Anonymous Patron points to a release from the ACLU today claiming that the FBI has used the Patriot Act to access library records:
FBI Uses Patriot Act to Demand Information with No Judicial Approval From Organization with Library Records
The American Civil Liberties Union today disclosed that the FBI has used a controversial Patriot Act power to demand records from an organization that possesses “a wide array of sensitive information about library patrons, including information about the reading materials borrowed by library patrons and about Internet usage by library patrons.” The FBI demand was disclosed in a new lawsuit filed in Connecticut, which remains under a heavy FBI gag order.
Part of the problem with “secret” searches is that accusations
can
fly on both sides of the debate. Is the FBI really starting up some sort of Library Awareness Program, or is this an isolated case with the facts skewed? (Note that not even the ACLU is saying the FBI requested or obtained library records.)
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