BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP PUBLIC LIBRARY
PRIVACY POLICY

The Bloomfield Township Public Library will not sell, rent, or otherwise distribute or disclose a patron's name, e-mail address, postal address, phone number, borrower records, or other personal information to outside parties unless required to do so by court order, or as law provides or pursuant to the patron's express written consent.

Appropriate security measures are in place in the library's physical facilities and equipment to protect against the disclosure, loss, alteration, or other misuse of information or property.

Information stored in the patron library record includes name, e-mail address, postal address, phone number, fines, current checkouts, current holds, and counts of the items checked out in the past.  Information regarding items checked out and returned on time is not retained.   The Library Privacy Act (Michigan) protects the confidentiality of these records.

Patrons have access to information about themselves kept by the library, such as transaction information (e.g., titles of holds, currently checked out books, current fines, dates on which books are due, etc.) and contact information (e.g., name, address, phone number). Patrons can access their own information at http://catalog.btpl.org/patroninfo with their name and library barcode.  To correct contact information, please send an e-mail to circ-bh@btpl.org or call 248-642-5800.  Library staff will verify that the change is authorized.

E-mail addresses are used in the library system to notify patrons of holds and overdues. The addresses are not shared with other organizations.  E-mail addresses are occasionally used to notify patrons about library services via e-mail newsletters. If receiving these e-mails from BTPL in the future is not wanted, please send an e-mail with instructions to not send e-mails to circ-bh@btpl.org.

If a patron contacts the library  by using electronic mail or fill-in forms available on the web site (e.g., patron suggestions to purchase or patron comment forms) the information provided will only be seen by library staff in order to respond to the request or comment. 

With respect to cookies (a "cookie" is information that is passed back and forth between a computer and a server.  Cookies store information on a computer, which is used by the server, e.g., a login and password.)  BTPL's library catalog uses temporary cookies to record session information, such as titles to be exported (i.e. downloaded, e-mailed, etc.) or a patron account login.  The cookies expire when the patron logs off, or when the connection times out.  Web browsers on the library's public computers are set to accept cookies, but these are protected by security software, and all cookies are deleted nightly.  Other web sites may collect personal information through cookies.  Learn more about how to protect on-line privacy at the State of Michigan Department of Attorney General's web site, CONTROLLING COOKIES.  The library does not partner with or have relationships with any ad server companies that use cookie information.

BTPL WEB SITE
For each visitor to the Bloomfield Township Public Library web site (www.btpl.org), the web server automatically recognizes the following:

• the address (IP) of the computer or of the Internet provider (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to a computer whenever it enters the Web);
• Internet domain (for example, "xcompany.com" if a private Internet access account is used, or "yourschool.edu" if the connection is from a university's domain);
• the date and time the web site is accessed;
• the type of browser and operating system used;
• an access count for each page visited; and
• the Internet address of the web site which may have referred the patron to the library's web site

BTPL uses this information to measure the number of visitors to the different sections of the web site, in order to make the site more useful. Web site data is separate from individual users' library account data. In other words, the library cannot look up a patron's library card number and match the library card number with where the patron has been on the Web.

PRIVACY OF CHILDREN ON THIS AND OTHER WEB SITES
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (Federal) makes it illegal for commercial web sites to collect information about children under the age of 13 without the consent of their parents. Web privacy advice provided by the Federal Trade Commission includes:

• Never give out last or family name, home address, or phone number
• Keep screen name, user ID, and password private
• Look at a web site's privacy policy to see how the site uses the information given them
• Talk about the site's privacy policy with parents
• Show parents the sites visited
• Understand that web sites must get a parent's permission before they collect many kinds of information
• Leave a site if it is uncomfortable or asks for more information than comfortable to share, and tell parents about it.

PUBLIC COMPUTER USE IN THE LIBRARY
For each user of the library's public computers, the public computer network collects
the following information:

• library card barcode number
• the date and time of computer use
• the length of time of computer use
• the specific programs used
• an access count of the programs used
• an access count of the computer used

This information is used to measure the timed sessions on public computers both to help the library to provide equitable access to everyone and to measure the number of visitors using BTPL's computers and programs in order to make the public computers more useful. The library does not track or record information about what web sites have been visited during the use of the library's public computers. It is not possible to look up a library card number and see where that patron has been on the Web.

METRO NET DIAL-UP SERVICE
For each user of BTPL's Metro Net Internet access via dial-up, the Metro Net server collects the following information for authentication and for use statistics:

• Metro Net identification user name
• the date and time of modem pool use
• the length of time of modem pool use in a single session

The library does not track or record information about online activities during dial-up sessions.  See the Metro Net Library Consortium Acceptable Use Policy for more information.

FILTERED INTERNET ACCESS
Where required by law, BTPL filters Internet access.  This filter is NOT used to collect any information about the patron or the sites visited on the Internet either blocked or not blocked.  The filter software is solely used to block access to certain sites as required by state and federal law.

PROXY SERVER ACCESS
For each user of BTPL's proxy server which allows use of the library's online databases through Internet Service providers other than Metro Net, the server collects the following information:

• the specific online databases accessed via the proxy server
• the date and time of visit to online databases via the proxy server
• an access count of the online database accessed via the proxy server
• for each database session, a cookie is sent to the browser, then passed back to the server, indicating that access to a remote server has been granted.  This allows continued use of the remote database without having to repeat verification for each page.  These cookies expire when the browser is closed.

If it appears the BTPL site is not following its stated privacy policy, please contact the Library Director at 248-642-5800.

RELATED DOCUMENT:
ALA Policy on Confidentiality of Library Records (52.4)

Adopted September 25, 2001

Site updated November 3, 2006 . Copyright © 1999-2008. All Rights Reserved.
Bloomfield Township Public Library, 1099 Lone Pine Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302-2410
248-642-5800 | TTY 248-642-5983 | Privacy Policy | Contact us!