Loss of Privacy

The American Library Association has released their list of the top ten challenged books for the past year. They are:

1) And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson;

2) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie;

3) Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley;

4) Crank, by Ellen Hopkins;

5) The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins;

6) Lush, by Natasha Friend;

7) What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones;

8 ) Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich;

9) Revolutionary Voices, edited by Amy Sonnie;

10) Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer

Regardless of whether or not you like the books on this list, books should never be censored and challenges to their removal should not be taken seriously.

Businessman, author, and programmer Daniel Suarez (aka Leinad Zaurus) discusses the role of “bots” in our society. He argues that because of our growing reliance on them, along with their increasing complexity and the vast amounts of data they have access to, they are becoming a threat to human autonomy.

Transcript.

The American Library Association (ALA) has released its top 10 list of books that were challenged the most last year. Brave New World continues to be on the list. This list is as follows.

1. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: Homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group

2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence

3. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Reasons: Insensitivity, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit

4. Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Reasons: Drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit

5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: Sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence

6. Lush by Natasha Friend
Reasons: Drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

7. What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones
Reasons: Sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group

8. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America by Barbara Ehrenreich
Reasons: Drugs, inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint

9. Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology edited by Amy Sonnie
Reasons: Homosexuality, sexually explicit

10. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: Religious viewpoint, violence

Kenneth Crews, director of Columbia University’s Libraries, and his staff have made a great little tool that will help you discern if they book you are searching for is still under copyright.

The ACLU, EFF and the Samuelson Clinic are concerned that the amended book settlement filed Friday November 13, 2009 does not address privacy issues that were raised earlier.

One of our core privacy concerns with the Settlement has been that reading records are not properly protected from disclosure to the government and third parties. Readers should be able to use Google Book Search without worrying that the government or a third party is reading over their shoulder. No Settlement should be approved that allows reading records to be disclosed without a properly-issued warrant from law enforcement and court orders from third parties.

Google Book Search should provide protections against disclosure. I should be able to read whatever I want without concern over who might be looking over my shoulder. It should also not track me unless I opt into such a system. I should be able to browse anonymously just as I do in a bookstore or a library. Google does not need my personal information for me to read one of its books.

Google Book Search should also allow me to have control over what I purchase and how that data is used. I should be allowed to delete my records and give my books to anyone, just as in real life, without someone tracking me. Google should also refrain from giving my personal information and book preferences to any credit card processors or third parties. When I pay for anything from Google Book Search, the charge should simply state who charged me and the price, just as any brick-and-mortar bookstore would.

Google also needs to improve its privacy policy. Currently, it is not easy to read and users are easily confused. This leads regular people to shy away from using their services. Until Google addresses all of the privacy and free speech issues over Google Book Search, I won’t be using their services.