Our information fuels the modern economy. According to Bruegel, personal data is an important economic asset that companies use to drive business activities. Although the exact value of your personal information varies, your information has value. Just as you would protect a valuable watch or piece of jewelry by locking it up in a safe, so too is it important to safeguard your personal information. Consider libraries your advocate and partner in this endeavor.
Your Rights, According to Libraries
Your right to privacy in the library is enshrined in the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights. Libraries are expected to advocate for, educate about, and protect your privacy, safeguarding your library use data, including your personal information. Your library activities including searching, borrowing and browsing are your business only.
Privacy Challenges
Many of us believe that as long as our name isn't attached to a record, our data is safe. However, "anonymized" data is often anything but. In 2014, when the Freedom of Information Act was used to release "anonymized" taxi trip data, hackers reidentified individual drivers in less than two hours by cross-referencing other public data. Libraries work with vendors to determine the risk of reidentification.
In some companies, your data could be kept and used in ways that were not intended at the point of collection. Libraries are careful about how your data is obtained and stored. We develop workflows that protect your privacy; for example, we do not retain borrowing history information, even though patrons occasionally request theirs.
In opposition to library values, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) presents a new frontier for patron privacy. When you interact with large language models (LLMs), your prompts become data used to train future iterations. Later, the model may recall your private inquiries with startling accuracy.
Libraries are committed to protecting your personal information. By understanding the value of your data and the tools available to protect it, you can ensure that your data is as safe as it can be.
Additional Reading
- Website: Data Privacy Best Practices Toolkit for Libraries: A Guide for Managing and Protecting User Data
- Website: American Library Association Privacy Field Guides
- Website: AI at UD: Core Principles
- eBook: Big Data and Privacy Rights, by M.M. Eboch (UD login required)
– Blog by Collections Strategies & Services staff. Blog image by Surya Deip Reddy Kesaram ’25.