A failed coup attempt with folk songs (Part V)
Protocols and Data Bodies in a Culture of Sharing
The objective of our day is to acquaint ourselves with the concept of anonymity both as a
+social and political strategy and technical concept.
I would like to start the day by looking at the use of the concept of anonymity in different
+contexts: cultural artifacts, law, politics and activism.
We can then go on to look at how the concept has been translated into digital systems, who
+is for and against the different translations, and how all of this relates to concepts like
+privacy, data protection, identity and surveillance.
Finally, we will look at the prototype of a game in which the players simulate different
+versions of anonymous communication protocols. The game still requires much refining, which
+I hope we have the opportunity to start doing in the afternoon.
I am a researcher working in the group COSIC/ESAT at the Department of Electrical +Engineering in K. U. Leuven, Belgium. I am interested in the topics of privacy +technologies, participatory design, feminist critique of computer science, and online +social networks. I am especially excited about the topic of anonymity in technical as well +as cultural contexts, the spectrum being anywhere between anonymous communications and +anonymous folk songs. Beyond my academic work, I have also had the pleasure of +collaborating with artistic initiatives including Constant vzw, Bootlab, De-center, ESC in +Brussels, Graz and Berlin. You can find more information about my dwellings here: +http://www.esat.kuleuven.be/~sguerses