Week 14: Reading Notes

1) No place to hide site: http://www.noplacetohide.net/

After reading the final chapter to "No Place to Hide," noting the various types of data mining as an individual walks through New York City, I am intrigued with the concept of information being collected everywhere. A person never thinks about it much, living in such a digital society, but the capabilities are there. "It takes less and less effort each year to know what each of us is about" (O'Hara). A very telling thought, indeed.

2) TIA and data mining http://www.epic.org/privacy/profiling/tia/

-Electronic Privacy Information Center
-Total "Terrorism" Information Awareness (TIA)
-TIA was developed as a tracking system, a means to track information about private data without warrants.
"In September 2003, Congress eliminated funding for the controversial project and closed the Pentagon's Information Awareness Office, which had developed TIA. This does not, however, necessarily signal the end of other government data-mining initiatives that are similar to TIA."

3) MyTurn: Protecting privacy rights in libraries, By Judah Hamer • September 24, 2008 http://greatlibrarynews.blogspot.com/2008/09/myturn-protecting-privacy-rights-in.html

This article applauds Vermont's law on stricter patron privacy policies and its necessity in libraries:
"In a library, the right to privacy means the right to open inquiry. Individuals must be able to seek information about any subject without fear of judgment, criticism or scrutiny of others. Freedom of speech is meaningless without the freedom to receive information; they are the underpinnings of a healthy democracy."