Library Kindle Loans and Privacy

This is a re-blog from Information Metamorphosis on WordPress.

Since I'm a new blogger, I'm surfing the blogosphere  and uncovering posts that aren't the most current, but I feel that I have a perspective to contribute to this issue.

I just viewed Sarah Houghton-Jan's video posted October 18, 2011 to her blog Librarian in Black and here is my reaction:

I do agree with Sarah Houghton-Jan that librarians must stand up to protect the public from  potential misuse of  any records dealing with their reading.  Libraries have historically been a bulwark against censorship.  They have had annual Banned Books Week events.  Intellectual freedom has been an important value of  the library profession.  It's such a  core belief for me as a future librarian that I feel that Sarah Houghton-Jan's call to action doesn't go far enough.

Amazon has records of all Kindle e-book transactions, not just library Kindle e-book transactions.  If librarians really care about  reading privacy rights and intellectual freedom, then they shouldn't  confine themselves to pushing for the confidentiality of  library downloads through Amazon.  Neither Amazon nor the public will understand why library e-book downloads should have special status.  I think it's important to put it out there that the personal data associated with any book transaction should be kept confidential.  This should apply to all book vendors, not just Amazon.  It's terrific that California has a reading privacy law.  Yet when we're dealing with internet records, like those of online book vendors, the solution needs to be federal.    Libraries should advocate for Congressional legislation that protects reading privacy in all contexts.