Under the Patriot Act, the government can demand library records via a secret court order and without probable cause that the information is related to a suspected terrorist plot. It can also block the librarian from revealing that request to anyone. Nor does the term “records” cover only the books you check out; it also includes search histories and hard drives from library computers. The Muslim-American who uses a library computer to correspond with family abroad, or the activist planning a demonstration against police brutality—those digital trails are vulnerable to surveillance, along with everyone else’s.
The government’s power to vacuum up our personal details seems unstoppable, but a lot of it depends on how much we give away. Alison Macrina wants librarians and library users to be less complicit.
More from The Nation.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment