RIPrivacy

Transcript

[Music] This is such a dramatic intro. I love it. So, hello everyone. I'm Alina and uh I fear I girl busted a little too close to the sun because now I'm on the stage and uh having a bit of a panic attack here. But um yeah, I used to be a fashion photographer actually and I used to come to Can for a very different reason. So, this is very new. And um last night I found myself accidentally making a talk about redefining privacy culture. So this is where we're going to start. And welcome to my RIP privacy talk.

Can I have a bit of applause, please? It helps with anxiety. I swear. So a little bit about myself. I um I'm a hackathon rat. I organized so many hackathons at this point. it's hard to count and um building hacker archives and I'm also part of web3 privacy now collective as well as leading women in privacy task force and web3 privacy now women in privacy it's a it's a mouthful I know so women in privacy we usually shorten it to win privacy which I think is a much better name for it because we focus mainly on ecosystem diversity rather than gender diversity and um yeah

so that was enough about me what about you. So, this is where I entertain you a bit. So, who here thinks that privacy is boring? Lift up your hand. Well, I got one. This is a pretty good public. Okay. Who here thinks that privacy is cool? Nice. Okay. This is a great crowd, but then my talk is not going to be very relevant to you. But, you know, who here identifies as a cipher punk? Okay, a couple. I have some questions for later. People who think that privacy is cool. Why do you not identify as a cipher punk? But we can bench that for later. And also, by the way, I don't think you should give out your data that freely.

So, privacy as we knew it is dead. So, all your data is collected whether it's through apps or, you know, wearables like the Aura rings that you wear, especially you know, the tech bros and the Whoop device, all of that. um from websites, you know, then it's weaponized through, you know, companies and then platforms and maybe governments and whether it's for profit control or manipulation and it's a lot of difficult words, but here's a an example that my co-founder Amigla uses all the time. For example, you enter your, you know, you have a headache and you're a bit scared and you use chat GPT and you, you know, type it in being like, I have a headache. Am I having a stroke? Am I

going to die? But then that data goes to insurance companies that can raise your um you know insurance costs based on that. So you know it is manipulated and used against you not for your you know benefit. And surveillance is everywhere and you know badly enough it's quite invisible. So it makes you not notice it as much and it's almost makes it worse but it's always there like with all the algorithmic tracking and cameras and you know and biometrics and honestly every day we're getting closer to a black mirror episode and it's not really paranoia because if the fridge might actually be listening to and let's just hope that the fridges that are listening

are only the ones that have AI devices installed in them. Let's not touch the old-fashioned fridges. And um you know, for example, we all use Telegram like when you when you meet someone here and you feel like you can explore some synergies and you're like, what are you going to do? So you scan the little QR code and you're like, okay, like let's go on Telegram. And actually originally Telegram gained popularity because it was this privacy innovation of you know having this app that doesn't dox your phone number and you can just use your username and that's like the the privacy thing and most people maybe not in this room because this room is very you know um aligned mission aligned but most people would think that telegram is private or

they just wouldn't care. And you know, I I decided to ask the the dude that knows a little bit, I think, about privacy if Telegram is actually private. Speaking about apps, is Telegram private? No. No. No. Good to know. Thank you. I mean, it might even be one of the few apps that has the honor of being backdoored by both the Russian and Western governments. So, that was rare footage of Vitalic being funny. Um, but speaking of Russia, so I'm I'm here fully doxing myself. I am Russian. Um, and here here's my little Russian passport. I look like a little KGB spy over there. I try to edit out, you know, the sensitive info, but

I'm sure if somebody really needs to find it, they will find it anyways. And um my problem is when I go to Russia uh to visit my family um I I fear a little bit because I'm a very open privacy activist and I I hear that government is not very happy about that. So usually I don't want to use WhatsApp for my communication. So I ask my friends to download Signal because you know for them it's just an app but for me it's it could be my safety easily. So you know out of I don't want to exaggerate how many friends I have. I don't have that many but out of like let's say 20 friends only one or two actually got signal which was a bit problematic because if you're alone on a privacy app it's an echo champ like there's no one

to talk to except for my work colleagues and sometimes I just want to switch off and not talk about it so it's tough and honestly it made me feel quite like desperate and just frustrated because nobody cares about privacy nobody cares about you know like this kind of oh it's it's an app with a similar interf interace, I might as well use it. But people don't really do that. And it it really made me feel like we're living through uh you know, a full-on like privacy apocalypse because nobody cares anymore. But people that do care, they're so little. And it's uh you know, makes me feel like the bottom line is we're all So, um yeah. So, this is living through a privacy apocalypse. And I don't know

you've seen enough apocalypse movies and you know that there's a zombies uprising usually right after the apocalypse. And this is actually you know uh my talk about uh in-depth exploration about impact of zombie movies on Hollywood culture because where else is better to do that? Who here bought that? I'm going to talk about privacy. Sorry. As much as you may have wanted to hear about zombies, it was just a, you know, clever clickbait to get people's attention to talk about something that is much deeper and maybe a bit less fun, but something that we could make fun. So, privacy culture and what do you think when you think about, you know, about uh privacy activist? So, who's, you know, during this apocalypse, who's protecting our

privacy? Who's standing in the front lines? So, usually people would imagine this kind of geek. And honestly, half of the people in this room, even more, look exactly like that. But, uh, you know, they're they're scared. They're, um, not not you guys. You guys are fine. But, you know, this privacy geek idea and this privacy geek image, it just, you know, shows so many symptoms of fear and isolation and paranoia and, you know, also similar symptoms to having rabies. And we all know how that ends. But uh as much as like building a cabin in the woods and living life uh you know off off the grid would be honestly amazing um we can't we can't continue like that

and it's not a solution. So operating from fear or shame and actually shame because of you know you have nothing to hide but if you care for privacy you have something to hide. So there's this shameful kind of narrative around it as well. And um this this culture is only going to isolate us privacy geeks and um you know is isolate and make you feel more alone and make people care less about privacy. So well you little cipher punks, we're all if we continue in this narrative. So something needs to change and uh the new cyberpunk generation is doing something completely different. So for example here you can see uh win privacy integration on top of web3 privacy now hackathon where we made

a little photo booth and you know literally just like engineered those little masks ourselves. It was a lot of uh do-it-yourself. It was great and people could take um you know profile pictures here. Um something anonymous but something that is still fun and cute because I mean also it would be really nice not to dox yourself in every picture. And sometimes wearing glasses gets a little bit too too lame. And maybe if you can see that for the Italians out here there's a little icos on the on the grass over there. The emotional support nicotine. But um I've been told that my superpower is uh being shameless. Uh, which is also an alternative to being cringe. I honestly I I don't care who I talk to. I don't

care, you know, um, how I come off. I will just be unapologetically myself because I mean, yes, I I will wear leopard heels to a very techy conference because I'm in can and I don't care about breaking my feet. I'm I I want I will die for fashion. And yeah, like I being unapologetically yourself and unapologetically who you are. So this is something that I use um like web3 privacy now and women in privacy as a lighthouse to gather those people to gather this new generation of cipher punks that actually just don't give a and in the best way possible where you know people there unapologetically themselves and you know embody this new version of privacy

without the shame without the guilt and with full purpose to make the world better and to you know be new cyberpunk rock stars and that's something that we should support and promote in this culture. rather than, you know, the good old geeky narrative. We We also still need the geeks. We still need that. But also, we need more diversity in this. We need more fun. We need more playfulness. So, this might be a really weird slide to have in a privacy talk, but uh like bear with me. So if we take privacy out of the ecochamber of having the you know geek narrative and make it actually fun and make it communal and you know have a bit more diversity we will normalize talking and showing up in privacy and

hopefully in my dreams it will be something similar to these kind of boots. So who here knows what kind of what what are those boots? Lift up your arm if you know what it is. I see one just one person. Well, I mean, I I don't expect anything less from a tech conference, but uh yeah. So, those are really famous Margella boots that are ugly as but because they have this, you know, coolness around them being like they're ugly and I don't care. I mean, at least that's how I associate them, uh people, well, people that are not in this room apart from maybe one or two, uh look at them as a cool coolness symbol. And now especially with so many fakes populating the internet the price is not a gate you know the they're not gatekeep anyways

now. So this is something that I imagine for privacy. I want privacy to become cool. I want privacy to become something that is aesthetic and you know people want to follow it even if they don't fully understand the meaning behind it or how to get there. People would be interested because they would like this kind of lifestyle because they would be attracted by the shamelessness and this rockstar vibe of it of genuinely not caring what other people think or trying to fit into the box. So web through privacy now and women in privacy are technologycentric collective. So we have we have a lot of devs. We have a lot of techy conversations but our chats and our events and our culture are open for anyone. So, um, everyone's invited and

everyone should always feel welcome. And maybe if you make it to our side event today, which is an anti-side event. It's called Occupy ECC with which we made with zero budget. Uh, genuinely, it's uh occupying a space in the park and just uh bringing your friends, bringing your own booth or bringing candy. And everybody can bring a little bit of themselves like we're going to have a tarot deck station, you know, do-it-yourself makeup. And um yeah, you can see that these collectives, they they really don't care about gatekeeping or weight lists or KPIs because privacy shouldn't be about that. Like it it shouldn't be just the protocols. It should also be collective.

It should be, you know, in stories and not just code. Because if we keep it just to code, it will become boring and stale and it will never get out of the psycho chamber. And uh you know privacy is also adaptive and remixed. So you know you you hear a story of like oh yeah signal signal is good but you know this VPN is good and then you dive a little bit more into it and you're like oh but also this tool is cool. And it goes from the word of mouth because in the end yes we're in the age of technology but we're all still human in the end. So we do need to also emphasize this human part of privacy because privacy is also care. It's care like like I mentioned before the signal um

thing for me when I'm in Moscow for my friends is just an app but for me it's care. So if all of you move into more private and secure communication, it might not be for you. It might be for your friend who's also participating in those circles who might be an activist or a queer or a trans and traveling to a country that's not super friendly if you know what I mean. So, uh, journalists and so many people that do need that extra step of protection, you're you're not doing it for you anymore. Privacy is collective and it's care and it's showing up and it's, you know, it's, you know, it's this ritual that moves through communities and moves through stories and not just protocols.

And privacy is shameless. It should be shameless because there's nothing to hide, but also if we want to for whatever reason, who the can tell us no? And you know I the the KPI of this talk is to urge you to build privacy with more culture altogether and with care and absolute shamelessness. Applause. So now we have a little bit of time for questions. Um bring it on. I will take my glasses for it.

Do we have any questions? It's okay if you don't. Comments, criticism, stories. Amazing. Okay. If you do want to talk, you can We have one. Oh, okay. Go ahead. Thank you. Great talk. Um, disclaimer, I've been to some of web three privacy events, also the recent hackathon Berlin. It was actually one of my favorites from most of the events I visited. So, thank you. And my question is like what each of us can do to actually spread it more. I mean, we kind of all everyone cares about privacy right here and there, but it's we're not vocal about it that much, right? We write code and we're like, you know,

yeah, let's like we care about privacy, but what is your Telegram? H can I signal? No, let's do Telegram. You know, like simple things and then like to other like Yeah. See I mean um I can just explain a bit of things that women in privacy women in web3 privacy do. So one of our contributors is actually working on the privacy toolkit and it's you know there's so many privacy toolkits and there's you know uh privacy for you know very very progressive tech code progressive people there's privacy for grandma and uh something that is simple that is easy to use and something that is relatable because when you just read something that is um you know oh you should install signal no just like Noah did before me you have to attach a

story to it you have to make it real you have to make it human and you know probable that can happen to you or someone you love or care for and uh you know distributing it in a cool and fun way. So not just having it as like you know a stack of um magazines or like leaflets around but adding cool cultural stuff to it adding a bit of a human factor uh maybe some provocative images maybe some stories of career protesters in Amsterdam and uh you know interviewing different people because that's also how you get the ecosystem diversity out there. So this is just an example and um there are so many other ways as well but this is something our contributor Aria is working on. Uh and um this is the first thing that popped

into my head. I hope that answers your question but I can brainstorm some more ideas later. Do you have any question? Yes. and come just where again is this um occupy setup. Where where is that? You mentioned that there's um a meeting place where folks are talking. Yeah, it's in the park and it's around I think 15 minutes walk away from here. But if you go on Luma and you look up ECC occupy, you'll find it straight away or at whisper to you later. We're not going to share the Luma because too many people I know, but I will whisper to

you. Oh, we're going through a whisper network. I love it. Hi, nice talks. Uh, I think it's a pity we don't have enough like uh Oint demonstration for people to be more aware about basic digital een regarding privacy in web three world. Uh so that's that's I I guess that would be a way to uh make people more aware about the danger uh about this. Yeah, it absolutely is. But also sadly most of us wait until like a black swan event or something to happen for it to make it into mainstream communications. And that's why I actually adore Gen Z so

much. I I spent a lot of time on TikTok. like I'm chronically online and the only time that I actually saw a difference in people starting to care about uh you know privacy and paying a bit more attention and mainly creating content for other people to scroll through and learn. So, I don't know if you've heard of Bimbo Crypto. I think it's Bimbo Economics. And it's this girl who dresses, you know, really fashionable and she just walks around uh holding her camera as a selfie explaining. So, today let's talk about inflation in bimbo terms. And she finally made a video about privacy and data collection and how centralized um you know, all the data storage is and how terrifying that is. And I felt like that was all started by um America's

elections and that's been going on with immigration and you know the women's rights, trans rights, queer activists and everything because people are starting to actually feel it on themselves because we have the privilege well at least most of us we are privileged enough to live in the first world where we don't really feel those problems. We know that these issues exist but we don't really feel it on our skin. and people who are in less privileged communities that, you know, infringe on their rights and where they have less voices or less opportunity to talk it, you know, to voice it out, they're going to be the ones that will be up first. So they will get over and unless we wake up and start doing something about it and start

creating media content, start talking about creating toolkits, start making privacy cool, being like, you know, whether it's merch or, you know, little signs talking about activist toolkits and seeping it outside of the web three bubble and, you know, it's it's very important not to stay in this little soup that we're all boiling in. Uh, we're going to be as well and the whole world is going to go to So, welcome to my very happy and very optimistic talk. Thank you. Thank you very much.