Build networks! Netzpolitik.org celebrates 20 years with a conference
The one-day conference organized by netzpolitik.org will not only focus on digital threats to civil society and how it can defend itself against them.
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"Build networks!" is the motto of the conference hosted by the Netzpolitik association in Berlin to mark its 20th anniversary. However, a look at the agenda does not really put you in a celebratory mood: It's all about digital colonialism, hollow promises of AI salvation, the rise of the AfD and, time and again, surveillance by state bodies – from secret services, the German armed forces and immigration authorities.
Nevertheless, the mood at Bildet Netze! is not one of gloom; it is more militant than resigned, which is reflected in the conference program. – There are various points on the program that, true to the conference motto –, explicitly serve the purpose of networking in order to create a more resilient civil society.
In addition, many of the presentations promise to deal constructively with problems and propose remedial measures. In addition to political demands, this often results in practical tips for conference participants, such as when Janik Besendorf and Leonie Ammar from Reporters Without Borders explain how to defend oneself against state Trojans.
Of hackers and data traders with and without ethics
The conference kicked off on the main stage with Sebastian Meineck and Ingo Dachwitz from Netzpolitik.org together with Katharina Brunner from Bayerischer Rundfunk. They talked about their joint research into the Databroker Files: the cooperation project had requested 3.6 billion location data from smartphones from a US data trader and obtained – via a German start-up that acts as a "data broker".
The three explained how they analyzed the mass of data and were able to trace the movement profiles of politicians or military personnel, for example. "ADINT" (from "advertising intelligence") is the name given to this form of information gathering, which is not only very popular with secret services.
Meineck, Dachwitz and Brunner also concluded their presentation by calling for a ban on this type of advertising and, above all, for existing bans to be enforced. They also gave practical tips on how users can defend themselves against tracking and get the supervisory authorities on their feet.
In a panel discussion with Steven Levy, Daniel Leisegang, co-editor-in-chief of netzpolitik.org, explored the question of what has become of the principles of hacker ethics. Levy first formulated the ethics exactly 40 years ago in his book "Hackers – Heroes of the Information Revolution". Anyone who wanted to listen to the English conversation with simultaneous translation into German had to bring a smartphone and their own headphones. One of several measures Bildet Netze! is taking to reduce the usual conference waste of cheap electronics, plastic clutter and lanyards.
The afternoon will continue with an analysis of EU digital policy, the "emergency digitization" of the Berlin University of the Arts with open source software and a panel discussion on the current election successes of the AfD. Arne Semsrott from FragDenStaat will be on the panel for the latter, which promises to be at least amusingly optimistic. Many of the talks will be streamed live on YouTube and will also be available as recordings after the conference.
A "big party" will follow in the evening, because despite – or perhaps because of – all the serious topics: Twenty years of netzpolitik.org is a good reason to celebrate. Congratulations!
(syt)
