Survival in the Digital Age
Posted by Marc | 4-09-2011 22:32 | Category: Activism, Media
This is the second post today for activists. The first post, the Anti Kettling Kit, is about making fun in an awkward situation.
In this post it is serious business. It is about the threats against freedom of information and expression for activists and independent journalists.
The Tactical Technology Collective, based in Berlin and Bangalore, started publishing series of animated films entitled Survival in the Digital Age.
It follow the adventures of a robot called ONO who can see the layers behind information and reveal to viewers the kinds of digital traces they might be leaving behind and how their activities can be tracked and monitored.
The 5 episodes also provide advice on tools and tactics that campaigners can start using to anonymise themselves, protect their data and networks, and generally, be more secure in their digital lives.
In this post the first two episodes. See all episodes on the project website onorobot.org.
Episode 1: The traces we leave behind.
Survival in the Digital Age also raises broader questions about privacy, freedom of expression and access to information, three critical issues directly linked to fundamental freedoms. As an organisation working at the meeting point of advocacy and technology, Tactical Tech finds these issues essential to anyone using technologies to facilitate and strengthen their advocacy work.
From the website:
The risks for advocates and independent journalists working on sensitive issues are not as simple to navigate as they once were. In the past, when using a telephone, individuals knew the risks they were taking and worked around them accordingly. But now with communications technologies - such as mobile phones, email or social networking websites - so much is hidden and unclear about how they work, who can see and access the data, and who owns it, that advocates are no longer able to calculate their own risks. This often leads them to have a false sense of security and unknowingly taking risks, or be too afraid to use these potentially powerful tools at all. Numerous independent journalists, advocates and their networks working on human rights issues, anti-corruption and environmental abuses, have been compromised as a result of this, in some cases leading to serious consequences.
Episode 2: Staying safe online in public.
Print this article Send this article to a friend 
