IN THE LOOP, May 2020
***RELEASES*** DATA DETOX X YOUTH As part of our upcoming Youth project, we are excited to announce the release of Data Detox x Youth, an activity book to help young people take control of their tech. This interactive toolkit encourages young people of secondary school age to think about different aspects of their digital lives, from social media profiles to passwords to fake news, and will soon be available in Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic. Try it out now! https://datadetoxkit.org/en/youth THE GLASS ROOM WINS CREATIVE REVIEW'S ANNUAL AWARD 2020 The Glass Room has won Creative Review's prestigious The Annual 2020 award in the category 'Installations & Exhibitions'. According to Creative Review, "this interactive exhibition offered a fascinating look at our relationship with digital devices and the way that our personal information is stored and shared by governments, brands and tech providers." Read more: https://www.creativereview.co.uk/the-glass-room/ In addition, 'Stealing Ur Feelings', an augmented reality experience that featured in The Glass Room, has been nominated for a 'Webby'. Voting closes at the end of today - you can cast your vote here: https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2020/video/immersive-and-mixed-reality/documentary EXPOSING THE INVISIBLE: WHAT'S IN A COMPANY? What's in a company? A new section of Exposing the Invisible: The Kit, co-authored by project lead Laura Ranca, answers this question. The guide explains concepts and practices used in the corporate world, how to map business ownership and connections, and how others investigate obscure business activities around the globe: https://kit.exposingtheinvisible.org/en/what/companies.html More and more parts of The Kit are now available to read in French. Have a look here! https://kit.exposingtheinvisible.org/fr/. Finally, the English version of The Kit is now available to download in a compressed form as a PDF: https://cdn.ttc.io/src/kit.exposingtheinvisible.org/pdf/The-Kit-booklet-web.pdf ANNUAL REPORT 2019 Last year was an exciting year for Tactical Tech, with highlights including a three-week exhibition of The Glass Room in San Francisco; a redesigned and updated Data Detox Kit in ten languages; the launch of Exposing the Invisible: The Kit; and the release of our Data & Politics team's guidebook 'Personal Data: Political Persuasion'. In the Annual Report 2019 you can read about our activities and achievements across these four projects, including photos, statistics, infographics, press quotes, information about partners and feedback from visitors to The Glass Room: https://tacticaltech.org/#/news/annual-report-2019 DATA DETOX KIT: AUDIO RECORDING & TRANSLATION In order to improve the accessibility of the Data Detox Kit, we are trialling audio recordings of some of the content. Listen to our guide to 'Multi-Socialising' here: https://datadetoxkit.org/en/wellbeing/multisocialising. The Data Detox Kit is also now available in Lithuanian (https://datadetoxkit.org/lt/home), bringing the total number of languages to seventeen. DATA & POLITICS: TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN APP 2020 Our Data & Politics team have analysed Donald Trump's 2020 campaign app, building on previous in-depth research about the role of campaign apps. Find out how these technologies work - and why we should care: https://tacticaltech.org/#/news/campaign-apps-2020 ***TACTICAL TECH IN THE PRESS*** ARSON ATTACKS ON UK CELL TOWERS ALARM US OFFICIALS CONCERNED OVER CONSPIRACY THEORIES “In short, our advice is: don't share everything that you come across...Misinformation is as catchy as credible information often is.” Marek Tuszynski, co-founder and Creative Director of Tactical Tech, spoke to ABC about coronavirus conspiracy theories (ABC News) https://abcnews.go.com/International/american-officials-alarmed-arson-attacks-uk-cell-towers/story?id=70286091 STOCKPILING FOOD FOR THOUGHT - THE SENSORIUM QUARANTINE WEEKLY SPECIAL "An increased dependence on technology can be bittersweet. One of the risks is that...we end up using platforms and services that have low privacy or security standards." Daisy Kidd, project coordinator of our upcoming Youth project, discussed the implications of the coronavirus pandemic with Sensorium Festival's 'Stockpiling Food For Thought'. (Sensorium) https://sensorium.is/articles/sfft-tactical-tech ***WHAT WE’RE READING: CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES*** WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT DIGITAL CONTACT TRACING Over the past few weeks, Apple & Google have floated the idea of developing and distributing a digital contact-tracing app that will inform people when they’ve been exposed to someone who’s contracted COVID-19.(Ali Alkhatib - Blog) https://ali-alkhatib.com/blog/digital-contact-tracing VIDEOCONFERENCING GUIDE Due to COVID-19, many folks are evaluating or using videoconferencing or video chat. This chart compares several popular systems. https://videoconferencing.guide/ For an in-depth discussion of remote working tools, don't forget to consult "TECHNOLOGY IS STUPID": HOW TO CHOOSE TECH FOR REMOTE WORKING by our co-founder Marek Tuszynski: https://tacticaltech.org/#/news/technology-is-stupid GLOBAL EXAMPLES OF COVID-19 SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGIES This report provides a global snapshot of the different types of technologies in use or in development for surveillance of COVID-19 at the beginning of April 2020 (Digital Health & Care Institute) https://echalliance.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/covid-flash-report-final.pdf CENSORSHIP.NO The censorship.no project (CENO) by eQualit.ie allows you to browse the Web without restriction, circumventing any network filtering. https://censorship.no/ ***WHAT WE’RE READING: PROVOCATION*** SHOW EVIDENCE THAT APPS FOR COVID-19 CONTACT-TRACING ARE SECURE AND EFFECTIVE Governments see coronavirus apps as key to releasing lockdowns. In exchange for people’s health data, they must promise to work together to develop the highest standards of safety and efficacy. (Nature) https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01264-1 FROM AADHAAR TO AAROGYA SETU: HOW SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY IS DEVALUING INDIA’S DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS The app could potentially allow the government to peer into aspects of the user’s private life that have nothing to do with Covid-19. (Scroll.in) https://scroll.in/article/960137/from-aadhaar-to-aarogya-setu-how-surveillance-technology-is-devaluing-indias-democratic-rights TECH GIANTS ARE USING THIS CRISIS TO COLONIZE THE WELFARE SYSTEM In recent years, firms like Google and Facebook have used the Global South as a test bed for new and unregulated forms of data collection. (Jacobin) https://jacobinmag.com/2020/04/tech-giants-coronavirus-pandemic-welfare-surveillance WHY NAOMI KLEIN IS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT AMERICA'S FUTURE AS IT FACES COLLAPSE DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS Naomi Klein, who literally wrote the book on transformations that take place under the cover of crisis, explains how the coronavirus is different from past disasters. (Haaretz) https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-why-naomi-klein-is-optimistic-about-america-s-future-as-it-faces-collapse-1.8793388 THE DRIVE FOR CLICKS: THE CORONAVIRUS, MISINFORMATION AND DIGITAL ADVERTISING Coronavirus is among the most-read, most-Googled topic on the planet right now. And some parts of the media are cashing in by spreading misinformation and fear to get clicks. (Stop Funding Hate) https://stopfundinghate.info/2020/03/27/the-drive-for-clicks-the-coronavirus-misinformation-and-digital-advertising/ ***WHAT WE’RE READING: ILLUMINATION*** HOW FACEBOOK WORKS FOR TRUMP Donald Trump won the presidency by using the social network’s advertising machinery in exactly the way the company wanted. He’s poised to do it again. (The Atlantic) https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2020/04/how-facebooks-ad-technology-helps-trump-win/606403/ MONITORING BEING PITCHED TO FIGHT COVID-19 WAS TESTED ON REFUGEES The pandemic has given a boost to controversial data-driven initiatives to track population movements. (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism) https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2020-04-28/monitoring-being-pitched-to-fight-covid-19-was-first-tested-on-refugees HOW SOME CITIES ‘FLATTENED THE CURVE’ DURING THE 1918 FLU PANDEMIC Social distancing isn’t a new idea—it saved thousands of American lives during the last great pandemic. (National Geographic) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/03/how-cities-flattened-curve-1918-spanish-flu-pandemic-coronavirus/ FACEBOOK JUST KILLED ITS ‘PSEUDOSCIENCE’ CATEGORY FOR AD TARGETING For years, advertisers were able to target people interested in pseudoscience (The Verge) https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/23/21232547/facebook-pseudoscience-ad-targeting-coronavirus SUPPORT OUR WORK! If you share our vision and would like to support the work we do, we provide the option to donate directly through our website: https://tacticaltech.org/#/donate -- Alexander Ockenden Communications Coordinator Tel: +49(30) 41715333 (office) https://tacticaltech.org @info_activism _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list NetBehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour