Go CPSR

CPSR, the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, a nonprofit comprised primarily of computer scientists and technology professionals, has been struggling the past several years to stay afloat and find a fresh vision. In the past couple weeks they announced a new board, new board leadership, and a new office in San Francisco, as part of a community technology nonprofit hub.

CPSR began as an anti-nuke organization that later did a lot of work in the areas of electronic privacy (spawning EPIC, the Electronic Privacy Information Center), surveillance, and participatory design. CPSR also launched the first CFP (Computer, Freedom and Privacy) conference. More recently, CPSR participated in WSIS, the World Summit on the Information Society and worked on key electronic voting issues.

I've been a member on and off over the years but just renewed as a life member to support the organization's new direction. I also worked for them under a Ford Foundation grant a few years ago, helping launch their (not so new now) web site among other things. It was a challenging time, but I think they are making some good progress.

Check out CPSR, and if you have any questions, let me know and I'll try to direct you to the right person. It's inexpensive to join and it's a great group of people, now expanding internationally. The new office party is tonight in SF at 1370 Mission Street. I can't go (still recovering), unfortunately, but if you can, I highly recommend it - should be fun.