Millions of Americans today find themselves, through no fault of their own, at risk of identity fraud, privacy invasion or worse due to the misappropriation of their key personal identifiers: Social Security numbers, personal identification numbers, mothers' maiden names or health care records.

This is an enormous and growing problem for leaders in both business and government. For some, it feels overwhelming, as insoluble as it was unanticipated. Some even declare that resistance is futile -- that the very notions of privacy and information security have become archaic.

Let me reassure you: The situation is not that dire. I am struck by similarities to an earlier era. A few decades ago, the perceived threat was not to the security of our information, but to the safety of our air and water. And as different as these two political, business and technological phenomena may seem, I believe the environmental movement of yesterday holds an important lesson for policy-makers and business leaders grappling with the information ecosystem of today's globally integrated world.

That lesson is about the salutary effect of sunlight.

Almost exactly 20 years ago, the California Safe Water Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, commonly referred to as Proposition 65, broke new ground by requiring businesses to disclose publicly the presence of "toxic substances." Almost overnight, signs sprang up in public places all over California, warning residents of the presence of carcinogens known to the state.