MVLC Privacy Policy
The Merrimack Valley Library Consortium is committed to
protecting the privacy of patrons’ personal information as well as
information regarding individual use of member libraries or their
services.
In accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 78
Section 7: "That part of the records of a public library which reveals
the identity and intellectual pursuits of a person using such library
shall not be a public record … “ MVLC considers circulation and
registration records identifying the names, addresses, and telephone
numbers of library patrons, as well as the materials borrowed or
accessed electronically, not to be part of the public record. The USA
PATRIOT Act of 2001 (P.L. 107- 56) supercedes state law and expands the
federal government's authority for access to library records and
documents to protect against international terrorism and clandestine
intelligence activities. It also expands the authority of federal law
enforcement agencies to track telephone and electronic communication,
including any dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information and
the actual content of the communication.
The information collected by MVLC is limited to what is
believed be to be necessary or useful to conduct library business.
Personal information such as name, address, phone number and email
address are gathered for the purpose of identification and
accountability for use of Library materials. Records of library use
(i.e. amount of or titles of materials checked out and returned or
services used) are maintained only for the purpose of statistics.
The intellectual pursuits of individuals using library
or Internet resources are considered confidential information regardless
of the age of the borrower. Such records shall not be made available to
any individual or agency except pursuant to such process, order,
subpoena or warrant as may be authorized under the authority of, and
pursuant to, federal, state, or local law relating to civil, criminal,
or administrative discovery procedures or legislative investigative
power.
MVLC keeps no permanent record of Internet sites visited
by library patrons, the electronic databases accessed, or the searches
performed by individual patrons. Library patrons should be aware that
MVLC and other Massachusetts library organizations license commercial
databases from a variety of vendors. MVLC will make every effort to
restrict electronic database vendors from collecting and using
identifying personal information of its library users, however it
provides no guarantee that personal information will not be shared with
third parties.
MVLC counts the number of viewers of different web pages
within the sites it hosts, using standard web server log files. This
information is collected in order to improve the content offered on
those sites and may be used to compile statistical reports. These logs
do not include names, phone numbers, addresses, email addresses or other
identifying personal information.
Email messages sent to MVLC or a member library may be
stored or forwarded to others within MVLC or to member library staff in
order to respond to a request for information.
MVLC has appropriate security measures in place in our
physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse or alteration of
information that MVLC has collected from you at our site. MVLC takes
many measures to safeguard user information, but cannot and does not
guarantee that every task completed via its network is private.
MVLC does not partner with or have special
relationships with any ad server companies.
MVLC does not set any cookies.
MVLC cannot and does not guarantee that every task
completed on PCs connected to its network is private.
Individual MVLC libraries may have local Privacy
Policies that may apply in addition to this consortium Policy.
5/14/03
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