This year’s theme for Choose Privacy Week (May 1-7, 2019) — “Inclusive Privacy: Closing the Gap” — draws attention to the privacy inequities imposed on vulnerable and historically underrepresented populations and highlights how libraries can close the privacy gap for those who need it most.
What Libraries Do to Protect Patron Privacy - Excerpt from Privacy/I Love Libraries
Limit the degree to which personally identifiable information is monitored, collected, disclosed, and distributed.
Avoid creating unnecessary records. Only record a user's personally identifiable information when necessary for the efficient operation of the library.
Avoid retaining records that are not needed for efficient operation of the library. Assure that all kinds and types of records are covered by the policy, including data-related logs, digital records, vendor-collected data, and system backups.
Avoid library practices and procedures that place information on public view (e.g., using postcards for overdue notices or requested materials; using patron names to identify self-pickup holds; placing staff terminals so the screens can be read by the public; using sign-in sheets to use computers or other devices; and providing titles of reserve requests or interlibrary loans over the telephone to users' family members or answering machines).
Updated Privacy Tool Kit from ALA (2014)
