Below are links to the resources discussed at the Idaho Library Directors’ Summit:
Hello world!
I’m Michaela, the Library Freedom Project’s new intern. I’m a relative newcomer to this field, although I’ve been interested in digital rights/civil liberties and free/libre/open source software for several years. I’ve spent the past year and half volunteering with Mozilla, where I became acquainted with the greater free/open source software community and fell in love with LFP’s work.
The freedom of speech and right to privacy are very important to me. I discovered the Tor Project in 2010, and the Tor network proved indispensable to me as a queer kid — my high school blocked most LGBT+ resources, because they were often on forums. I used the Tor browser both at school and at home, since I didn’t feel comfortable talking about these sorts of things with my family.
Because of Tor, I was able to gain access to resources privately, do my research, and come out on my own terms. I strongly believe that everyone should have that opportunity — and that libraries have a duty to be a place where it’s safe for patrons to research these and other often-controversial subjects without having to worry about their privacy being compromised.
I’m looking forward to helping to provide people with tools they need to keep themselves safe online. Some of those people are kids in similar situations to my own — and I’m hopeful that the work that I’ll be doing here will make a difference for them. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to join the team, and I can’t wait to see what we’ll accomplish in the next few months!
-Michaela
This weekend is the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting in Boston, MA, and Library Freedom Project is all over the dang place. Here’s where you’ll find us during #alamw16:
7 January 2016, 7 pm: EMW Drink Salon on Tech and Ethics in Libraries (please note, this has been moved to Industry Lab and is sold out/waitlist only). Alison and Nima will join Andromeda Yelton and Jason Griffey for a panel about privacy education in libraries.
9 - 11 January 2016, all day: Library Freedom Project booth at ALA MW Exhibits Hall. Alison, Nima, and Kade will be at booth 2232 to answer your questions about LFP and give you lots of free stickers.
9 January 2016, 9-10 am: Alison will be on the Knight Foundation panel with past News Challenge winners.
10 January 2016, 1-2:30 pm: Alison and Nima will present at the RUSA ETS Hot Topics seminar about Tor Browser and Tor relays in libraries, in the Seaport Hotel, Plaza Ballroom C.
We are thrilled to share some exciting news about the future of Library Freedom Project. Thanks to a grant from the Rose Foundation’s Consumer Privacy Rights Fund, Nima Fatemi will be joining Library Freedom Project as our chief technologist. Nima has been a dedicated volunteer with LFP for over a year, most notably helping create the highly successful Tor exit relay pilot project that we recently concluded in New Hampshire. With support from Rose Foundation, we’ll be able to continue the exits project at scale, with Nima traveling to libraries all over the country to implement relays. Nima will also conduct privacy trainings in libraries, taking them to a more advanced level, and help libraries set up privacy-protecting infrastructure.