UC Libraries Privacy Policy Activities

Years active: 2001

NOTE: Beginning July 2013, the University of California Libraries launched a revised advisory structure. The groups within the previous structure are no longer active, including this group. See UC Libraries Advisory Structure (UCLAS) for information about the current structure.

UC Libraries Privacy Liaisons

The Library Privacy Liaisons (LPL) had the overall responsibility for addressing privacy issues as they related to the University of California Libraries. This responsibility included keeping abreast of the legal and policy developments in Federal and State law, the policies of the American Library Association, and relevant University of California policies and practices. And, on the basis of these developments, recommended library policies as needed to protect the privacy rights of library patrons and to keep staff and patrons informed of these rights.

UC Libraries Privacy Task Force

The UC Library privacy audit and the Melvyl privacy statement were the results of a UC Libraries task force commissioned to explore collective UC Libraries actions regarding protecting personal privacy and understanding privacy challenges.

This guide to conducting a technology privacy audit is designed to alert you to system locations where private information is likely to exist, and to suggest actions to take to protect that information. Protecting the privacy of our users is both a professional value of librarianship and a requirement by law and policy.

The University of California Library Technology Advisory Group (LTAG) is a leadership forum for information technology infrastructure and support within and among libraries. LTAG recommends that all UC libraries implement the following practices to protect private information in their care. Some of these practices are requirements of federal or state law, while others represent policies or policy recommendations of the University of California or the American Library Association. Detailed references to these laws and policies can be found in the draft Privacy Audit and Guidelines [PDF] issued by the SOPAG Privacy Task Force in August 2001.

Key Documents