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| − | ''' | + | '''Opt Out: Take Back The Net!''' is the name of an event where human rights advocates and transformative technology providers will meet to discuss solutions to today's climate of internet-enabled human rights violations. |
| − | + | Scheduled for June 2014, one year after the Snowden revelations, Opt Out: Take Back The Net! comes at a crucial time. The outcry in the face of numerous reports of privacy and other human rights abuses has not produced satisfactory responses from governments and service providers. It is essential that civil society and tech activists take measures into their own hands by adopting, en masse, tools that are sustainable and liberating. | |
| + | If anyone had any doubt that their personal information was being harvested, used, and even monitored by states and corporations it would have been shattered by Edward Snowden's revelations during the course of 2013. Privacy as we knew it is a thing of the past. Even legitimate data collection of our browsing habits, contact lists and location have run out of control and it has been almost impossible to search and interact online without being harassed by ads. | ||
| + | The time is ripe for a wide gathering, which we believe will spark a global movement. In addition to the impression the Snowden revelations made on users to turn away from untrustworthy providers and governments, we see also an influx of open source and federated alternatives to major 'indispensable' software and services. Federation is the future because it allows for better scaling up. Both free software and federated services strengthen user trust and control. Progressive service providers are sparking an exodus, the beginnings of a movement, through online services provision built on trust, privacy rights and data sovereignty. | ||
| − | == | + | It is time that social change activists Take Back The Net! and exercise our choice to migrate to free software and online platforms that respect our right to privacy and encryption. |
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| − | + | == Event programme == | |
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| + | In the spirit of free and open source software development, '''Opt Out: Take Back The Net!''' will have an ''unconference format'', where organisations, activists, service providers and technologists can propose sessions ranging in scope from roundtable discussions to hands-on workshops. | ||
| + | Unconferences are participant driven. The agenda will be created by the attendees at the beginning of the first day. Anyone who wants to initiate a discussion on a topic can claim a time and a space. We will encourage all sessions to be open discussions or workshops rather than having a single speaker at the front of the room giving a talk. | ||
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| + | While staying true to an unconference format, we would also like to invite some high-profile speakers to address attendees in plenary. No more than two, perhaps one per day, plenaries will be scheduled. Speakers and topics, to be determined. | ||
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| + | On the evening of 4 June 2014, we will host a ''Disco-tech'' where attendees will listen to short lightening talks over drinks and snacks in a relaxed atmosphere. Lightening talks will be only 60 seconds, but anyone who submits their name and talk title will be welcomed to speak. | ||
Revision as of 10:24, 2 April 2014
Opt Out: Take Back The Net! is the name of an event where human rights advocates and transformative technology providers will meet to discuss solutions to today's climate of internet-enabled human rights violations.
Scheduled for June 2014, one year after the Snowden revelations, Opt Out: Take Back The Net! comes at a crucial time. The outcry in the face of numerous reports of privacy and other human rights abuses has not produced satisfactory responses from governments and service providers. It is essential that civil society and tech activists take measures into their own hands by adopting, en masse, tools that are sustainable and liberating. If anyone had any doubt that their personal information was being harvested, used, and even monitored by states and corporations it would have been shattered by Edward Snowden's revelations during the course of 2013. Privacy as we knew it is a thing of the past. Even legitimate data collection of our browsing habits, contact lists and location have run out of control and it has been almost impossible to search and interact online without being harassed by ads. The time is ripe for a wide gathering, which we believe will spark a global movement. In addition to the impression the Snowden revelations made on users to turn away from untrustworthy providers and governments, we see also an influx of open source and federated alternatives to major 'indispensable' software and services. Federation is the future because it allows for better scaling up. Both free software and federated services strengthen user trust and control. Progressive service providers are sparking an exodus, the beginnings of a movement, through online services provision built on trust, privacy rights and data sovereignty.
It is time that social change activists Take Back The Net! and exercise our choice to migrate to free software and online platforms that respect our right to privacy and encryption.
Event programme
In the spirit of free and open source software development, Opt Out: Take Back The Net! will have an unconference format, where organisations, activists, service providers and technologists can propose sessions ranging in scope from roundtable discussions to hands-on workshops. Unconferences are participant driven. The agenda will be created by the attendees at the beginning of the first day. Anyone who wants to initiate a discussion on a topic can claim a time and a space. We will encourage all sessions to be open discussions or workshops rather than having a single speaker at the front of the room giving a talk.
While staying true to an unconference format, we would also like to invite some high-profile speakers to address attendees in plenary. No more than two, perhaps one per day, plenaries will be scheduled. Speakers and topics, to be determined.
On the evening of 4 June 2014, we will host a Disco-tech where attendees will listen to short lightening talks over drinks and snacks in a relaxed atmosphere. Lightening talks will be only 60 seconds, but anyone who submits their name and talk title will be welcomed to speak.
