STOP x RadTech: Practical Cybersecurity for Activists and Organizers

Practical Cybersecurity for Activists and Organizers

Register for the Zoom webinar here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vHnpJCNLSP6JrSKMuQs9lw

Last month we heard about the centuries-old tradition of U.S. state surveillance of activists, protestors, and people of color in order to suppress social movements, penalize free speech, and enact violence on marginalized groups seeking justice. Unfortunately, that legacy extends through to today—and the tools of surveillance have only increased in technical sophistication and scope. So, how do we protect ourselves? Aside from rolling back the power of the state to spy on its citizens through the courts or passing new laws and regulations, what practical steps can we take as individuals to evade surveillance in the here and now?

To answer that question, we’re turning to CryptoHarlem founder and Ford Foundation technology fellow Matt Mitchell. He’ll walk us through risk assessment and cybersecurity best practices for activists—during actions and when organizing in-between. He’ll provide advice, context, and information on how to use digital tools to help our cause without them being used against us.

Matt Mitchell is a hacker, developer, operational security trainer, security researcher, and data journalist. Matt has worked in various capacities at the intersection of technology and social justice. He directed digital safety and privacy for Tactical Technology Collective, a global NGO based in Berlin, and he has trained countless activists, journalists, and NGOs in digital security, safety, and privacy. In line with his personal work, which focuses on marginalized, aggressively monitored, over-policed populations, he founded and leads CryptoHarlem, impromptu workshops teaching basic cryptography tools to the predominantly African American community in Upper Manhattan. He has worked for private security firm GJS Security, helping to protect devices from hackers. He has also worked as a data journalist at the New York Times and as a developer at CNN, Time Inc., NewsOne, and other media outlets. Matt served as a Ford-Mozilla Open Web fellow, embedded at Color Of Change. He was also an Internet Freedom Festival fellow, a New America Cybersecurity Initiative fellow, and he is currently a Technology Fellow at the Ford Foundation.

Matt recently went on The Verge's podcast to discuss cybersecurity. Listen here: https://www.theverge.com/21298915/cybersecuirty-activism-tech-matt-mitchell-interview-vergecast

Register for the Zoom webinar here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vHnpJCNLSP6JrSKMuQs9lw