[WEB4LIB] Re: FBI to monitor libraries

[Dan Lester]

Monday, June 3, 2002, 12:52:10 PM, you wrote:
>>People also worry that somehow "the government" is going to read all
>>of everybody's email and do all sorts of nasty things to them.  Even
>>"the government" can't possibly read all of everybody's email.  That

RS> I'm sure there are people on this list who can comment technically, but is this
RS> necessarily true?

I sure don't know it all, but I think it is extremely unlikely that it
could all even be "read" by a government computer, much less by a
government human.

RS> If I am not mistaken, the Echelon system does (or tries to) monitor a
RS> significant amount of communications.  "They" aren't listening, but "their"
RS> computers are - for key words - and a combination of that or similar technology
RS> and lifting of "bureaucratic restrictions" in place due to previous abuses
RS> makes some people nervous.

Sure, they can listen for keywords.  But we all know, from our work
with catalogs and from our experiences with search engines, just how
reliable keywords or subject headings are.  We can all come up with
plenty of examples of ambiguities, confusion, and so forth.

RS> I think most library users have some expectation of privacy in their use of
RS> library computer services, whether it's standing at one of our public PCs or
RS> connecting in from home.

Expectations in all areas of life have to continually change.  I used
to expect to see a small black and white TV and to have to get up and
turn a knob to change to one of the three channels.  My expectations
are quite different now with digital cable.  I also used to expect
that I could just leave my car in front of my house without locking
it. Few of us would do that any more.  Insert your own changed
expectation here.

RS> Even patrons who are familiar with the concept of an
RS> employer monitoring usage by employees might have some problems with the
RS> notion that their research might trigger a search order and an entry with their
RS> name on it in someone's file.

Well, again, they should change their expectations.  All of my wife's
surfing and email is monitored electronically, and some of it by a
real person.  She's a stock broker.  Yes, a different environment, but
perhaps a symptom or indication of how things are changing these days.

All of our public computers have a sign on them that says "all internet use
is recorded".  It sure has cut down the porn surfing now that we tell
people that.  It always has been logged on our proxy server, but we
didn't post that until a couple months ago.  NOTE: we do NOT know who
was using a given machine, except by observation, as there are no
logins.  It still takes a human observer to know who has been doing
some "bad thing", whatever that might be.

dan

-- 
Dan Lester, Data Wrangler  dan at RiverOfData.com 208-283-7711
3577 East Pecan, Boise, Idaho  83716-7115 USA
www.riverofdata.com  www.gailndan.com  Stop Global Whining!