Post 2: Government Surveillance

Another thing that jumped out at me while I was exploring Electronic Frontier Foundation’s site concerned the PATRIOT Act. I had just read what the ALA had to say about the PATRIOT Act in the Intellectual Freedom Manual, that it’s a serious threat to library users’ right to privacy and has had a “chilling effect on freedom of speech, inquiry, and association” (50). All of the information I found on the ALA’s website was dated, with the most recent information being from 2007. I’m so frustrated with the rampant broken links on that site! I was wondering if there has been any more recent action by the ALA.

EFF recently filed a Freedom of Information Act suit seeking records from the Department of Justice about the “effectiveness, lawfulness, and misuse” of certain surveillance provisions of the PARIOT Act. These provisions will expire in February 2011 unless Congress reauthorizes them. EFF wants this information to be made public before the debate begins. While they are working to address these issues in the courts, the EFF also created the Surveillance Self-Defense site. The site explains the surveillance that government can conduct legally, and what citizens can do legally to protect their communications and the information on their computer. It seems like really good information for librarians, library users, and anyone concerned about government surveillance and privacy issues.