Online Privacy and Access to Information Statement

Introduction

The Grande Prairie Public Library is a networked member of the Peace Library System consortium.  This statement addresses your online privacy and access to information through the Library’s computer system (ILS), website and Wi-Fi.  Because the Library is networked with the Peace Library System, users should also become familiar with the System’s Online Privacy and Access to Information Statement.

The Grande Prairie Public Library and its board and staff are subject to the Libraries Act, the Libraries Regulation, and the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP), and uphold the CFLA’s Statement on Intellectual Freedom and Libraries.

The Library Board’s bylaws and policies are publicly available, including its Confidentiality of User Records policy, its FOIP policy, and its Internet and Acceptable Use policy.

Collection and Disclosure of Personal Information

The Library only collects the amount of personal information needed to conduct library services and programs.  Personally identifiable information contained in the patron record includes:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Phone number(s)
  • Email address

Patron records with charges below the defined threshold are purged after they have been expired for two years.

The Library does not collect personal information for commercial marketing or distribution to private organizations.  The Library will only disclose personal information:

  • to law enforcement in response to a court order, such as a warrant, subpoena, or other legal compulsion.
  • in partnership with other Alberta libraries and library systems for the purposes of sharing materials under conditions defined in existing resource sharing agreements and programs (e.g. interlibrary loan agreements, TAL Card, ME Libraries), collecting fees or fines, and retrieving borrowed materials.
  • for the purpose of contacting next of kin or emergency response personnel in the case of an emergency.

Tracking and Security

External Links – the Library’s website links to other websites and eResources that may collect personal information.  Users should review the privacy policies of these sites before providing them with personal data. 

Encryption – the Library website links patrons to their My Accounts in TRACpac for borrowing purposes.  These consortia use encryption during the login process/transmission of a patron’s library card, username, and PIN. 

Reading History – Patrons can save their reading histories on TRAC.  These histories are private unless the patron chooses to share them, and the Library will not share these lists, except when in response to a law enforcement court order, such as a warrant, subpoena, or other legal compulsion. 

Web Server – The library’s website is externally hosted with Linode.  Users may refer to Linode’s Privacy policy. 

Wi-Fi and Firewall:  When connecting to the library’s Wi-Fi, the Wi-Fi portal temporarily logs the IP address of the user’s device.  The library’s firewall does not gather personal information.

Cookies – When you visit a website it may deposit a piece of data, called a web cookie, with the temporary web browser files on your computer.  If you wish, you can change the settings on your web browser to deny cookies, or to warn you when a site is about to deposit cookies on your hard drive.

Parental Responsibility for Minors

Public libraries do not act in loco parentis. Parents and legal guardians take responsibility for what their children access on and through the library’s website. No age restrictions apply to the library’s databases, eResources or links to external sites, and the library’s computers are not filtered. 

Programs and Events

Online Forms and Electronic Communication with Library Staff – GPPL may provide online forms for facilitating program registration or title acquisition suggestions for the library collection.  These forms will require some user personal information.  The Library will gather only the personal information necessary to facilitate the registration or request, and the personal information will not be used for any other purpose.  Personal information provided to library staff through any other electronic communications, such as email, text, etc. will be used only to facilitate the request submitted. 

Photographs – the Library may post photographs of its public programs and events on its website.  Attendees should speak to library staff in advance if they do not wish to have photographs of themselves taken and/or posted on the library’s website.

Social Media

The Library may provide access to social media.  Users posting comments to the library’s social media should be aware of the public nature of such posts and of their responsibility to exercise caution when sharing personally identifiable information over social media.