Barry Steinhardt has served as Associate Director since 1991. He is chair of the ACLU Cyber-liberties and Privacy Task Forces, which together coordinate the ACLU's extensive program on information technology issues. He was a co-founder of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign (GILC), the world's first international coalition of Non-Governmental Organizations concerned with the rights of Internet users.

In 1998, Steinhardt took a leave of absence from the ACLU to serve as President of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). As President of EFF, Steinhardt acted as an organizational spokesperson on an extensive book tour for "Protecting Yourself Online (Harper Collins, 1998) and led an international study mission which examined the development of Internet policy in the Baltic Nations.

Steinhardt returned to the ACLU full time in January 1999. He has spoken and written widely on information technology issues and has done extensive consulting for human rights organizations in Central and Eastern Europe. At the invitation of members of the Japanese Parliament, Steinhardt recently gave a series of lectures in Japan on electronic surveillance and privacy in the information age. He also made presentations on privacy issues to groups ranging from the Hoover Institution, to the Internet World Expo, to the OECD.

He is currently at work on the ACLU handbook on "The Rights of Persons On-line" and was co-author of the ACLU public policy paper on Internet filtering and blocking technology -- "Fahrenheit 451.2: Is Cyberspace Burning?"

Steinhardt is a frequent guest on news and talk programs and has appeared on such programs as CNN Crossfire, CBS Face the Nation and Morning News, The Today Show, and The Donahue Show.

As Associate Director, Steinhardt is also responsible for providing structural and managerial assistance to the ACLU’s 52 affiliates.

Steinhardt previously served as Executive Director of the Vermont and Pennsylvania Affiliates of the ACLU. He is a 1978 graduate of the Northeastern University School of Law.