Comment Re:From the perspective of another Librarian (Score 1) 567
> All of the librarians I know are violently opposed to this act.
I'll have to agree with my librarian colleague. There are many problems with the PATRIOT Act. to name just a few...
The ACLU and the ALA demanded information on just how the PATRIOT Act was being implemented, looking for stats on how often it was being invoked, etc, and the DoJ basically refused. Creepily, librarians post-PATRIOT are suddenly much more arrestable than they were this time last year.
further reading: The Search and Seizure of Electronic Information: The Law Before and After the USA Patriot Act [pdf]
I'll have to agree with my librarian colleague. There are many problems with the PATRIOT Act. to name just a few...
- it violates many library confidentiality laws that exist at the state level, it's extra-legal unecessarily
- it completely destroys the bond of trust that exists between a librarian and a patron. it's no one's business what you read and many libraries ensure patron confidentiality by not saving checkout records once a book had been returned [let's see Blockbuster do that!]. Many libraries are aggressively stepping this up post-PATRIOT
- in cases of proven threat, or with due cause and due process, this information on known suspects has been available via a subpoena. This is just a random way to spy on everyone, cast a wide net and look like you're being tough on crime.
- Hear the one about the guy brought in by the feds for looking at info on batteries?!
The ACLU and the ALA demanded information on just how the PATRIOT Act was being implemented, looking for stats on how often it was being invoked, etc, and the DoJ basically refused. Creepily, librarians post-PATRIOT are suddenly much more arrestable than they were this time last year.
further reading: The Search and Seizure of Electronic Information: The Law Before and After the USA Patriot Act [pdf]
