CPSR has always been a natural affiliation for me, given my undergraduate computer science degree and my graduate social science degree, and I have been involved with it since my graduate school days in the late 80s. Working on issues at the crossroads of IT and society as an academic, as a privacy professional, and as an information security specialist has kept CPSR relevant to my work as well as my personal values. This has never been more so than in the current geopolitical climate.

The ill-considered efforts of governments around the world to (supposedly) increase security by relentlessly compromising privacy threatens to turn democracies into the type of surveillance society that has traditionally been the hallmark of totalitarian regimes. While this has perhaps been most prominent in the United States, it is also a palpable trend in Canada and Europe and, as these efforts become increasingly internationalized and interconnected, in the rest of the world as well.

However, to suggest that security should never be a consideration would be just as socially irresponsible as the current assault on privacy in the name of security. The ever-growing dependence of industrial societies on IT in an increasingly threat-laden environment, moreover, makes reinforcing the security of IT infrastructures a socially responsible activity of the first order. But cavalierly sacrificing fundamental rights in the pursuit of a very nebulous security must be avoided.

Fighting this trend requires multiple efforts at multiple levels of society. It is not enough to appeal to policy and law makers or to offer guidance to individuals. CPSR, both on its own and in cooperation with other groups, should be working to develop/adapt and implement infrastructures that enable the public to actively resist ethically offensive forms of surveillance. We have already made a good and substantial start in the form of the Privaterra project, aimed at human rights organizations and workers. CPSR should leverage that experience and expertise in support of the broader protection of privacy. In the US, for instance, this could include working with libraries and librarians to provide free or low cost facilities to support anonymous Web browsing. At the same time we should promote, where appropriate, privacy-preserving alternatives that satisfy legitimate security needs.

In order to do this effectively, the membership of CPSR must be representative of the myriad areas of life and parts of the world in which IT is now an integral element. Bringing new members into CPSR while retaining existing ones has been a central concern of mine during my brief time on the Board. IT is now woven throughout many areas-health care, education, commerce, utilities, to name just a few -of many societies and the membership of CPSR should reflect that diversity. IT and issues of social responsibility intersect in the work and lives of more people than ever before and all these people are CPSR's natural constituency. We are beginning and must continue to do more to reach out to all segments of that constituency.