Karen Coyle forwarded this question from Web4lib:
A patron wants to know if he used our wireless on our internet, would his computer then be subject to the same scrutiny under the Patriot Act as our library machines are? To expand this, can wireless interactions be tracked the same as in-library interactions?
Have any of you had to answer this question, or dealt with this issue in your library? Any ideas, articles, etc. would be helpful. I couldn't find much specifically on this issue.
Minow comment: This question embraces a combination of legal and technical issues. Legally, the Patriot Act and related measures do indeed make one's own laptop susceptible to a host of search, intercept, Sect 215, national security letters and other orders. I've written a chart, with the orders I'm aware of. I'd like to put the chart into a wiki so it's easy to update, but I haven't quite figured out how. Patriot Act Sect 215 applies to "any entity," not just libraries. In fact when it's labelled the "library provision" I am often curious as to why a multitude of others, particularly the press, haven't written about how it applies them as well. Then there's the question as to who actually receives the order, and what information that entity has. If a library serves as the ISP and gets an intercept or pen trap order, what information does it actually have on its wireless users? Do libraries install keyloggers to trap every keystroke?
As an aside, I know that if I go to an Internet cafe, someone can spoof the SSID and route all my keystrokes through their computer on the way to the net, with me none the wiser. I also recently read that someone can audiotape my keystrokes and figure out with a high degree of certainty what my keystrokes have been.
If you're someone who works with wireless services in libraries - please weigh in as to what user information your library sees.
I too have often wondered why more groups weren't concerned about the privacy of their records. The potential venues for improper snooping seem endless. A consortium of businesses, worried "that the Patriot Act makes it too easy for the government to get confidential business records," has formally opposed re-approving some sections of the Patriot Act without amendments that would require the government to show a link to actual suspected terrorists or spies, would remove the gag order provisions, and would allow courts challenges. Among the signers were the U.S. Chamber of Commerce,the National Association of Manufacturers, and the National Association of Realtors. See "Businesses Oppose Patriot Act," CBS News, October 6, 20005, at
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/06/business/main917332.shtml
Posted by: Susan | October 15, 2005 at 12:03 PM
We don't track anything but what's to stop the FBI from sniffing our Internet connection and tracking patron usage that way?
Posted by: MILIbTech | October 12, 2005 at 09:35 AM