Aiding and Abetting: Third-Party Tracking and (In)secure Connections in Public Libraries

Serials Librarian Pub Date : 2021-07-04 DOI:10.1080/0361526X.2021.1943105

Gabriel J. Gardner

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引用次数: 2

Abstract

ABSTRACT Patron privacy, as articulated in the American Library Association (ALA) Code of Ethics, is a longstanding concern for librarians. In online environments, the possibility of tracking by third parties, usage of HTTPS/TLS to provide secure connections, and easy disclosure of a site’s privacy policies all have implications for user privacy. This paper presents new empirical evidence about these issues and discusses their ethical implications. Data about the incidence of third-party tracking, usage of HTTPS by default, and easy discoverability of a privacy policy or terms of service (TOS) were collected for public libraries across Canada and the United States. The sample consisted of 178 public libraries; members of the Canadian Urban Libraries Council and Urban Libraries Council. Several common commercial databases (e.g. OverDrive) were also examined using the same criteria. Results show that only 12% of libraries were devoid of third-party tracking, with Google Analytics being the most common third-party tracker. While libraries may support HTTPS under certain circumstances, it was found that a majority of libraries serve neither their websites nor their online catalogs (OPACs) HTTPS by default. Regarding disclosure of possible tracking, it was found that 58% of libraries did not link to a TOS or privacy policy from their homepage. Together with previous research on the usage of privacy-enhancing tools in public libraries, these results suggest that public libraries are accessories to third-party tracking on a large scale. Implications of this fact in light of library professional ethics are discussed.

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协助和教唆:公共图书馆的第三方跟踪和安全连接

摘要赞助人隐私，正如美国图书馆协会（ALA）道德准则所阐明的，是图书馆员长期关注的问题。在在线环境中，第三方跟踪的可能性、使用HTTPS/TLS提供安全连接以及轻松披露网站的隐私政策都会影响用户隐私。本文提出了关于这些问题的新的经验证据，并讨论了它们的伦理含义。为加拿大和美国的公共图书馆收集了有关第三方跟踪的发生率、默认情况下HTTPS的使用以及隐私政策或服务条款（TOS）的易发现性的数据。样本包括178个公共图书馆；加拿大城市图书馆理事会和城市图书馆理事会的成员。几个常见的商业数据库（例如OverDrive）也使用相同的标准进行了检查。结果显示，只有12%的图书馆没有第三方跟踪，谷歌分析是最常见的第三方跟踪器。虽然图书馆在某些情况下可能支持HTTPS，但发现大多数图书馆默认情况下既不为其网站也不为其在线目录（OPAC）提供HTTPS服务。关于可能跟踪的披露，发现58%的图书馆没有从其主页链接到TOS或隐私政策。结合之前关于公共图书馆使用隐私增强工具的研究，这些结果表明，公共图书馆是大规模第三方跟踪的附属机构。从图书馆职业道德的角度探讨了这一事实的启示。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Serials Librarian Social Sciences-Library and Information Sciences

CiteScore

1.30

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Serials Librarian is an international journal covering all aspects of the management of serials and other continuing resources in any format—print, electronic, etc.—ranging from their publication, to their abstracting and indexing by commercial services, and their collection and processing by libraries. The journal provides a forum for discussion and innovation for all those involved in the serials information chain, but especially for librarians and other library staff, be they in a single (continuing resources) department or in collection development, acquisitions, cataloging/metadata, or information technology departments.