Updated on 11 Dec 2013: see end of post.

A letter from Chicago mathematician Sasha Beilinson in this month’s Notices of the American Mathematical Society calls for the AMS to sever all ties with the US National Security Agency, citing

the vast secret spying programs of the NSA that wildly exceed anything conspiracy theorists could imagine.

He lists some of the ways in which the AMS and NSA support each other, and issues a call for action:

What should be done is a question not only for US citizens but also for people all over the world: the NSA destroyed the security of the Internet and privacy of communications for the whole planet. But if any healing is possible, it would probably start with making the NSA and its ilk socially unacceptable — just as, in the days of my youth, working for the KGB was socially unacceptable for many in the Soviet Union.

I’m now wondering about the relationship between the LMS (London Mathematical Society, the British counterpart of the AMS) and GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters, the British counterpart of the NSA). While GCHQ may employ fewer people, it has the inestimable advantage of not being constrained by that bothersome US constitution:

We have a light oversight regime compared with the US,

according to GCHQ lawyers, which is really saying something. Moreover, it is considered by some to be more extreme in its surveillance of the general population than even the NSA.

So, I’ve written to the president and vice-presidents of the LMS asking about its — or rather, “our”, as I’m a member — relationship with GCHQ. I’d like to know the facts. It may be that there’s no significant relationship, and that’s the answer I’d like to hear; but at present I simply don’t know.

What we do as mathematicians seldom has any contact with politics or human affairs. But this is one of those occasions. The NSA and GCHQ must be two of the largest employers of mathematicians in the world. Whatever you think of the ongoing mass surveillance, it can’t be denied that this is an issue that involves, and will continue to involve, our community.

Added later:

Since we don’t usually have this kind of discussion here, let me make explicit what kind of thing I’m going to allow:

Discussion of the NSA and GCHQ is fine. That’s what this is about. Both places employ large numbers of mathematicians, and mathematics is involved in the mass surveillance programs — especially in the breaking and circumvention of online encryption. This is the relevance to the mathematical community. The closer the discussion sticks to those issues that concern mathematicians, the better. If it strays too far away, I may steer it back (possibly using the “delete” button). Please try to keep the temperature down. Good ways of doing this are to provide linked references and not to appeal to emotions. The obvious stuff: no insults etc. (but I hope I don’t need to say that here). I’ll simply delete objectionable comments.

In short, please write thoughtfully, and please focus on the central issue: cooperation between the NSA/GCHQ and mathematicians.

Added on 11 Dec 2013:

I have now heard back informally from someone who was at the latest LMS Council meeting. (The Council is made up of academics and “is responsible for determining the strategy and policy of the Society”.)

Apparently, there was unanimous agreement that the LMS should at least be transparent about this, and should state publicly what connections there are between the LMS and GCHQ. (For example, GCHQ part-funds LMS instructional courses for graduate students.) I don’t know whether there was agreement on anything else, as I haven’t had an official response yet.