At the intersection of library data and privacy
This weekend marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11 in the US. Life changed in the US after the attacks. One of the many aspects of our lives that changed was the sudden erosion of privacy for everyone living in the States. One of the earliest visible examples of this rapid erosion of privacy was the …
Continue reading “The Lasting Impact of The Patriot Act on Libraries”
[Content warning – reproductive rights, abortion]
Imagine this – you visit your local art museum for the first time in over a year. You’re excited to be back in the physical building! You get to be in the same physical space as the art! You make your way to one of your favorite art pieces in the museum, but when you …
It’s been a busy couple of weeks in the privacy world. First, Colorado is poised to be the newest state to join the patchwork of US state data privacy law. Next, Overdrive acquires Kanopy. And then there’s what happened when a patron submits an FOIA request for their data. Privacy forgot that it’s supposed to …
Welcome to June! Today marks the start of the blog’s “summer schedule,” where we post on a bi-weekly basis. This month also marks the beginning of the summer for many in the Northern Hemisphere. We say “many” because in Seattle the summer season is replaced by construction season. For our East Coast readers, summer is …
Continue reading “State of The Hat: What’s Brewing and Reader Survey”
Another week, another acquisition. The latest news in the library vendor world came last Monday, with Clairvate purchasing ProQuest at the small sum of $5.63 billion. Academic libraries that subscribe to Web of Science and EndNote with Clairvate and Alma and Primo with ProQuest face the reality that now all of these products are owned …
Continue reading “A Quick Chat About Patron Data Privacy During Company Acquisitions and Mergers”
We’re taking it a bit easy this week for a good reason – the designated blog writer just received her second COVID shot. The Executive Assistant isn’t quite ready for the blog writer position just yet, so her writing debut on the blog will have to wait a bit longer. We have a question for …
Continue reading “Ask The Readers – Academic Libraries and Campus Vaccine Requirements”
We sometimes like to say that something happens because of “magic” – in reality, that “magic” is the result of the (invisible) labor of real and unmagical people. To some patrons, this “magic” takes the form of the many programs, resources, and services the library provides daily. It takes the work of people in both …
Author’s note – This post uses “deceptive design” and “deceptive design patterns” instead of “dark patterns.” Read more about this choice in the “dark UX” entry of Intuit’s content design manual. Take a moment to study the following toggle button for the following privacy setting for “Don’t Not Sell My Personal Information”: Now answer this …
The news cycle did not stop during our Cherry Blossom Break last week, alas. Last week LexisNexis signed a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to provide massive amounts of personal information, including financial data, consumer data (such as purchases), and criminal data. The data provided by LexisNexis captures a very intimate view …
Continue reading “Vendor Ethics and You, Or Giving a Damn About Who’s Sharing Your Patron Data”