Big Idea: Ebook Technology & Reader Privacy Are Compatible

It is entirely possible to gather usage data without sacrificing patron privacy. Our team at BiblioLabs made a conscious decision not to require any personal data and any patron can be completely anonymous. While certain personalization features may require a username, that name does not need to be associated with an individual. We also always force encryption of all communications end-to-end. Lastly, any personal data that might be voluntarily provided (patrons often want to provide an email address for functions such as support or password resets) have an additional layer of encryption when stored "at rest" in our databases.

Privacy and security is extremely important to libraries and library patrons. Moreover, the objective of systems that meet the needs of all parties-users, publishers, and librarians-does not need to be incompatible with the technological goal. Such mutually shared objectives will improve trust and only strengthen the overall book industry.

Andrew Roskill is the CEO of BiblioLabs.