[10346] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
FBI surveillance of library patrons
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (PACS-L Moderator)
Fri Jun 28 21:19:18 1996
Date: Fri, 28 Jun 1996 17:59:36 -0500 (CDT)
From: PACS-L Moderator <libpacs@UH.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L@UHUPVM1.UH.EDU>
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L@UHUPVM1.UH.EDU>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>From: jwarren@well.com (Jim Warren)
>Subject: FBI surveillance of library patrons
>[Also by blind cc to others.]
>
>It seems appropriate to recap this past(?) FBI surveillance practice --
>given the:
>* FBI's half-billion-dollar national wiretap system (mandated by the
>Democrats in 1994 legislation),
>* FBI's and Clinton's continuing *vehement* opposition to widespread use of
>robust privacy protection (standardized uncrackable crypto), and
>* White House's past (Watergate) and apparently-ongoing use of confidential
>FBI files compiled on an administration's political opponents.
>
>The following is a response that I received to some private dialogue re the
>FBI's snooping on "suspicious" library patrons and what they read. It is
>from, Jim Schmidt, past President of the American Library Association's
>stellar legal-action arm, the Freedom-to-Read Foundation. He is currently
>in academic librarianship at San Jose State Univerity.
>
>--jim
>Jim Warren, GovAccess list-owner/editor, advocate & columnist
(jwarren@well.com)
>345 Swett Rd., Woodside CA 94062; voice/415-851-7075; fax/<# upon request>
>
>[puffery FWIW: Hugh M. Hefner First-Amendment Award, Playboy Foundation;
>James Madison Freedom-of-Information Award, Soc.of Prof.Journalists-Nor.Cal.;
>Pioneer Award, Electronic Frontier Foundation (its first year, 1992);
>founded InfoWorld, DataCast, Computers, Freedom & Privacy confs, etc. :-).]
>
>
>
>
>Date: Wed, 26 Jun 96 12:33:14 PDT
>From: jim <SCHMIDTC%SJSUVM1.BitNet@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU>
>Subject: Re: Librarys
>To: Jim Warren <jwarren@well.com>
>
>Jim
>
>I am one of the two living experts on the FBI's Library Awareness Program;
>the other one wrote a book about it. A short recap below.
>
>In 1970 (give or take) after the bombing which cause at least one death of
>the computer center at U Wisc - Madisson, FBI and ATF folks asked the
>Milwaukee Public Lib for names of persons who had recently checked out or
>who still had library books on plastic explosives. From this incident
>arose the Amer Lib Assoc's first policy on confidentiality of lib recs.
>
>The FBI's so-called "Library Awarness Program" was an initiative of the
>latter 80's, represented by the Agency as limited to scientific and technical
>libraries and primarily run out of the NY regional office. Given reported
>visits across the country and not only to scientific and technical libraries
>we know that the Bureau's characterization of the program is incorrect.
>
>From testimony of bureau employees and from documents secured under FOIA,
>we know that the program of the 80's was in fact a resurrection of one that
>operated in the 70's, and we have inferential (strongly suggestive)evidence
>that library visits occurred in the 60's too.
>
>The 80's version was the Bureau's contribution to an interagency program
>coordinated by the CIA, specifically initiated at the behest of the CIA deputy
>one Adm Bobby Inman (ret), to limit technology transfer from US to other
>countries (remember the commodities list, licences required from Dept of
>Commerce, NSA monopoly re encryption research, etc?) of which Zimmerman's
>problems with PGP are vestiges as are those that the grad student at Berkeley
>had to go to court about.
>
>As a result of the 80's program, now 46 states have statutes specifically
>protecting personally identifiable information in library records (there were
>38 when news broke in Sept 87 of the FBI's visit to the Math Lib at Columbia).
>
>Automated library systems currently do attach at least a patron's name to
>items he or she has checked out, i.e. still has not returned. Virtually all
>such systems strip personnally identifiable data from the transaction records
>when the items are returned. I won't vouch for whether a forensic data
>specialist (or hacker) could with some amount of work reconstruct who borrowed
>what but it wouldn't be easy and getting access to a library's system to do
>it would be another matter.
>
>I think the consciousness of libraries was greatly raised in the 80's and I
>feel comfortable, especially given the wonderful way the library staff
>in Montana responded in re Kaczynski, in saying that the staffs won't
>willingly permit access and that they go to some lengths to assure that access
>cannot be gained.
>
>Jim Schmidt
>San Jose State
>
>
>
>== I asked for & received Jim's permission for arbitrary re-distribution ==
>
>Date: Thu, 27 Jun 96 10:43:07 PDT
>From: jim <SCHMIDTC%SJSUVM1.BITNET@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU>
>Subject: Re: Librarys
>To: Jim Warren <jwarren@well.com>
>
>you may recirculate to your heart's desire.
>
>
>
