Posted July 2, 2004.

Patriot Act Provision Was Invoked, DOJ Memo Says

Government documents released in June revealed that the Department of Justice invoked Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act on October 15, 2003—less than one month after Attorney General John Ashcroft said the controversial section had never been used and dismissed concerns about using it to obtain library records as “baseless hysteria.” The release also disclosed an internal FBI memo dated October 29, 2003, acknowledging that the provision can be used to obtain information about innocent people, which runs counter to the government’s previous assertions it can only be utilized against suspected terrorists and spies.

The records—released under a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups—do not indicate how many times the FBI has used Section 215 since October 2003.

“These documents demonstrate there is no validity in the Department of Justice’s ongoing suggestions that librarians and other critics of Patriot Act provisions are ‘hysterical,’” said American Library Association President Carla Hayden.

Shortly after the documents’ release, the ALA Washington Office announced plans for an in-depth survey this fall that would investigate how extensively a variety of law-enforcement tools were used to gather data on individuals in libraries. ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy has convened a board of legal and academic experts to oversee the project, to be called Law Enforcement Access to Library Records and Technology.

“This information will be crucial for the U.S. Congress when they begin debate on amending and/or expanding the Patriot Act,” said ALA Washington Office Executive Director Emily Sheketoff. “We also hope to segue into a more long-term, broad understanding of the impact of weakened privacy protections on the attitudes and actions of people who use libraries and the services that libraries provide.”

Posted July 2, 2004.