Web bugs out of ALA now

I received an email yesterday from ACRL’s president that a membership survey would be sent out today. What I didn’t expect, and certainly didn’t appreciate, was the little surprise in the email. Gmail had blocked the image, and I clicked display image, expecting it to be a logo or some such decoration. Imagine my surprise when the image placeholder simply disappeared. Suspecting the worst, I looked at the source, and there was an image tag for a spacer gif, its href festooned with its very own little tracking id param. That’s just wrong, and is the very kind of invasion of privacy we should be fighting in the profession. I’m less inclined to answer the survey now; as a recent new member, this doesn’t bode well for ALA in general.