Daniel Webster College – Anne Bridge Baddour Library
Policy on User Privacy and
Procedures for Responding to Requests 
for User Information

Confidentiality of library records is a basic principle of librarianship. In accordance with the Code of Ethics of the American Library Association, and the ALA statement on  Privacy: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights,  Anne Bridge Baddour Library  protects the privacy of those utilizing the library. Private information about an individual can only be released to that individual.  Information about individual users will not be given to any requester unless law enforcement officials present current legal documents requesting user information to supervisory Library staff.  In the event that such a request is made, the Baddour Library Director, Campus Safety and/or College administrative staff will be notified immediately.

 Library staff or student workers do not disclose the following information:

• Name of a borrower who has a specific item checked out;
• Titles of materials checked out to a specific borrower;
• Personal information on anyone registered with the library (address, phone, email, etc.)
• Identify, or describe in any way, a borrower who has checked out a specific item.

Library staff or student workers may disclose the following information:

• The date that a specific item is due;
• Place a hold on an item that is checked out (with the exception of reserve materials.)

New Hampshire law pertaining to confidentiality of library records can be found in the Revised Statutes Online, Title XVI LIBRARIES, Chapter 201-D, Section 201-D:11, Library User Records; Confidentiality.  It should be noted that under certain circumstances, federal law (such as the U.S.A. Patriot Act) supersedes state law.

Approved by the President’s Council
Daniel Webster College
December 14, 2004

Procedures for Responding to Requests for User Information

On October 25, 2001, Congress passed the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA Patriot) Act.  This Act amended over 15 federal statutes and broadly expands law enforcement’s surveillance and investigative powers.  The enhanced surveillance provisions affecting library confidentiality are in Section 215, “Access to Records Under Foreign Intelligence Security Act” (FISA):

• Allows an FBI agent to obtain a search warrant for “any tangible thing,” which can include books, records, papers, floppy disks, data tapes, and computers with hard drives.
• Permits the FBI to compel production of library circulation records, Internet use records, and registration information stored in any medium.
• Does not require the agent to demonstrate “probable cause,” the existence of specific facts to support the belief that a crime has been committed or that the items sought are evidence of a crime. Instead, the agent only needs to claim that he believes that the records he wants may be related to an ongoing investigation related to terrorism or intelligence activities, a very low legal standard.
• Libraries or librarians served with a search warrant issued under FISA rules may not disclose, under of penalty of law, the existence of the warrant or the fact that records were produced as a result of the warrant. A patron cannot be told that his or her records were given to the FBI or that he or she is the subject of an FBI investigation.
• Overrides state library confidentiality laws protecting library records.

Requests for user information must be by a law enforcement agent or officer who has obtained a court order, subpoena, search warrant or National Security Letter.  It is lawful to refer the agent or officer to the library director or supervisor in charge of the library.  Library staff does not need to respond immediately to any request, except in the event that a search warrant is served.

 Staff Response to Request for User Information:

• Staff should immediately refer the officer or agent to the library director or supervisor in charge of the library.  If the library director is not available, contact the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) and/or Campus Safety who will assist in verifying law enforcement credentials.
• Staff should immediately ask for identification if approached by an agent or law enforcement officer, and then record the information (name, title, agency, badge number.) Check the date on any documents presented by law enforcement officers for currency, and record the date and name of the agency issuing the document.
• The library director or supervisory staff should attempt to verify the information with the local FBI office or the police department.

• If the agent or officer does not have a court order compelling access to library records, the library director or supervisory staff will present Baddour Library’s Policy on User Privacy, and the State of New Hampshire’s law pertaining to confidentiality of library records.  (Without a court order, neither the FBI nor local law enforcement has the authority to compel cooperation, other than the name and address of the person speaking to the agent or officer.) In conformity with professional ethics, library staff will not respond to informal requests for confidential information.

Response to Requests for User Information by Type of Court Order:

If items or records must be produced, library staff will:

• Immediately notify the library director or VPAA, and Campus Safety.
• Ensure that only the records identified in the warrant are viewed or scanned.
• Do not discuss the warrant with the agent or law enforcement officer, or volunteer information without first consulting the library director, VPAA, or college legal counsel.
• Record and keep an inventory of the records/items seized.  If possible keep the originals and provide the agent with copies (or make copies of the items/records seized for the library’s records.)

This document is available on the web at:  http://www.dwc.edu/Library/privacy.shtml

[Working Document, November 22, 2004]

Sources Consulted:

ALA, American Library Association, (2004). USA Patriot Act. Retrieved Nov. 22, 2004, from ALA, American Library Association, Intellectual Freedom Committee Web site: http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/ifissues/usapatriotact.htm.

Anderson Library, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater, (2003). Policy on user privacy & responding to requests for user information. retrieved Dec. 22, 2004, from http://library.uww.edu/policies/patriotpolicy.htm

Federation of American Scientists, (2004). Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Retrieved Nov. 22, 2004, from http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fisa/.

Minow, M., Coyle, K., & Kaufman P. (2002, Oct 1). The USA Patriot Act. Library Journal, Retrieved Nov 22, 2004, from www.libraryjournal.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA245044&publication=libraryjournal.

Updated 02/08/2007