Celebrate a Year of Digital Privacy at Toronto Public Library!
It was one year ago that two monumental events shook the ground beneath our feet: In America, a new President ushered in an uncertain and tumultuous period. And closer to home, the library launched its Digital Privacy Initiative! Two events that, while not equal in scale and scope, nonetheless changed our way of looking at the world and our place in it.
Yes, this counts as conflating hyperbole. But…
In the wake of the Equifax breach, the breaking of Wifi security, and lawmakers' continued interest in breaking the cryptography that allows us to bank online (among other things), our digital privacy initiative has only proven more timely than ever.
In the name of digital privacy, the library has offered public education classes across the city, hosted several high-profile public events, and built community awareness of privacy risks, making connections with libraries in North Carolina, New Hampshire, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Seattle, and most recently, New Castle across the pond!
In the months to come, we will be launching a user-centered digital privacy web tool, as well as a podcast series on privacy issues. Upcoming events include a series of film screenings in December, to celebrate Hour of Code, a public talk on block chain technology and crypto-currencies, and a speaker from the Tor Project to mark Data Privacy Day in January. Much like in America, this year has given people in Canada plenty to worry about on the privacy front, but also shone some rays of hope.
Happy privacy anniversary, Toronto! Because your information is none of anyone else's business.
4 thoughts on “Celebrate a Year of Digital Privacy at Toronto Public Library!”
These are great initiatives. Do you have a date and location for the block chain talk yet?
Done. The link is live, so I have edited this post. Give it a look!
So important for everyone to understand. Too many of us don’t even think twice about digital Privacy. Here’s hoping all the small town libraries will offer the same.
A great new book by Shoshana Zuboff explains how the big tech companies came to need to gather and control everyone’s data; all the data all the time. ‘The age of surveillance capitalism : the fight for a human future at the new frontier of power’ carefully explains the rise of this new marketing model even though it contravenes laws and rights established that guard personal privacy. 704 pages.
https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/detail.jsp?Entt=RDM3421597&R=3421597