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off-topic: Learning from Librarians
From: Al Mac Wheel <macwheel99 () wowway com>
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:20:42 -0500
What a librarian can teach you about privacy http://cwflyris.computerworld.com/t/3124317/308968/108105/2/ [...] In 2003, the chief librarian of the city of Santa Cruz, Calif., was able to warn her patrons about whether the FBI had served a National Security Letter (NSL) demanding information about who was reading what books. She managed that task despite specific provisions in the USA Patriot Act at the time that prohibited librarians or booksellers from revealing to anyone that they'd been issued an NSL. So, how did the librarian get the word out? By regularly reporting to the library board that no NSL had been issued to any of the city's 10 branches, which was perfectly legal. Everyone knew that if the chief librarian failed to report that nothing had happened, then indeed an NSL had been served. {...] virtually every librarian will comply with a court order or subpoena, where a specific suspect has been identified by law enforcement agencies [ ..] librarians will balk at what they consider "fishing expeditions," where the government simply wants to know who has been reading this or that book. Let's face it: When it comes to keeping data secure, there's plenty that IT can learn from librarians. Just as ALA members ensure that their patrons' reading habits remain strictly private by establishing privacy audits, so, too, can CIOs audit their systems to ensure that customer and employee data is protected, says Caldwell-Stone. Privacy audits keep customer and employee content under wraps and can protect companies from embarrassing revelations. - Al Mac _______________________________________________ Dataloss Mailing List (dataloss () attrition org) http://attrition.org/dataloss Tenable Network Security offers data leakage and compliance monitoring solutions for large and small networks. Scan your network and monitor your traffic to find the data needing protection before it leaks out! http://www.tenablesecurity.com/products/compliance.shtml
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