HCPP22 | Ryan Lackey - Technologies For Liberty vs Technologies For Oppression

Technology itself is a tool, rather than being imbibed with some moral or ethical agency, but certain technologies at certain times swing the balance toward individual liberty rather than collective oppression.
Using examples from history will discuss what factors influence this, and how technologists can use science, engineering, and product design to build technologies in ways that are more likely to support individual liberty and help save the world.
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Ryan Lackey discovered the cypherpunks mailing list as a young teenager in the early 1990s, telephoned NSA to order the NCSC Rainbow Series of books, and became a true believer in cryptoanarchy and the power of cryptography to stand up to nation-states and other oppressors. He’s worked on projects and companies involving Chaumian digital cash systems, offshore data havens in the North Sea, seasteading, uncensorable hosting technologies, remote attestation-based tamperproof cloud computing, and now cryptocurrency insurance infrastructure. He is currently the Chief Security Officer of Evertas Insurance and lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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Paralelní Polis is a one-­of-­a-­kind nonprofit organization that brings together art, social sciences, and modern technologies. The ideas of liberty, independence, innovative thinking, and the development of society are the main underlying foundations the whole project is built upon.
The project intends to remain state-free as it operates entirely without government support. Most of the funds come from voluntary contributions of our donors and partly from commercial activities such as running a unique co­working space and the world’s first bitcoin-­only cafe.
It was founded by members of a contemporary-­art group Ztohoven, and Slovak and Czech hacker­spaces. Its main goal is to promote economic, social, and digital freedom. We try to be a vocal voice of liberty in order to shape the public discourse, and ultimately work towards a freer future.

[@Mark-ls3ow]

Apolitical worker at the Ministry of Truth 😂