Privacy

Come learn about IT Security with me at Internet Librarian!

Come learn about IT Security with me at Internet Librarian!
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2016
IT Security 101
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Tracy Z Maleeff, Principal, Sherpa Intelligence LLC
Blake Carver, Senior Systems Administrator, LYRASIS
We all know we should use good passwords, keep everything updated, and follow other basic precautions online. Understanding the reasons behind these rules is critical to help us convince ourselves and others that the extra work is indeed worth it. Who are the bad guys? What tools are they using? What are they after? Where are they working? How are they doing it? Why are we all targets? Experienced workshop leaders discuss how to stay safe at the library and at home. They share ways to keep precious data safe inside the library and out—securing your network, website, and PCs—and tools you can teach to patrons in computer classes. They tackle security myths, passwords, tracking, malware, and more. They share a range of tools and techniques, making this session ideal for any library staff.

http://internet-librarian.infotoday.com/2016/Sessions/W14-IT-Security-101-9920.aspx

Come learn about IT Security with me at Internet Librarian!
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2016
IT Security 101
1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Tracy Z Maleeff, Principal, Sherpa Intelligence LLC
Blake Carver, Senior Systems Administrator, LYRASIS
We all know we should use good passwords, keep everything updated, and follow other basic precautions online. Understanding the reasons behind these rules is critical to help us convince ourselves and others that the extra work is indeed worth it. Who are the bad guys? What tools are they using? What are they after? Where are they working? How are they doing it? Why are we all targets? Experienced workshop leaders discuss how to stay safe at the library and at home. They share ways to keep precious data safe inside the library and out—securing your network, website, and PCs—and tools you can teach to patrons in computer classes. They tackle security myths, passwords, tracking, malware, and more. They share a range of tools and techniques, making this session ideal for any library staff.

http://internet-librarian.infotoday.com/2016/Sessions/W14-IT-Security-101-9920.aspx

June 10, 2016 by Internet IT Security in Libraries Librarians Libraries Privacy Technology

DPLA Launches Full Support for HTTPS

DPLA is pleased to announce that the entirety of our website, including our portal, exhibitions, Primary Source Sets, and our API, are now accessible using HTTPS by default. DPLA takes user privacy seriously, and the infrastructural changes that we have made to support HTTPS allows us to extend this dedication further and become signatories of the Library Digital Privacy Pledge of 2015-2016, developed by our colleagues at the Library Freedom Project. The changes we’ve made include the following:

Providing HTTPS versions of all web services that our organization directly controls (including everything under the dp.la domain), for both human and machine consumption,
Automatic redirection for all HTTP requests to HTTPS, and
A caching thumbnail proxy for items provided by the DPLA API and frontend, which serves the images over HTTPS instead of providing them insecurely.

From Digital Public Library of America » Blog Archive » Open, Free, and Secure to All: DPLA Launches Full Support for HTTPS

DPLA is pleased to announce that the entirety of our website, including our portal, exhibitions, Primary Source Sets, and our API, are now accessible using HTTPS by default. DPLA takes user privacy seriously, and the infrastructural changes that we have made to support HTTPS allows us to extend this dedication further and become signatories of the Library Digital Privacy Pledge of 2015-2016, developed by our colleagues at the Library Freedom Project. The changes we’ve made include the following:

Providing HTTPS versions of all web services that our organization directly controls (including everything under the dp.la domain), for both human and machine consumption,
Automatic redirection for all HTTP requests to HTTPS, and
A caching thumbnail proxy for items provided by the DPLA API and frontend, which serves the images over HTTPS instead of providing them insecurely.

From Digital Public Library of America » Blog Archive » Open, Free, and Secure to All: DPLA Launches Full Support for HTTPS

June 1, 2016 by Libraries Privacy

Facebook begins tracking non-users around the internet

Facebook will now display ads to web users who are not members of its social network, the company announced Thursday, in a bid to significantly expand its online ad network. As The Wall Street Journal reports, Facebook will use cookies, “like” buttons, and other plug-ins embedded on third-party sites to track members and non-members alike. The company says it will be able to better target non-Facebook users and serve relevant ads to them, though its practices have come under criticism from regulators in Europe over privacy concerns. Facebook began displaying a banner notification at the top of its News Feed for users in Europe today, alerting them to its use of cookies as mandated under an EU directive.

“Publishers and app developers have some users who aren’t Facebook users,” Andrew Bosworth, vice president of Facebook’s ads and business platform, tells the Journal. “We think we can do a better job powering those ads.”

From Facebook begins tracking non-users around the internet | The Verge

Facebook will now display ads to web users who are not members of its social network, the company announced Thursday, in a bid to significantly expand its online ad network. As The Wall Street Journal reports, Facebook will use cookies, “like” buttons, and other plug-ins embedded on third-party sites to track members and non-members alike. The company says it will be able to better target non-Facebook users and serve relevant ads to them, though its practices have come under criticism from regulators in Europe over privacy concerns. Facebook began displaying a banner notification at the top of its News Feed for users in Europe today, alerting them to its use of cookies as mandated under an EU directive.

“Publishers and app developers have some users who aren’t Facebook users,” Andrew Bosworth, vice president of Facebook’s ads and business platform, tells the Journal. “We think we can do a better job powering those ads.”

From Facebook begins tracking non-users around the internet | The Verge

May 27, 2016 by Books EBooks Internet Privacy

97% of Research Library Searches Leak Privacy… and Other Disappointing Statistics.

Over the weekend, I decided to try to quantify the extent of privacy leakage in public-facing library services by studying the search services of the 123 ARL libraries. These are the best funded and most prestigious libraries in North America, and we should expect them to positively represent libraries. I went to each library’s on-line search facility and did a search for a book whose title might suggest to an advertiser that I might be pregnant. (I’m not!) I checked to see whether the default search linked to by the library’s home page (as listed on the ARL website) was delivered over a secure connection (HTTPS). I checked for privacy leakage of referer headers from cover images by using Chrome developer tools (the sources tab). I used Ghostery to see if the library’s online search used Google Analytics or not. I also noted whether advertising network “web beacons” were placed by the search session.

From Go To Hellman: 97% of Research Library Searches Leak Privacy… and Other Disappointing Statistics.

May 24, 2016 by Google Internet Librarians Libraries Privacy

LITA ALA Annual Precon: Digital Privacy

Don’t miss these amazing speakers at this important LITA preconference to the ALA Annual 2016 conference in Orlando FL.

Digital Privacy and Security: Keeping You And Your Library Safe and Secure In A Post-Snowden World
Friday June 24, 2016, 1:00 – 4:00 pm
Presenters: Blake Carver, LYRASIS and Jessamyn West, Library Technologist at Open Library

From LITA ALA Annual Precon: Digital Privacy – LITA Blog

Don’t miss these amazing speakers at this important LITA preconference to the ALA Annual 2016 conference in Orlando FL.

Digital Privacy and Security: Keeping You And Your Library Safe and Secure In A Post-Snowden World
Friday June 24, 2016, 1:00 – 4:00 pm
Presenters: Blake Carver, LYRASIS and Jessamyn West, Library Technologist at Open Library

From LITA ALA Annual Precon: Digital Privacy – LITA Blog

April 22, 2016 by American Library Association Libraries Privacy

The importance of teaching online privacy at the college

I really like the closing paragraph here! I might replace “The College” with “The College Library” 🙂

The importance of teaching online privacy at the college

If the College’s mission truly is to mold us into informed citizens and consumers, an excellent place for it to start would be with this issue of data security and online privacy. Even a brief session during orientation would be an improvement; if not to teach us how to be fully secure in our data, then simply to let us know that it is not, by itself, fully secure. An even better option, as suggested by Tracy Mitrano — an academic dean at the University of Massachusetts Cybersecurity Certificate Programs — would be a GER course in information literacy. Only then could the College say it produces truly informed citizens.

From The importance of teaching online privacy at the college | Flat Hat News

I really like the closing paragraph here! I might replace “The College” with “The College Library” 🙂

The importance of teaching online privacy at the college

If the College’s mission truly is to mold us into informed citizens and consumers, an excellent place for it to start would be with this issue of data security and online privacy. Even a brief session during orientation would be an improvement; if not to teach us how to be fully secure in our data, then simply to let us know that it is not, by itself, fully secure. An even better option, as suggested by Tracy Mitrano — an academic dean at the University of Massachusetts Cybersecurity Certificate Programs — would be a GER course in information literacy. Only then could the College say it produces truly informed citizens.

From The importance of teaching online privacy at the college | Flat Hat News

April 11, 2016 by Academic Libraries Internet Libraries Privacy

Thinking Out Loud About Patron Privacy and Libraries #nisoprivacy | Librarian by Day

There are many reasons people relinquish person information, perhaps they don’t know how it will be used or they don’t have a choice or they do it willingly, none of this is an indication that expectations about privacy have changed. The argument that this behavior is an indication that people no longer expect privacy and therefore it is acceptable to collect and use data is deeply problematic. The idea of reasonable expectation of privacy reinforces the status quo and ignores the needs of minorities. It benefits large corporations and an elite few. Instead we should endeavor that policies, rules, and guidelines reflect what we want, not what we have come to expect.

From Thinking Out Loud About Patron Privacy and Libraries #nisoprivacy | Librarian by Day

There are many reasons people relinquish person information, perhaps they don’t know how it will be used or they don’t have a choice or they do it willingly, none of this is an indication that expectations about privacy have changed. The argument that this behavior is an indication that people no longer expect privacy and therefore it is acceptable to collect and use data is deeply problematic. The idea of reasonable expectation of privacy reinforces the status quo and ignores the needs of minorities. It benefits large corporations and an elite few. Instead we should endeavor that policies, rules, and guidelines reflect what we want, not what we have come to expect.

From Thinking Out Loud About Patron Privacy and Libraries #nisoprivacy | Librarian by Day

March 28, 2016 by Librarians Libraries Privacy

Launching the Electronic Frontier Alliance

The Alliance will bring together groups pursuing a range of strategies and tactics—from hacker spaces crowdsourcing the open source development of software tools, to student groups hosting teach-ins and documentary screenings. They will be united by five substantive principles:

free expression: people should be able to speak their minds to whomever will listen.

security: technology should be trustworthy and answer to its users.

privacy: technology should allow private and anonymous speech, and allow users to set their own parameters about what to share with whom.

creativity: technology should promote progress by allowing people to build on the ideas, creations, and inventions of others.

access to knowledge: curiosity should be rewarded, not stifled.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/03/launching-efa

The Alliance will bring together groups pursuing a range of strategies and tactics—from hacker spaces crowdsourcing the open source development of software tools, to student groups hosting teach-ins and documentary screenings. They will be united by five substantive principles:

free expression: people should be able to speak their minds to whomever will listen.

security: technology should be trustworthy and answer to its users.

privacy: technology should allow private and anonymous speech, and allow users to set their own parameters about what to share with whom.

creativity: technology should promote progress by allowing people to build on the ideas, creations, and inventions of others.

access to knowledge: curiosity should be rewarded, not stifled.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/03/launching-efa

March 26, 2016 by Privacy

NYCLU: City’s Public Wi-Fi Raises Privacy Concerns

“Internet access is not a choice, it’s a modern-life necessity,” said Mariko Hirose, senior staff attorney at the NYCLU. “The city’s public Wi-Fi network should set the bar for privacy and security to help ensure that New Yorkers do not have to sacrifice their rights and freedoms to sign online.”

In order to register for LinkNYC, users must submit their e-mail addresses and agree to allow CityBridge to collect information about what websites they visit on their devices, where and how long they linger on certain information on a webpage, and what links they click on. CityBridge’s privacy policy only offers to make “reasonable efforts” to clear out this massive amount of personally identifiable user information, and even then, only if there have been 12 months of user inactivity. New Yorkers who use LinkNYC regularly will have their personally identifiable information stored for a lifetime and beyond.

From NYCLU: City’s Public Wi-Fi Raises Privacy Concerns | New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) – American Civil Liberties Union of New York State

“Internet access is not a choice, it’s a modern-life necessity,” said Mariko Hirose, senior staff attorney at the NYCLU. “The city’s public Wi-Fi network should set the bar for privacy and security to help ensure that New Yorkers do not have to sacrifice their rights and freedoms to sign online.”

In order to register for LinkNYC, users must submit their e-mail addresses and agree to allow CityBridge to collect information about what websites they visit on their devices, where and how long they linger on certain information on a webpage, and what links they click on. CityBridge’s privacy policy only offers to make “reasonable efforts” to clear out this massive amount of personally identifiable user information, and even then, only if there have been 12 months of user inactivity. New Yorkers who use LinkNYC regularly will have their personally identifiable information stored for a lifetime and beyond.

From NYCLU: City’s Public Wi-Fi Raises Privacy Concerns | New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) – American Civil Liberties Union of New York State

March 16, 2016 by Internet Privacy

At Calif. Campuses, A Test For Free Speech, Privacy And Cybersecurity

A controversy over a secretly installed data monitoring system is simmering at university campuses across California.

Last summer, hackers broke into the computer network at the UCLA medical center. A few months later, the University of California system’s president quietly ordered a new security system to monitor Internet traffic on all UC campuses.

“And the people who had to put the box in place were ordered to do so and also ordered to keep quiet about it,” says Ethan Ligon, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

From At Calif. Campuses, A Test For Free Speech, Privacy And Cybersecurity : All Tech Considered : NPR

A controversy over a secretly installed data monitoring system is simmering at university campuses across California.

Last summer, hackers broke into the computer network at the UCLA medical center. A few months later, the University of California system’s president quietly ordered a new security system to monitor Internet traffic on all UC campuses.

“And the people who had to put the box in place were ordered to do so and also ordered to keep quiet about it,” says Ethan Ligon, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

From At Calif. Campuses, A Test For Free Speech, Privacy And Cybersecurity : All Tech Considered : NPR

March 12, 2016 by Censorship Internet Privacy

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