Problems managing membership data on the Consortium for Language Policy and Planning

[Harold Schiffman]

Dear Members,

 If you have tried in recent weeks to log on to our website, or to make a
request to become a member, or to have your membership cancelled, you will
have noticed some problems.  The reason for these problems is that the
server that we have been using for the last 6 or 7 years, "ccat" (webadress
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/clpp) has been having problems that have led
the tech support people here to make the decision to move as many
applications away from it and eventually replace it with other servers.
 Some time ago, because of the inability of ccat to handle spam, I began
sending messages via gmail, and all messages that come through ccat are
forwarded to me at gmail (hfsclpp at gmail.com) which can manage spam much more
efficiently.  (Otherwise I was getting 250 or more spam messages per day.)

 I met with the tech support person yesterday and we have agreed to the
following:

   - From now on, all requests to add or remove memberships should be
   directed to me personally at either haroldfs at ccat.sas.upenn.edu or
   hfsclpp at gmail.com   You will no longer be able to access the on-line
   forms to do this.
   - The database we have had on-line, which listed the personal
   information people filled out when they became members, and which was
   visible to anyone in the world who wanted to see it, is deemed too
   vulnerable and too sensitive to leave in that state.
   - That membership database, with over 400 entries, will be disabled,
   and we will try to find a new "home" for it.  I do not at this point know
   where it could be hosted that would guarantee privacy for the information,
   so I will have to continue to explore ways to keep it viable.
   - Please let me know if you personally wish this database to be
   somehow available, somewhere, i.e. I need to know the following:
      - Have you ever consulted it?
      - Do you find it useful?
      - Do you think it has ever been compromised?
   - Only once in our history has one user become unpleasant and uncivil
   in messages to others, and I had to ban him from membership. Since then,
   there have been no problems that I know of.
   - The general webpage with information about the Consortium for
   Language Policy and Planning, at http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/plc/clpp *but
   not  the membership page* accessible by clicking on "Members" will
   continue to be available.

Sincerely,

Hal Schiffman
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