Campaign for Reader Privacy Urges Support for House Patriot Act Reform Bill

The American Booksellers Association and its partners in the Campaign for Reader Privacy are urging supporters to contact members of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of a bill that would effectively ban the government from using the USA Patriot Act to engage in fishing expeditions to identify the books that people borrow or purchase.

Last week, the House Judiciary Committee approved the USA Patriot Amendments Act of 2009 (H.R. 3845), which would prohibit the use of Section 215 of the Patriot Act to search the records of a library patron or bookstore customer unless there are "specific and articulable facts" to show that the person is "a suspected agent of a foreign power" or someone who is in contact or known to the suspected agent. Section 215, which is set to expire at the end of December, currently allows the FBI to secretly obtain any "tangible thing," including any business records that are "relevant" to an ongoing investigation, including the records of people who are not suspected of any criminal acts.

The Campaign for Reader Privacy noted that "H.R. 3845 would allow readers to borrow and purchase books without fear that the government is monitoring their reading selections, while at the same time permitting Section 215 searches of bookstore and library records of suspected foreign agents and terrorists."

"The passage of H.R. 3845 would be a major victory in our eight-year fight to restore the protections for the privacy of reader records," said Larry Siems, director of Freedom to Write and International Programs at PEN American Center, in a statement. "Now is the time for everyone who cares about protecting the right to read freely, without fear that government is reading over our shoulders, to call or write their House representatives."

The Campaign for Reader Privacy is also encouraging supporters to call or fax their senators to urge that protections for the privacy of bookstore records be added to S. 1692, the Senate version of the Patriot Act reauthorization bill. S. 1692, which may come up for a vote as soon as next week, only provides protections for library records.

The members of the Campaign for Reader Privacy are the American Booksellers Association, the American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers, and PEN American Center.