The Campaign for Reader Privacy says:
Under the USA PATRIOT Act, federal agents can gain access to your bookstore, library, and publisher records even if you are not suspected of involvement in terrorism or any criminal activity -- and you will never hear a word about it.
That's one more reason to pay cash and shop at your local bookstore -- my favorite is the privacy-conscious Tattered Cover. But I also need to ask my friends at the Denver Public Library about their stand on reader privacy.
‘Taint nobody’s business but my own!