Here at Locker Partner, we encourage businesses to use social media to promote transparency and build relationships and cultivate open dialogue with customers.

But when it comes to individuals’ personal use of social media, it’s always a matter of safety first.

Platforms such as Twitter and Facebook and self-publishing tools such as blogging and photo-uploading are of immense value when it comes to things like building a professional identity and maintaining relationships with friends.

But it’s every user’s responsibility to guard their own information.

And in the case of teens and children, it’s the parents’ responsibility to regulate their online activities, just as they monitor their safety in real life.

As the online world becomes ever more social, keeping a handle on privacy becomes more difficult and complex. It doesn’t help when major social platforms make business decisions at the cost of user privacy — looking at you, Facebook; you too, Buzz. At the same time, it’s a mistake for users to trust for-profit companies to look out for their personal interests.

Leave it to libraries to step up for customer privacy. With a history of protecting information about the books we check out from prying government eyes, librarians understand the relationship between information access and personal liberty.

The American Library Association is encouraging people to “choose privacy” this week. Find out how you can take better control of your info over at PrivacyRevolution.org.

Check out the official Privacy Week mini-doc below for thoughts on privacy from the likes of BoingBoing’s Cory Doctorow, author and social media maven Neil Gaiman (whose daughter was the victim of a Facebook creep), plus various librarians and some average kids — a few of whom need their Internet privileges yanked. Like, now.

Choose Privacy Week Video from 20K Films on Vimeo.