LFI Course Materials/Week 10: NYC weekend/Notes/SaturdayAM

Saturday morning notes from LFI NYC weekend

Includes privacy talking points activity and media training. Thank you Julia Wiswell for taking notes!

Communicating About Privacy (activity)

• How to talk to people who have negative/hostile/ambivalent attitudes about privacy
• Consider viewpoint/situation of person making the argument – they are not necessarily bad
• Maybe have not thought about topic before or are information poor

• Write all negative statements about privacy you can think of on post it notes
• Entire group responds to each one

“It’s safer” argument

• Civil liberties/freedom argument
• Redirect: Would you allow cameras in your workspace? Would you give me your credit card number?
• Noncriminal examples: journalists, political dissidents
• At what point does it stop?
• You might not have something to hide but you have something to protect
• What is a crime?
• Point to specific instances of when surveillance in its current form did not work
• Mike German (former FBI): anti-surveillance advocate with ACLU – “all this surveillance is like trying to find a needle in a haystack; it’s not about solving crimes, it’s about social control”
• Why should criminals get all the good stuff?
• Point out less political things i.e. data breaches, security threat vulnerability, etc.
• Data is collected on everyone – how can we make it secure or reduce amount collected?
• Do you really trust other people with your information? Malicious intent OR ineffective data management
• You can’t clean up a data spill, it’s like an oil spill
• Law enforcement doesn’t always use data for good
• Ex. DHS using social media data against people at the border
• Aim for common ground or seeing a different viewpoint – consider alternatives to safer communities other than the “arms race”

“Convenience” argument

• Start with validation – it IS convenient – then how does vulnerability become inconvenient
• Ex: it’s convenient to not have to type in your bank password, it’s incredibly inconvenient to track down your data after your identity has been stolen
• A little bit of inconvenience is worth it for future convenience (i.e. password manager) and security
• Judge who you are speaking with:
• Upper classes who benefit: Pitch value of security
• Lower classes who are harmed: you are being policed by this; offer your services/assistance
• Economic position threat modeling
• There are some small, easy changes to make that will add up
• Maty’s “One Weird Trick” program
• Have you thought about how this could go wrong for you?

“Don’t Care/Why Bother/Doesn’t Impact Me” argument

• We’re all part of this society and you should care about others
• Imagine being in a position where it does impact you
• If everyone uses it, it normalizes the act (herd immunity)
• Tailored example to person you are talking to – it does impact you
• Do you like seeing targeted ad? Do you think your phone is listening to you?
• “Saying you don’t care about your privacy because you have nothing to say is like saying you don’t care about your freedom of speech because you have nothing to say” – Snowden
• Show ways they already DO care
• Credit card, social security, closing their blinds in their house at night
• Even if you don’t care today, you might care tomorrow
• Ex: DACA recipients
• Ex: If you are ever engaged in any kind of lawsuit, consider the invasive nature of discovery
• Almost everyone is related to a vulnerable community (children, teenagers, seniors)
• Self-care: this information is yours and is personal, you should take care of it the same way you take care of your mind/body
• Some things you do every day are illegal (speeding, jay walking, etc.)
• Book recommendation: Three Felonies A Day by Harvey Silverglate & Alan M. Dershowitz
• Your privacy isn’t necessarily just up to you – consider what other people put about you online, how inaccurate data could be incriminating
• Ex: Serial podcast
• “You are just a prosecuter’s attention away from chaos”

“That’s Great/Wow but I’m not going/It’s cool that you care but I don’t” argument (staff focused)

• Institutional values – assumes that everyone is on board with library ethics 101
• How can we work within institutional decisions that maybe are not in line with values?
• Public staff needs training or workshops – libraries 101
• Good intentions – how to be helpful without undermining patron privacy
• Tension between customer service and privacy
• We are the only ones who can offer privacy as a service
• Develop training/print materials for staff and public training

“I don’t have time/it’s too complicated/it’s overwhelming” argument

• “One Weird Trick” again
• Yeah, it is overwhelming and it sucks! And here’s where you can start
• Harm reduction arguments
• You won’t necessarily get everything but you can always start somewhere
• Small things add up
• Some solutions are not technical – take a step back
• Privacy is not a fixed state
• Something you will always work toward
• Like going to the dentist or working out to maintain health

“Social Media/Self-Branding/Oversharing/Brand Loyalty/Popularity is Important” Argument

• Your data is your brand
• Threat model – targeted ads
• Ex. Surprise vacation research
• How much is too much?
• Show how much Google tracks
• How much of yourself are you investing into that brand or social media?
• Book Recommendation: How To Do Nothing by Jenny Odell
• Cultural shift – it’s “cooler” to not share
• Point out the way these companies don’t adhere to the same values as you
• People are willing to boycott based on values and there is room to push for that
• Ex: Facebook higher up is BFFs with Brett Kavanaugh
• Is your personal brand compatible?
• How can you mitigate your use so that you can still use it?
• Create intentional spaces in the library to counteract FOMO – community building
• “How to lie productively”
• Teens know so much more about privacy skills than you expect
• Engage students to share their knowledge

“What About-ism” Argument

• You will encounter this argument in any conversation about things you are passionate about
• Of course we care about other things, we’re just addressing this one right now
• Can you not multitask?
• Similar to the fight for rights (someone else getting rights does not take rights away from you) – caring about x does not mean you don’t care about y
• The thing they are trying to distract you with PROBABLY IS RELATED
• Privacy is essential for most other activism

Media Training (Steph Whited, Tor Project)

Goals

• Getting your story out across platforms
• Set tone and messaging
• Set foundation for comprehensive coverage
• Get comfortable sticking to talking points, staying in control of messaging

What we’ll cover

• Planning digital communication and outreach
• Messaging
• Communication tips

Planning Digital Communications

• Deliverables:
• Press release – 1-2 days ahead of announcement
• Blog post
• Social media posts
• Feed the above into newsletter
• Writing a press release
• Top: date and a media’s contact info
• Headline & email subject – most important/interesting news
• Intro – short, w/a hook
• Second paragraph – detail, quote from spokesperson
• Third paragraph – why you are taking action, problem you are solving, contex
• We will create a template you can customize for your library
• It may or may not get picked up but could prime the journalist for your next release
• In the meantime
• Think about local audience
• How will changes affect them?
• Identify possible journalists to reach out to
• Practice: library is uninstalling all CCTV
• 2-4 short key messages
• Switch to security system with more community control in response to patron concerns.
• A natural step to preserving patron privacy is not having them under surveillance while they are using the library.
• It is economically unjustifiable because it is not serving a particular purpose that is useful.
• Cameras are not effective at preventing any crime or undesirable behavior.
• Privacy is protected under US Constitution, UN Human Rights
• Build strong communities by showing patrons that they are trustworthy and safe in their library spaces.
• Plan your communications
• Interview
• Get key messages out and repeat them
• Speak with enthusiasm
• Be specific and brief
• Prepare for the hardest questions
• Be anecdotal. Tell a personal story to illustrate your point, tell why you are doing it

• Takeaways:

Consider in terms of LFP – work to share our work with the press (not just Alison communicating with press)