Library Users, Please Log In

The Chronicle has an interesting article about a growing trend in academic libraries to require their users to log in in order to use library workstations.

A few years ago, just about anyone could turn up at a college library, sit down at a bank of public-access computers, and cruise the Internet with no password, little trouble, and only the slimmest chance of being identified.

But academic librarians, wary of increasing instances of Internet-related crime and hacking, are now having second thoughts about that unfettered, unsupervised access. At some college libraries, students must now log in to use computers, and visitors must show an ID to get computer access.

The article continues:

The issue is a difficult one for librarians, who are typically stalwart defenders of privacy. Once authentication systems are set up, law-enforcement and government authorities can more easily trace network activity to a particular person, even if the library does not keep records of the Web sites that users visit.

...

The adoption of authentication among libraries clearly worries privacy advocates. The requirement is "inconsistent with positions that libraries have taken with respect to information freedom," says Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington-based privacy group.

Authentication cannot be compared to library checkout policies, he argues. Library patrons may have to reveal their names when they borrow books, but they can read their choice of books from the shelves without ever having to identify themselves, Mr. Rotenberg says.

Posted by Tom on June 23, 2004