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Purging User Data to Protect Privacy:

a small library’s outsized impact

Polly ThistlethwaiteChief LibrarianThe Graduate Center, CUNYNew York, NY USA@missreadings

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The Graduate Center is the doctorate-granting institution of the City University of New York.

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Small but Mighty …

Interlibrary loan = ¼ total circulation

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Why Keep ILL Data?

Stats for collection development

Users like their request records

To target recommendations to users

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Why let it go?

privacy expectations

minimize user tracking

retain data short-term

encourage private inquiry

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"In a library … the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one's interest … scrutinized by others."

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Privacy is so 20th century …

Scott McNealy, Sun Microsystems [on privacy]:

“Get over it.”

Wired, 1999

Mark Zuckerberg,Facebook:

“People have really gotten comfortable … sharing more information of different kinds … more openly and with more people … . That social norm … has evolved … .”

The Guardian, 2010

L. G. Crovitz, Wall Street Journal:

“The benefits of technology have changed people’s expectations about privacy and information.”

Wall Street Journal, 2011

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Even if we purge, data persists

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Context: FOIL Requests

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ILLiad Script Options

De-linkRecords

•

break transaction links

Delete old usernames

if without transactions

Delete old transactions

select date parameters

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Project Timeline

SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN

School begins

School break

Blog #1

Mass email

Blog #2

ILLiad alert message

OCLCpreps script

Script runs

IndividualQs

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Communication = Key

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Media Coverage!

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Social Media Buzz

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Synergy

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Purging User Data to Protect Privacy: a small library’s outsized impact

Polly ThistlethwaiteThe Graduate Center, CUNY@missreadings

With:Beth Posner, Head of Resource SharingSilvia Cho, Interlibrary Loan Supervisor

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ReferencesAmerican Library Association. (30 June 2004). ALA Policy concerning Confidentiality of Personally

Identifiable Information about Library Users. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/statementspols/otherpolicies/policyconcerning

Cain, S (4 August 2016). British Woman Held After Being Seen Reading a Book about Syria on Plane. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/13/us-library-records-purged-data-privacy

Crovitz, L. G. (28 March 2011). The 0.00002% Privacy Solution. The Wall Street Journal. http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704474804576222732361366712

Crowley , K. (17 July 1990, 15) Zodiac Cops Quiz Broker about Library Book. New York Post.

CUNY Libraries’ Privacy Statement (February 2016) http://www2.cuny.edu/about/administration/offices/library-services/policies/patron-privacy/

Daniels, J. and P. Thistlethwaite. (2016) Being a Scholar in the Digital Era: Transforming scholarly practice for the public good. Bristol: Policy Press.

Esposito, J. (2016). Libraries May Have Gotten the Privacy Thing All Wrong. The Scholarly Kitchen.https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2016/06/23/libraries-may-have-gotten-the-privacy-thing-all-wrong/

Etzioni, A. (2015). Privacy in a cyber age: Policy and practice. New York: Palgrave McMillan.

Johnson, B. (10 January 2010). Privacy no longer a social norm, says Facebook founder. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/jan/11/facebook-privacy

Koulessar, R. (23 May 2015). Michelle Fine Responds to Emails Posted by Montclair Kids First. NorthJersey.com http://www.northjersey.com/news/education/emails-fine-and-not-so-fine-1.1345178?page=all

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References – cont’dMacrina, A. (14 July 2016). Protecting Patron Privacy. Library Journal. http://

lj.libraryjournal.com/2016/07/digital-resources/protecting-patron-privacy/

Night of the Zodiac. (11 July 1990, 1). New York Post.

OCLC (n.d.) Privacy policy. http://www.oclc.org/policies/privacy.en.html

OCLC. (2015). OCLC Information Security Whitepaper. OCLC. https://www.oclc.org/content/dam/oclc/policies/security/oclcinformationsecuritywhitepaper.pdf

Parisier, E. (22 May 2011). What the Internet knows about you. http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/05/22/pariser.filter.bubble/

Posner, B. (6 October 2015). Interlibrary Loan News: Keep your ILL request history private. http://gclibrary.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2015/10/06/interlibrary-loan-news-keep-ill-request-history-private/

Shain, M. (20 July 1990, 1). Knock on Every Door: Search for Zodiac back to square one. New York Post.

Shain, M. (12 July 1990, 1, 5). Zodiac Trap: Cops set to shut down subways when killer strikes. New York Post.

Shain, M. and A. E. Murray. (11 July 1990, 8) New Zodiac Twist: Dies he use a computer? New York Post.

Sprenger, P. (26 January 1999). Sun on Privacy: “Get Over It.” Wired. http://archive.wired.com/politics/law/news/1999/01/17538

Theilman, S. (13 January 2016). You are Not What You Read: Librarians purge user data to protect privacy. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/13/us-library-records-purged-data-privacy

Turow, J., et al. (2009). Americans Reject Tailored Advertising and Three Activities That Enable It. http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1138&context=asc_papers

Zimmer, M. (2013). Assessing the Treatment of Patron Privacy in Library 2.0 Literature. Information Technology & Libraries 32(2), 29-41.