Protecting Your Privacy: January 29, 2009

Well, today the sheriff came in with a wallet he had taken from some one who should not have had it.....and as he had found a library card in the wallet (but no drivers license) he came to the library wanting the personal information for this person (address & phone number).

If any of you know me, you know that I didn't give him the information, and you also know this didn't make him happy. I told him that it was against Library policy to give out any personal information of any of our card holders without a court order. To which he informed me that he had a right to the information as it was pertaining to his current investigation.

Now, this young man was not rude, pushy, or "authoritative", yet I still politely refused and I even went into my manager's office to ask her. She said, well "we can get into trouble for not cooperating with the sheriff" and proceeded to call her manager, who in turn called our Security Officer.

It turns out that I was correct and there is a State code that protects a library users' information and their right to privacy unless a court order has been issued.

What we did do however, upon learning that the DMV had no record of this person, was to call the phone number listed on the account, only to find that it was 'No longer in service".

So, we Librarians do protect your privacy and your personal information!

Just one more reason "Why You Should Get Down on Your Knees and Worship a Librarian"

360: More RFID: August 23, 2007

From California Consumer Newsletter: Summer 2007



"Tiny computer chips called radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags that transmit information about us can be embedded in driver's licenses, student IDs and other government issued cards without our knowledge.



These chips allow government agencies to track our whereabouts, are susceptible to a hacker with an RFID scanner and expose us to the threat of privacy violations, identity theft, property theft, and stalking. Even protected RFID systems have been hacked, some in a matter of minutes. When the system has been breached, the device holder won't know it and therefore won't know to take steps to protect themselves.



A rural school district in Calif. embedded tiny transmitters in student id cards without notifying parents. The district claimed the RFIDs were introduced to protect child safety. Parents were in an uproar when they learned that a stalker could hack into these devices and follow a child's every movement. The school district removed the devices after parents complained.



Last year the US State dept. began issuing passports with RFIDs that transmit to a reader the bearer's name, date of birth, gender, place of birth, dates of passport issuance & expiration, passport number, and a digital image of the bearer's photograph.



RFID technology poses a clear privacy and information security risks that threaten individual and public safety as well as our personal liberty."



The article goes on to talk about California SB 28, 29, 31 & 388...all which limit the use of such devices in California.



The Berkeley Public Library had a huge argument, last year, in favor of using these tracking in their library materials!



Just think, the government or anyone with a tracking device could find you...anytime, anywhere you happen to be!

360:RFID-Big Brother IS Watching-Kiss Your Privacy Goodbye: August 22, 2007

For me this is Not about identity theft so much as Big Brother Is Watching....

Shades of an Interment Camp!

From California Consumer Newsletter: Summer 2007


"The federal REAL ID Act would force states to standardize drivers' license cards across the nation into a single national ID card and database. It does this by stipulating that state DLs and ID cards will not be accepted for "federal purposes"---including boarding an aircraft or entering a federal facility--unless they meet all of the law's numerous conditions.


States and the federal government would share access to this national database--one that could include images of birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce papers, court ordered separations, medical records, and detailed information on the name, date of birth, race, religion, ethnicity, gender, address, telephone, e-mail address, and Social Security number (ALL New Passports issued since 2006 have this embedded in an RFID tag) for more than 240 million people. REAL ID will make it possible to look up DLs and other personal information on a Californian (or anyone else) at any DMV office in any state in the nation.


The REAL ID Act was slipped through Congress in May 2005 in an urgent "must pass" Iraq War/Tsunami relief supplemental bill...(this is known as a rider). In the us senate, not even a single hearing was held to consider the sweeping implications of REAL ID.


On may 1st the department of Homeland Security he;d a national town hall meeting in Davis-the ONLY public forum scheduled in the nation-to discuss the implementation of the Act.


Richard Holober, Executive Director of the Consumer Federation of California (CFC), testified in opposition, calling the national database a "one-stop shop" for identity thefts. "You're compromising the documents of 240 million Americans in the system is broken into," Holober said. "This information is all that a criminal needs to steal someone's identity. Instead of remaining under an individual's control, they'll be housed in the DMV at risk of being taken by hackers, burglars, or the way much ID theft occurs, through inside jobs. Because they're stored as digital images, anyone with a color printer will be able to produce high quality forgeries of these documents."


The privacy implications and the onerous requirements of the REAL ID Act have led a half dozen states to consider legislation that would refuse cooperation with the law's rules. this year Maine became the 1st state to pass such legislation. US Senators Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) and John Sununu (R-NH) have introduced legislation to repeal the federal REAL ID Act. If California and other states join the rebellion, this federal privacy legislation will have a good chance of passage."


Well...if this doesn't make you pissed enough to take action...I don't know what will! Because..FYI, this IS NOT Freedom nor Democracy! But It IS a Wake-up Call!


Mi Takuye Oyacin