislative investigative
power.
Resist the issuance of enforcement of any such process, order, or subpoena
until such time as a proper showing of good cause has been made in a court of
competent jurisdiction.[1]
[1]Note: Point 3, above, means that upon receipt of such process, order, or
subpoena, the library's officers will consult with their legal counsel to
determine if such process, order, or subpoena is in proper form and if there is
a showing of good cause for its issuance; if the process, order, or subpoena is
not in proper form or if good cause has not been shown, they will insist that
such defects be cured.
USA PATRIOT Act, Intellectual Freedom, and Library Law
Confidentiality is also governed by Federal laws. For changes in library law, and current information regarding confidentiality, privacy, intellectual freedom, and the USA PATRIOT Act, information is available from the ALA site.
- USA Patriot Act pages. Information about how to respond if law enforcement "knocks at the door"; for changes made by the USA Patriot Act to a number of laws; and the ALA Resolution on Patriot Act regarding electronic surveillance and privacy.
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Office for Intellectual
Freedom site, containing ALA Intellectual Freedom Policies, Help with Challenges, Privacy, RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification Tags), ALA Resolutions, Children's Internet Protection Act, Notable First Amendment Court Cases, News, and What You Can Do to Oppose Censorship. "Intellectual Freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides for free access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored. Intellectual freedom encompasses the freedom to hold, receive and disseminate ideas."
Internet Filtering, CIPA, Deleting Online Predators Act
Stay aware of state legislation affecting Internet use in public libraries and requirements for CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act). Read OLC Government Relations legislative news updates or visit ALA's information pages about CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act). Look at the issues about the Deleting Online Predators Act, DOPA, (which expands CIPA to include "social networking" web sites) on ALA's information site about the issues of Online Social Networks.
Major Point: Libraries must protect each user's right to privacy and confidentiality.
1. Find out what your library is doing about the Ohio
Confidentiality Law.
Confidentiality Law (Section [149.43.2] 149.432 of the Ohio Revised Code), passed
in 2000, provides that "library records and patron information are
confidential except if the parent, guardian, or custodian of a minor child requests a
library record or patron information pertaining to that child and in certain other
situations."
Library, library record, Internet, situations, and patron information are all defined
and available on the Internet site of the 123rd
Ohio General Assembly (H.B.389), and as 149.432 in the Ohio Revised Code; Title 1 (State Government); Chapter 149 (Documents, Reports, and Records); Section 43.2 "Releasing library record or patron information" at http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/149.432
2. Do you know what records are kept of reference transactions and the confidentiality
policies regarding the records? Look at the following confidentiality questions about
library records situations. What similar situations might arise for records kept for
reference transactions, with in-house or remote services?
- A member of the library board wants to see the patron record for her high school son.
He's 19. May the board member view these records?
- You have to leave a message on an answering machine for a patron that an Interlibrary
Loan book is in. Do you include the name of the book in the message?
- When you send postcards to notify patrons that requested materials are in at the
library, the titles of the materials can be seen by anybody. Is that okay?
- A police officer wants to see library records for a patron arrested for child
molestation. The officer doesn't have a warrant. Are you required to provide the record?
- The library mails newsletters to all patrons. The local Chamber of Commerce would like
to use the list of patron addresses for their own newsletter. Do you do that?
- A father requests the library records of his son. You know that the parents are divorced
and that the mother has sole custody of the child. Do you release the records to the
father?
Answers
Freedom to Read
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Online communities
According to The
2008 Digital Future Project Report, membership in online communities has more than doubled in only three years.
54% log into their community at least once a day. 71% of members said their community is very important or extremely
important to them. 40% say they use the Internet at least monthly to participate in such communities. 87% of online
community members are participating in social causes that are new to them.
Visit ALA's Online Social Networks site
and the ALA Wiki on Online Social Networking.
Teens, Privacy and Online Social
Networks: How teens manage their online identities and personal information in the age of MySpace, a PEW Internet
report.
"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.
"
Twinsburg Public Library
Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
Confidentiality and privacy Guidelines
for Implementing and Maintaining Virtual Reference Services.
5.1 Virtual reference communications between patrons and library staff should be private except as required by law.
5.2 Data gathered and maintained for the purpose of evaluation should protect patrons' confidentiality.
5.2.1 It is recommended that patrons' personal identifiers, such as name, e-mail, etc. be stripped from transaction records. Stripped records may be maintained for statistical and evaluative purposes.
5.2.2 Libraries need to develop retention schedules and privacy policies for their virtual reference transactions.
5.2.3 Patrons should be advised whether a record of the transaction will be retained, and what, if any, personal information will be stored with the transaction log.
5.2.4 Privacy policies and transcript retention schedules should be publicly available.
5.4 Data gathered and maintained for training purposes and for publicizing the service should also protect patron confidentiality.
Prepared by the MARS
Digital Reference Guidelines Ad Hoc Committee, American Library Association Reference and
User Services Association (ALA RUSA), 2004. Approved by the RUSA Board of Directors June
2004.
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