I was just about to sign up for Library Elf when I thought twice about forwarding all my library information through something that's not a library, and which has a privacy policy that states, in part: "This information is used for the following purposes: to fulfill your requests for services, improve our services, contact you, and conduct research....You should be aware, however, that it is possible that we might be required to make disclosure, for example in response to court orders or in governmental investigations."

Turns out actual libraries are absolutely loath to turn over your records to 'governmental investigations', even when 'required'. The American Library Association actively advocates against laws that require librarians to turn your information over to the government, and many libraries are instituting elaborate data-scrubbing policies to make that information harder to retrieve.

I love convenience. Library elf looks great. But I feel safer not piping my entire family's library records through a third party that takes no particular moral position on the right of the government to see what books I'm reading.