The Library Freedom Project teaches librarians about privacy rights, law, and tech tools to protect patrons from dragnet surveillance.
“Threatened by surveillance from corporations and governments, our right to access information is chilled. As stewards of information and providers of Internet access, librarians play a central role in meeting the information needs of communities and are in an obvious position to educate patrons about how to shield their privacy from surveillance threats.”
The Library Freedom Project is a partnership among policy experts at the American Civil Liberties Union, tech-activists at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and an IT librarian. The project was recently honored by the Knight News Challenge as a way we can leverage libraries as a platform to build more knowledgeable communities.
Project partners will be presenting a workshop, “Digital Privacy Rights and Technology Training with The Library Freedom Project,” on Friday, April 17th from 1:00 – 4:00pm at Bard College (Annandale-on-Hudson, NY). Scheduled speakers include:
- Alison Macrina, founder of the Library Freedom Project and Supervisor of Technology and Information Management at the Watertown Free Public Library (and recently named a 2015 Library Journal Mover & Shaker!), will provide a discussion and demonstration of practical tools for online privacy that can be implemented in library PC environments or taught to patrons in classes/one-on-one tech sessions, including browsers for privacy and anonymity, tools for secure deletion of cookies, cache, and internet history, tools to prevent online tracking, and encryption for online communications.
- Kade Crockford, Director of the Technology for Liberty Program at the ACLU of Massachusetts, will provide an introduction to current issues of surveillance and privacy, focusing on government and corporate surveillance. Kade will address how privacy rights fit into the greater mission of libraries as democratic institutions committed to intellectual freedom, and how surveillance threatens the core values of librarianship defined by the ALA Library Bill of Rights.
- Mariko Hirose of New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU)
Cost: $15 general admission; $5 for students (register under your .edu email for the discount, or show ID at the event.)
Register here: http://senylrc.org/library_freedom
