Library Standards for Privacy: A Model for the Digital World?

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology, Vol. 11, No. 3, Special 2010

UNC Legal Studies Research Paper No. 1621837

11 Pages Posted: 8 Jun 2010

See all articles by Anne Klinefelter

Anne Klinefelter

University of North Carolina School of Law

Abstract

In the ongoing Google Books settlement process, several advocacy organizations, including library associations, have filed amicus briefs to the supervising court demanding provisions for reader privacy. Because the scanned content for Google Books has come from cooperating research libraries, these advocacy groups argued that it was in the public interest that library standards for privacy should follow that content into this new digital context. The recommendation is worth consideration for other extra-library reading as well, both in digital and print contexts. While librarians have been successful advocates for privacy in library-provided reading, the values for reader privacy are the same in individuals’ subscriptions to Google Books, licensed access to e-reader books, reading on the Internet, and purchase of books through online or brick-and-mortar bookstores. This essay shares a librarian’s-eye-view of library standards for privacy and suggests that the law of reader privacy must not only address readers of Google Books, but also other digital reading and even print reading contexts external to libraries in order to protect the privacy of thought for readers.

Keywords: Reader Privacy, Google Books, Books, Libraries, Librarians, Surveillance, Copyright Management

Suggested Citation

Klinefelter, Anne, Library Standards for Privacy: A Model for the Digital World?. North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology, Vol. 11, No. 3, Special 2010, UNC Legal Studies Research Paper No. 1621837, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1621837

Anne Klinefelter (Contact Author)

University of North Carolina School of Law ( email )

Van Hecke-Wettach Hall, 160 Ridge Road
CB #3380
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3380
United States

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