<nettime-ann> Call for Proposals - PRISM Break Up @ Eyebeam

PRISM Break Up

October 3-6, 2013

Eyebeam

New York, NY

Request for Proposals

DEADLINE: MIDNIGHT August 25

On October 3-6, 2013, Eyebeam Art and Technology Center will host the first event of its kind PRISM Break Up, a series of art and technology events dedicated to exploring and providing forms of protection from overreaching surveillance. The gathering will bring together a wide spectrum of artists, hackers, academics, activists, security analysts and journalists for a long weekend of meaningful conversation, hands-on workshops and art installations.

Why does it matter?

In the contemporary digital era, privacy has become a luxury for the initiated. Google and Facebook mine your personal data for a profit, the government monitors your phone calls, even shopping malls track the mobile phones connected to their wifi. In the wake of revelations about the NSA PRISM program, many citizens are left wondering what they can do to protect their privacy. We believe everyone has a right to define their own digital privacy, understand how it is being compromised, and feel empowered to protect it.

Initiatives like Prism Break (http://prism-break.org/), the Locker Project (http://lockerproject.org/), and Security in a Box (https://securityinabox.org/) have attempted to combat privacy violations, but the process continues to be complex and inaccessible to the general population. We also recognize that security and privacy, especially at the hardware level, is tricky, but that's not going to stop us from trying to determine how it can best be protected.

Overview

Thursday Oct. 3 - Kickoff party and art opening.

Friday Oct. 4 - Evening lectures/discussions, screening party.

Saturday Oct. 5- Day of workshops.

Sunday Oct. 6- Lectures/discussions, wrap up, help cafe, cryptoparty.

There are three categories of participation: talks, workshops and art:

Talks

Do you have an idea for a lecture, panel discussion or other type of talk you would like to give about privacy, security, surveillance or PRISM related issues? Submit your idea! Talks will take place Friday, Oct. 4th.

Topics can be from 15-20 minutes in length, variable if a panel discussion is implied. From the submissions, we will select between 6-8 talks and a maximum of 2 panels.

Workshops

The goal of these workshops is to share security techniques with the general public. Want to teach people how to secure their communications? Is it possible to get off Google? How do we avoid being tracked? If you know how to do so in a fun and engaging way, propose a workshop! We are also looking for people to assist during our Sunday help cafe.

Initial workshop ideas include implementing any of the PRISM-break technologies (https://prism-break.org/), mobile encryption, building affinity groups, evading hardware level surveillance, steganographic tools, submitting FOIA requests, and generally getting over Google. Workshops will be around 45 minutes in length and take place on Saturday, Oct. 5th.

Art

Do you create works dealing with issues of privacy and surveillance? Submit your work to the PRISM Break Up exhibition taking place Oct. 3-6. Installations and collaborations, non-traditional and experimental work is encouraged.

Is your work ephemeral, hard to transport or located far from New York? We can’t cover transportation but we are having a screening party. Submit a video work or documentation of your privacy themed art to our screening taking place Friday Oct. 4.

Submission Details

DEADLINE: MIDNIGHT August 25

Please copy the template below into a blank email and answer in full.

Email your proposal to prismbreakup@lavabit.com with subject line [workshop] [talk] [art] or [video] to specify what you are applying to propose. You may submit multiple proposals.

Name(s):

Email address:

Phone number:

Personal URL:

What is it? (pick all that apply)

- Talk

- Workshop

- Artwork (if video for screening please specify)

Title:

Description:

URL of the work/documentation of the work (if applicable):

Details of implementation (for workshops):

Who is your intended audience? (for workshops):

Technology/Space/Assistance/Budget required:

What will your proposed contribution add to this event?

What do you hope to get out of this experience?

Questions?

Have a question about the application? Want to help fund this exciting endeavor? Or would you like to volunteer food/drinks/money/time? If you want to help out but don’t have a specific idea, email us and we can figure it out together. Email us at prismbreakup@lavabit.com with subject line [volunteer] to get involved!

Hat Tip

The name "PRISM Break Up" is inspired by the website PRISM Break (https://prism-break.org/) by @zcpeng (https://twitter.com/zcpeng) that lists alternatives to widely used PRISM-friendly software.

Coordinators:

Allison Burtch, Aurelia Moser, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Ramsey Nasser