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- Appendix B
- The Bill of Rights
- The Right to Privacy
- Freedom of Information Act (1966)
- Federal Privacy Act of 1974
- Electronic Privacy Act of 1986
ReferencesAppendix A
Appendix BLibrarianship and InformationLibrarianship typically protects and preserves recorded information, as well as advocates the rights and privacy of the information of American citizens. Public libraries and universities lobby for changes in law to benefit personal information rights of individuals. Librarians and educators—many who consider the violation of privacy of information rights to be disastrous—have been at the forefront of the fight for information privacy for a couple of centuries. Many support the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments from the 1791 Bill of Rights, quote Warren and Brandeis’ renowned 1890 article, The Right to Privacy and uphold the Freedom of Information Act (1966), the Federal Privacy Act of 1974, and the Electronic Privacy Act of 1986 where Congress realized the need to protect private citizen records collected by the government. The Bill of RightsThe Bill of Rights was passed by the United States Congress on September 25, 1789. However more than a century would pass before the judicial branch recognized and implemented the right to privacy implications stated in the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments. The First amendment addresses the right to privacy by giving citizens the freedom of speech, interpreted by law to mean that citizens have the freedom to express their thoughts, views, and preferences without fear of retribution. The Fourth Amendment protects citizens’ privacy by ensuring that their personal possessions are not searched or seized without warning and without “probable cause.” The Fifth Amendment protects citizens’ private property from seizure for public use. The Right to PrivacyWarren and Brandeis introduced the idea that people have the freedom and right, as American citizens, to expect that not only their tangible possessions, but also their intangible personal information—what they think, believe, say, and read—to be safe from public intrusion. If citizens disclose their thoughts in a private place, they have the expectation that their private thoughts, their private information remains in that private place. Freedom of Information Act (1966)The FOIA was enacted to allow persons to request access to federal agency records or information. In response to the FOIA, states adopted their own open records acts governing public access to state and local records. However, exceptions were made in most states, including Texas, to protect the confidentiality of library user records. In 1973, Texas enacted the Texas Open Records Act, later to be revised as the Texas Public Information Act of 1995 (The Act). The Act allowed the public access to all government entity records, except for records containing personal information about individuals. Library records—which includes database search records; circulation records; interlibrary loan records; other personally identifiable uses of library materials, facilities, programs or services; and information obtained in reference interviews—were exempt from disclosure except under certain circumstances. Before the USA PATRIOT Act, American citizens were free to walk into a library, pick out a magazine, sit down and read, and walk out again without anyone knowing who they are, where they live, or what they chose to read. These freedoms were understood unless a court issued a subpoena showing probable cause that the disclosure of their records was necessary to protect the public safety; the record was evidence of a crime; or the record was evidence against a particular person who committed a crime. Federal Privacy Act of 1974The FOIA allowed access to government-held records. Some government-held records contained confidential information about individuals. Congress passed the Privacy Act in 1974 to ensure the protection of individual privacy from data collected by the government. The law allows individuals to view, copy, and correct their own records. It also prevents agencies from sharing data. Electronic Privacy Act of 1986The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) updated wiretapping laws for digital communications. It banned the capture of communications between network points -- it protected electronic communications while they are en route. However, in 1996, the FBI urged Congress to pass the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Digital Telephony Act), a law that forces telecommunications carriers to design their systems so that law enforcement agencies can tap into them if necessary. 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