Privacy Matters!
Session Description
We believe that there is a pressing need, as well as focused interest, in digital privacy amongst libraries, librarians, information professionals, and the communities we serve. How do we interpret this need and how do we articulate our interest? How can libraries support and develop positions that protect privacy rights, and why should they do this? How do we, as individuals, build our knowledge and skills to support the privacy rights of our communities? How do we help our users understand and champion their own privacy rights? Please join us to discuss, learn and enjoy our Hot Topic session: Privacy Matters.
Speakers
Alison Macrina, Library Freedom Project
Biography
One of the most effective activists for privacy rights in libraries, Alison Macrina is founder and director of the Library Freedom Project. The LFP focuses on raising awareness of the challenges around electronic surveillance by governments and corporations. Macrina is a former IT manager for a public library. She co-wrote "We Are All Suspects", a publication of the Radical Reference Collective. In early 2015, Macrina was awarded a Knight Foundation grant to expand her work, in conjunction with the ACLU, teaching library staff and patrons about their rights. She also offers practical advice for protecting privacy online.
Kate Milberry
Biography
Dr. Kate Milberry is a social media expert with a PhD in communication. Her research has explored the surveillance and privacy implications of internet technology, particularly as these relate to social movements and political dissent. Kate is a fan of the open web, open source and open access, and thinks the internet will save the world. She is a technology commentator for CBC radio and has an appointment with the University of Alberta's Masters of Communication and Technology program. She is @Kate Milberry on Twitter.
Scott Leslie, BC Libraries Cooperative
Biography
Scott Leslie is a technologist and open content/open network activist. He is currently the Systems Manager at the BC Libraries Cooperative. In his spare time he volunteers as a Board Member for Openmedia.org and with Mozilla doing Webmaker digital literacy workshops with kids.
Barbara Jo May, Okanagan Regional Library
Biography
Session facilitator: Barbara Jo May worked in community development and management positions for about thirty years, for NWT Public Library Services and municipal libraries in Yellowknife, Edmonton, North Vancouver District and Burnaby. She is currently Adult Collections Librarian for Okanagan Regional Library. She has also served as the FOI & Privacy Officer for two libraries.
A long-time member of BCLA’s Information Policy and Intellectual Freedom committees, May believes -from her life experience and studies of social change - that “you stand up for your rights, or they go away (or perhaps you never get them?)” She looks forward to hearing the ideas of the passionate privacy advocates at this session, and the subsequent discussion.