This presentation was provided by William Marden of the New York Public Library during the NISO Virtual Conference, Information Freedom, Ethics and Integrity, held on Wednesday, April 18, 2018

1. Privacy in the 21st Century:
Why it Matters Now More Than Ever
Bill Marden
NISO Virtual Conference
“Information Freedom, Ethics, and Integrity”
18 April 2018

2. Privacy: What is it?
Any information that—alone or when
used in combination with other
information—can be used to identify,
locate or contact an individual. It is
considered “personal information”
regardless of whether it is stored on
paper, electronically or by any other
means.
Privacy is about ‘Personal Information’
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3. Privacy: What is it?
What’s the difference between “privacy” and “confidentiality”?
Privacy: an individual’s right to control the collection, use and
disclosure of personal information.
Confidentiality: the obligation of an individual, organization or
business to protect personal information and not misuse or
wrongfully disclose that information.
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4. • Completely public
• Openly-discoverable
• Completely private
• Known only to the
originator of the data
The Privacy Spectrum
“No person can stand outside of the network.
It is part of the fabric of contemporary society, from which one cannot remove oneself.”
— Peter Brantley, Univ. of California – Davis
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5. 5
I am not interested in disconnecting from
technology. I believe technology has
empowered people to make great changes
in the world. I simply want to limit the
harmful downsides of a technology-saturated
life. As a result, I won’t be able to achieve
perfect privacy….
My goal is not to win at all costs. My goal
is simply to force my adversary to work
harder.
— Julia Angwin, Dragnet Nation

6. Known
“Knowns”
Known
“Unknowns”
Unknown
“Unknowns”
The Visibility of Data
There are things we
know we know.
We know there are some
things we do not know.
…the ones we don’t know we don’t know.
There are also the
unknown
unknowns…
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7. Privacy: Why Care?
Privacy is an essential human need,
and central to our ability to control
how we relate to the world. Being
stripped of privacy is fundamentally
dehumanizing, and it makes no
difference whether the surveillance
is conducted by an undercover
policeman following us around or by
a computer algorithm tracking our
every move.
— Bruce Schneier, Data and Goliath
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8. Privacy: Why Care?
Privacy is essential to the exercise of free speech, free
thought, and free association. Lack of privacy and
confidentiality chills users' choices, thereby suppressing
access to ideas. The possibility of surveillance, whether
direct or through access to records of speech, research
and exploration, undermines a democratic society.
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9. Privacy: Why Care?
“A person who says he doesn’t care about privacy
because he has nothing to hide is like someone saying
he doesn’t care about free speech because he has
nothing to say.”
— Edward Snowden, 4 May 2017
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10. Libraries: growing with the technology
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11. Types of Library Data
Digital
 Circulation records
 Borrowing requests
 Reference questions (online chat, e-mail, etc.)
 Online catalog searches
 Online ticketing for events
 Applications for library cards
 In-library computer use
Analog
 Call slips (e.g., for research collections)
 Applications and order forms (library cards, events, etc.)
 Receipts for check-ins, check-outs, fines, etc.
Personal Knowledge 11

12. 1971: Zhoia Horn and the ‘Harrisburg Seven’ case
Libraries and Privacy
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13. 2005: George Christian and the
Connecticut ‘Library Connection’ case
Libraries and Privacy
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14. Issues and Challenges
 Increased growth of data types and connectivity
 Lack of awareness (by both staff and public)
 Manipulation of data (including Big Data)
 Requests for data from law enforcement
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15. Big Data: you are the product
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16. More information = More people wanting to see it
Subpoenas, warrants, court orders, et al.
16Source: www.reddit.com/wiki/transparency/2016

17. Making it happen: here and now
 Internal communication between library departments
 Internal ‘Privacy Audits’ (battling the “Known Unknowns”)
 ‘Privacy by Design’
 Training and awareness for staff and public
 Lobbying for stricter protections in public laws
 Privacy Policies, supported by guidelines and procedures
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18. Policy as only one aspect of ‘Control’
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Control activities are the policies, standards, guidelines and procedures
that ensure data assets are protected against accidental or deliberate
disclosure, modification, loss, destruction, or interruption.
Policy
(general
management
statements)
Standards
(specific mandatory controls)
Guidelines
(recommendations / best practices)
Procedures
(step-by-step instructions)

19. The library, as the unique sanctuary of the widest possible
spectrum of ideas, must protect the confidentiality of its records
in order to insure its readers' right to read anything they wish,
free from the fear that someone might see what they read and
use thisasa waytointimidate them….
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20. Without such protection there would be a chilling effect on our
library users as inquiring minds turn away from exploring
varied avenues of thought because they fear the potentiality of
others knowing their reading history.
— Supporting documentation for 1981 passage of the New York State library-privacy law (NYS Statute CPLR §4509)
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21. ALA’s ‘Choose Privacy Week’ website
www.chooseprivacyweek.org
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22. Bill Marden
Director of Privacy and Compliance
The New York Public Library
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
476 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10018
T: 212.930.0651 | C: 917.699.7063 | WilliamMarden@nypl.org
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