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Week 3: Privacy policies and best practices

• Real time conversation: March 15th 8:30 - 10:30 Pacific/11:30 - 1:30 Eastern on Zoom https://zoom.us/j/9129428892

Overview

While library workers have long considered privacy as a core value of librarianship, our practices often leave a lot to be desired. Strong privacy policies can be a foundation on which better privacy practices are built. This week, we'll talk about the components of a good privacy policy, addressing things like data collection and storage, law enforcement requests, futureproofing, and US state laws governing library records. We'll also discuss implementing privacy policies, as well as patron education.

Readings

• LFP library privacy policy template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a9n2SAYLua0ELQzAcJtbfpxWg2MRkucL7sM92aniNMo/edit#heading=h.9v96ldaenxun
• ALA guidelines on developing or revising a privacy policy http://www.ala.org/advocacy/privacy/toolkit/policy
• ALA Library Privacy Checklists: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/privacy/checklists
• Protecting Patron Privacy: Librarians, Vendors, and Patrons Each Have a Role to Play: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1330&context=collaborativelibrarianship
• State privacy laws regarding library records: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/privacy/statelaws
• State consumer privacy laws: https://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/state-laws-related-to-internet-privacy.aspx
• Read your own library's privacy policy (or another library's privacy policy of your choosing)

Discussion prompt

• How does your library's policy (or the policy you chose) measure up to the best practices? (note: you don't have to identify the library in the discussion)
• What challenges might you face trying to update your library's policy to meet best practices? Implementation? Enforcement? Making the policy a priority at all?

Tasks

• Lecture, readings, discussion forum