Library advocates are worried that domestic-surveillance legislation now before Congress would, if enacted, threaten the privacy of library users, The Washington Post reported today. Provisions in the bills would require “communications service providers” to give the federal government access to electronic information, including e-mail messages, during surveillance of foreign nationals outside the United States.

The Association of Research Libraries, the American Library Association, and the Association of American Universities are concerned that libraries may be considered to be such “providers” and that the government would not need court approval to scrutinize library patrons’ activities.

“Libraries are gateways to freedom abroad,” the two library associations said in a joint statement. “When government seeks foreign intelligence information from libraries in the United States, it should do so only on an order authorized by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), regardless of whether the person using the library services is a U.S. citizen or not, or located with the United States or abroad.” —Jennifer Howard