New Jersey libraries and others around the United States are reportedly recommending their staffers dump Internet histories, delete borrowing information, shred Internet signup sheets, and other measures - the better to keep Uncle Snoopy from prowling their users' Websites, e-mails, and other library materials, as the Patriot Act lets him do.
A New Jersey Library Association seminar last week drew 150 librarians to get some guidance on how to protect their patrons while staying in line with the law, according to the Newark Star-Ledger. Suggestions included history-clearing software, deleting borrowed book information when the books are returned, shredding Internet service signup sheets every day, and more, the paper added - saying many told the seminar they're already doing it.
"Libraries are less likely now to keep records," Wayne Public Library director Barbara Pickell told the Star-Ledger. "And records that were kept only because nobody bothered to get rid of them, they are now getting rid of."
The Justice Department has said they "go to great lengths" to protect American citizens' privacy, "unless you happen to be a foreign spy or member of a terrorism organization," as spokesman Mark Corallo told the paper. "The average American has nothing to fear. They should be encouraged that the government is doing what it can to protect them."
Negative, counters the American Libraries Association, which calls the Patriot Act provisions letting the government prowl library computers "a present danger to the constitutional rights and privacy rights of library users." And they're not the only ones: five Congressional lawmakers - two Republicans, two Democrats, and one independent - have worked up a bill to keep libraries away from the Patriot Act's grasp, the Star-Ledger said.
