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

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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)