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FAQs: The USA Patriot Act
Disclaimer
Prepared by the Copyright
and Intellectual Property Office, 5 June, 2003
What is the USA Patriot Act?
The USA
Patriot Act of 2001 ("Uniting and Strengthening America
by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct
Terrorism") was hastily conceived and signed into law on
October 26, 2001. Attorney John Ashcroft offered the rationale
that, due to the events of 9/11, new laws and powers were needed
to combat terrorism, and this 342 page document is the result.
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How does the USA Patriot Act
affect libraries?
Sections 214-216 of the USA Patriot Act amends
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) and
parts of Title 18 of the U.S.
Code to allow the FBI to obtain warrants to search library records,
Internet use records, e-mail, floppy disks and CD disks, and
computer
hard drives. The act greatly expands the use of "roving wiretaps" that
will not be restricted to a particular location, but that can
follow the individual under investigation anywhere in the
country. This means that there will be more surveillance of libraries
by agents looking for both Internet records on the one hand and
individual records of borrowing, including Interlibrary Loan
records.
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What will the Forsyth Staff
do if asked to produce such documents?
We will comply with a search warrant. In some instances, a warrant
may not be required, in which case we would make certain, by contacting
the proper authorities, that the person seeking information is
actually whom he or she claims to be-she/he must be an FBI agent,
and not, for instance, a state official. We will be reviewing
our record keeping policy in the next few months and then annually
after that to determine whether we should keep fewer records.
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What will happen to my records
at the library? What are you planning to change?
While there are some service benefits to keeping detailed records,
the risks of compromising your privacy outweigh these benefits.
Therefore, we are planning to purge all patron records with your
personally identifiable information on them once the materials
are returned and the fines are paid. We will also monitor our
recordkeeping to ensure your privacy: see the Privacy
Policy for more details.
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I like the old way; the library
kept records I checked if I needed to remember something.
Some people like to come in a few years later and ask us what
they borrowed if they do not recall the title. If you think that
you may want to come back to the material later, be sure to ask
the circulation desk for a printout of your record while you have
the item checked out, and they will be happy to provide you with
a printout of your personal checkout information.
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Why would an FBI agent
be interested in libraries?
Agents have investigated government depositaries, such as we
have here at Forsyth, if, by some accident, the government releases
a classified document. In that case, they want to know who has
been looking at it. Paterson Public Library in Paterson, N.J.,
has a large group of patrons of Middle Eastern origin, and they
were approached by agents for information on the hijackers who
had carried out the bomb threat. Libraries were also approached
in Florida about the 9/11 hijackers, and computers that they were
thought to have used were seized, in order to examine the hardware.
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Why should I care? Forsyth is
unlikely to be searched and I am not a foreign national. This is
about foreigners, not Americans who haven't broken any laws.
Academic libraries in states all across the union have been searched,
and the individuals being searched may be suspected of helping
a foreign national, or of possessing information about a suspected
terrorist. With such a sweeping law, it is easy for this kind
of power to be abused. Private information about your searching
habits, your private records of papers that you wrote in the library
that are now in the hard drive of the computer, and other personal
records, such as information about your relatives, including your
children, could be gathered in the course of a search, even if
you are not committing any crimes, and used for other purposes-to
intimidate you or to control your politics by embarrassing you.
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But Forsyth staff will tell
me if I am being investigated, right?
If we are allowed to by law, we will tell you. You should be
aware, however, that for some instances the Patriot Act expressly
forbids the librarian or other person holding documents to tell
anyone that an investigation is being carried out. (See Sec. 215
c).
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But libraries don't have that
much information anyway, do they?
We have quite a bit: at present, we keep records of what you
have checked out, and anything that you returned and that nobody
else has checked out. Additionally, Interlibrary Loan is required
by law to maintain records of your orders for a minimum of three
years. Finally, we may be asked to monitor Internet searches,
e-mail use, etc. in the event of an investigation. There are many
kinds of court orders that may be served on a library.
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This information about the
USA Patriot Act is making me uneasy. Is there anything being done?
Can I do anything about this?
You can continue to learn about the act.
If you are a professor, you might want to
read the following articles:
Post, Robert C. "Academic Freedom and
the 'Infada Curriculum'."
Acadame (May-June 2003): 16-20.
O'Neil, Robert M. "Academic Freedom
and National Security in Times of Crisis." Academe (May-June 2003): 21-24.
Contact officials:
After informing yourself, you may wish to contact the President
of the United States and your representatives in Congress and express
your views:
President
of the United States:
president@whitehouse.gov
Office of the
Attorney General:
Email: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov
Phone: 202-353-1555
Representative:
Kansas
Representative Jerry Moran
jerry.moran@mail.house.gov
Senators (select "e-mail" on
side bar):
Sam Brownback
Pat Roberts
Legislation:
There are several bills being introduced
in Congress that would reinstate some protections. Among them
is the legislation being
introduced by Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont: "The Freedom to
Read Protection Act," HR1157. This bill is intended "To
amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to exempt bookstores
and libraries from orders requiring the production of any tangible
things for certain foreign intelligence investigations, and for
other purposes."
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has also introduced
the "Library
and Bookseller Protection Act (S. 1158). Co-sponsors are being
sought.
Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Carl Levin
(D-Mich.) James Jeffords (I-Vt.) Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn)
and Robert Boyd (D-W.V.) have
introduced S. 609, "Restore Freedom of Information Act",
that protects American's "Right to know."
For more information and for updates please
contact us.
Resource:
"Of Patrons and Patriots: The USA Patriot Act in American
Libraries." 16 June 2003. Gould Library Web Site, Carleton
College, Northfield Minnesota. 28 July 2003. http://www.carleton.edu/campus/library/admin/exhibits/.
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