Minutes of the Privacy & Confidentiality Roundtable Annual Meeting, 2014

Minutes of the Privacy & Confidentiality Roundtable
Society of American Archivists Annual Meeting, Washington, DC
August 15, 2014, 4:00-5:30 p.m.

Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, P & C Roundtable Chair for 2013-2014, called the meeting to order at 4 p.m. and welcomed the members who were in attendance (approximately 70).

Menzi introduced Amy Fitch, Vice Chair/Chair Elect for 2013-2014; Elena Danielson, immediate past chair; Valerie Gillispie, incoming Vice Chair/Chair Elect for 2014-2015; Meg Tuomala, incoming Steering Committee member for 2014-2016; and Lorain Wang, incoming Steering Committee member for 2014-2016. Other officers include Nancy Kaiser, Steering Committee member, 2013-2015; Erin O'Meara, Steering Committee member, 2012-2014; and Ryan Speer, Steering Committee member, 2012-2014.

Menzi summarized the news featured in the recent Roundtable newsletter The Keyhole. She then presented the actual keyhole and key, a tradition since 1999, to Amy Fitch as incoming Chair.

Five speakers made timely presentations to the RT:

1. Trudy Peterson gave a report on the Human Rights Working Group of the International Council on Archives (ICA), since privacy is an important issue in this regard. The working group has prepared a draft document of 23 principles for the role of archivists in support of human rights. The document will be open for comments through December of this year. It is available on the first page of the ICA website, www.ica.org.
2. Tim Pyatt, SAA Council Liaison for P & C, summarized the Council's recent deliberations on August 11 and 12, including best practices for interns and volunteers, advocacy for HIPAA, principles for joint meetings, international rules governing intellectual property for WIPO Copyright, and the A & A Listserv hosted by SAA.
3. Jackie Esposito and Christian Dupont gave presentations on "Access, Privacy, and Security in the Collection of Archival Patron Registration Data." Jackie looked at a specific, anonymized case study. She detailed the documents and principles used to keep patron registration information private in the face of intense pressure from attorneys. She found the SAA Code of Ethics, the ALA Library Bill of Rights, and their Privacy Tool Kit useful.
4. Christian Dupont, looking at the issue of user records in general, emphasized the three functions of maintaining privacy, managing security, and enhancing service. Policies need to be carefully formulated to regulate personally identifiable information (PII) in the process of data collection and use. Policies may need to be tailored to meet the respective state laws.
5. Frank Boles reported on the recent case of massive data collection by the National Security Agency. The leadership of the Committee on Archives and Public Policy (CAPP) and the P & C and Issues &  Advocacy Rountables (specifically Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, Jeremy Brett, Amy Fitch, and Sarah Quigley) had sent a request on April 30, 2014, to Council that SAA review certain specifically archival aspects of the controversial NSA mass surveillance program. Frank Boles, representing CAPP, came before the P & C Roundtable to discuss the resulting undated draft document that outlines a possible response by SAA to issues raised by the NSA controversy.

This draft document was created at the request fo SAA President Dana Bell. It was written with the assistance of the P & C Roundtable and the Issues & Advocacy Roundtable as a response to the April 30 memo the two Roundtables had sent to Council. It was circulated to the Roundtable via its list prior to the annual meeting. Conversation at the meeting indicated a general concurrence with the draft document. The one procedural issue that was raised was the best way the profession could engage with NARA regarding the appraisal of the records gathered via the NSA program.

The final version of the document will be edited for grammar and perhaps to reflect a change in the procedure used to engage NARA on the subject of appraising these records, while preserving the content of the draft. It's expected to be presented to Council at its November meeting with a recommendation from CAPP that it be adopted as a formal statement from the Society.

Following a lively discussion, Menzi adjourned the meeting on schedule.

Respectfully submitted, Elena S. Danielson, Immediate Past Chair, P & C Roundtable