Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe
Professor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Katie Zimmerman
Scholarly Communications and Licensing Librarian
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Micah Altman
Director of Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Negotiating for What We Want: A Proposal for Model License Language on User Privacy (Hinchliffe, Zimmerman)
Privacy continues to be a significant topic of concern for libraries, particularly with respect to user tracking in third-party systems. The National Forum on Web Privacy and Web Analytics identified the development of model license language on user privacy as a strategy for supporting libraries in advocating for privacy.
Such language could build on the National Information Standards Organization (NISO) Consensus Principles on Users’ Digital Privacy in Library, Publisher, and Software-Provider Systems as well as other efforts currently underway such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Privacy Framework development.
This issue-oriented session will explore the desirability and feasibility of model license language for user privacy, data tracking, data security, consent, etc. as well as possible approaches to developing and supporting such license language.
The session will conclude with a discussion of concrete next steps and expressions of interest in participating in this potential community collaborative project.
Privacy Gaps in Mediated Library Services (Altman, Zimmerman)
Privacy underpins both individual agency and societal intellectual freedom. In this presentation, we examine how patron privacy is protected in theory and practice when accessing electronic resources. We develop a taxonomy of library privacy policy components, using the NISO principles as a framework, and mapping relevant American Library Association practices and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements to this framework. We then conduct a systematic analysis of both the privacy policies and web-based tracking mechanisms used by major vendors. We find that the transition to digital content has created significant gaps in privacy protections: When the library provides content through third-party services, patron data may be used in unanticipated ways that conflict with library and patron values. We end with a discussion of mitigation methods and consideration for library strategy.
https://www.lib.montana.edu/privacy-forum/
https://www.niso.org/publications/privacy-principles
https://www.nist.gov/privacy-framework
http://informatics.mit.edu