College students' library research under surveillance

whoops, suppose i should expect the DEA to come knocking on my door any day now...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jared2 @ Nov 13 2006, 01:20 PM) [snapback]348413[/snapback]</div>

Oh, I think they've been doing it all along. The Patriot act merely makes it legal. But since those birds don't care if they break the law or not, the Act won't really change anything.

I don't understand enough about how a Google search request actually works, or what identifying information your request carries with it, but you can be sure that if the CIA and the FBI have the technical ability to track the searches of ordinary citizens, then they're doing it.

When Utah Phillips was told the FBI was reading his mail, his reaction was, "Well, they have to learn this stuff somewhere," refering to the education to be had by reading the correspondence of a radical.

 

I ain't doing anything stupid, read away. Listen to my calls, and go check out my bank records. There ain't nothin goin on that will get anyone excited.

If the rest of ya got something weird going on, then ya might just want to stop so ya can sleep at night.

 

This is why we (librarians) do our darndest to avoid retaining invidually indentifying information. There are some situations where we have to keep such information, like keeping track of the books that you have while you have them checked out, so that we can be sure to get them back, but once you've returned them, we don't keep any sort of individually identifiable record related to them.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daronspicher @ Nov 13 2006, 05:43 PM) [snapback]348460[/snapback]</div>

ummm.... i'm not doing anything "weird" as you put it.

but my entire lab researches drugs of abuse.

and my phd dissertation is on the cannabinoid signaling system. as in, marijuana. as in, i'm searching these terms weekly and will be doing so for at least 2 more years.

enough searches on things like
cannabinoid
endocannabinoid
thc
d9-thc
cannabis
cannabis and adolescents
cb1 receptor
and on and on

are probably going to light off a few bells without a known context, don'tcha think? what i'm saying is there are people out there doing perfectly legit things, that when taken out of context look bad.

 

Not to worry. The Librarians are protecting you.

In many libraries caches are cleared nightly and no records are kept of what patrons check out. I know in our school library there is no way to see who checked out a book (the book records have no history), and once a student returns a book there is no history of what books that student has checked out. I know there are public librarians that practice the same management techniques (shall we call them?).

So America's Librarians are quietly protecting you from the Patriot Act. Remember that next time there's a bond issue for the local library.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daronspicher @ Nov 13 2006, 05:43 PM) [snapback]348460[/snapback]</div>

I think you need a cup.

"2) The cowards who so easily disregard our liberties by shrugging off the president's illegal wiretapping; the cowards who shrug off the Military Commissions Act and the death of habeas corpus; and the cowards who shrug off torture with the phrases, "I'm not doing anything wrong, so I have nothing to worry about," or, "You can't [blank] if you're dead," ought to shut the f*** up."

Gee, a bunch of sissy librarians have more balls to stand up and protect our liberties than you do.

Librarians...American Patriots protecting your constitutional rights!

 

Thank you cbustapeck and Godiva. I don't get Americans who don't value the Constitution.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daronspicher @ Nov 13 2006, 02:43 PM) [snapback]348460[/snapback]</div>

In the words of Martin Niemoller:

"First they came first for the Communists
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me--
and by that time no one was left to speak up."

(Note: There are several slightly different versions of this, but they all speak to the same effect.)

Does your Christian religion really permit you to remain silent when the innnocent are slaughtered in war along with the guilty? Does your religion really say that it's okay to torture innocent people simply because hidden among them will be some who are guilty? If so, this is a curious religion. How many people would Jesus torture or kill to secure an uninterrupted flow of oil for an industrial nation to continue producing wealth?

 

And this is news? Why?

The banks, credit card companies, airlines, grocery store, cell phone companies, and internet providers are all required to track every one of us and what we do. How is this any different? You have no right to privacy anymore. I mean I knew that already. Didn't you? Now that those records have been made, they will never go away.

Some people say I don't care what they do, because I'm not doing anything wrong.

I don't want my neighbor knowing what I have for dinner every day, not that it matters but I still just don't want them to know. Our government knows and those facts are not picked over by people they are run through computers to look for red flags.

[So don't buy any hummus mix or you’ll be on a watch list. (Only Kidding!)]

Just yesterday I went to deposit a check from my wife's account to my account to pay bills and they told me because of USA Patriot Act they have to obtain some information and I needed to sign a form.

They asked for
Account # Name:

Member citizenship, Employer, Occupation:
What is the purpose of this account:
What are the sources of the on going deposits:
What will the withdrawals of this account be used for:
Account numbers of any other Accounts:
Who else do you bank with:

Joint {account}

Name, Address, City, State, Zip, Birth date, Occupation, Other accounts

You think I’m Kidding? Google “Patriot Act†and “Bankingâ€
Or go to
Bankrate.com

Even though I was not opening a new account, new requrements said they have to ask and enter it in a database.

Signed,
Human 12456712xb124m

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Cheap! @ Nov 17 2006, 05:33 PM) [snapback]351161[/snapback]</div>

Unless they have a way of instantaneously checking this info, I suspect that it probably will not be checked.

I'd humbly suggest transposing a couple of numbers in the bank account and perhaps forgetting/scrambling some of the other information.

The government is overworked and understaffed; play if for all it's worth.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Cheap! @ Nov 17 2006, 05:33 PM) [snapback]351161[/snapback]</div>

I've never been asked this. I question the "necessity" of the bank needing this information (Who else you bank with?). You're not applying for a loan, you're giving them money. They may *want* this information, but they don't have to have it. Not unless every single one of us is being asked this by all of our financial institutions. And we're not. Just because an interpretation of the Patriot Act might allow them to gather this information under certain circumstances doesn't make it mandatory for all all of the time.

My response would be "no". If they insisted I would say "None of your business". If they refused to deposit the check I would say "Fine. I'm closing all of our accounts and taking our business to a competitor. You have five minutes to cut me a check." Then I'd do it.

And you better believe you'll find a bank or credit union willing to take your money, become your banking institution and mind it's own business.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Nov 13 2006, 04:33 PM) [snapback]348505[/snapback]</div>

Don't you think we already know who you are and your context? BTW what's "on and on" we don't have that in our database yet?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Nov 17 2006, 11:26 PM) [snapback]351325[/snapback]</div>

My response was "I refuse to give this information." They said ok, and I walked away knowing the good old U.S. of A. has that information already.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Nov 18 2006, 05:06 AM) [snapback]351356[/snapback]</div>

"we" eh?

so you're one of THEM...

i should have known it, Kow