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Introduction
Deep Lab came together in 2014 as a group of cyberfeminist researchers, artists, writers, engineers and cultural producers engaged in ongoing assessments of contemporary digital culture, both independent and collaborative. Their research includes “privacy, surveillance, code, art, social hacking, race, capitalism, anonymity, the infrastructure of the 21st century and useful skills in tangible situations.” -
NSA Surveillance Leaks
Original ArticleThe Guardian and Washington Post report on a court order granting the government “unlimited authority” to obtain data for a “specified three-month period,” allowing the National Security Agency access to the phone records of Verizon customers on an “ongoing, daily basis.” The document is called the first evidence of the Obama administration “indiscriminately and in bulk” collecting communication records of U.S. citizens. -
NSA Leaks Source Revealed
Edward Snowden InterviewEdward Snowden is revealed as the source of the disclosures. He claims his “sole motive” is “to inform the public as to that which is done in their name and that which is done against them.” He also states that he can’t “in good conscience allow the U.S. government to destroy privacy, Internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world.” -
"A Manifesto for the Truth"
Original and Translated Text“A Manifesto for the Truth,” supposedly written by Snowden, is published in the German magazine Der Spiegel. He hopes for “open, respectful, and informed debate” in society in the wake of the information revealed about government monitoring, calling mass surveillance a “global problem in need of global solutions.” Snowden concludes with the statement, “To tell the truth is not a crime.” -
The Social, Cultural, & Ethical Dimensions of ‘Big Data’
Plenary (Shamina Singh: 38:20 – 49:15)“The Social, Cultural, & Ethical Dimensions of ‘Big Data’” event is co-hosted by the Data & Society Research Institute, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and New York University’s Information Law Institute. The event examines the challenges and opportunities presented by “big data.” Deep Lab member Jen Lowe brings up Shamina Singh's presentation (38:20 – 49:15) in her chapter of the Deep Lab book “Notes From a Talk: 11 December 2014” when talking about data colonization. -
"We Are the Future Cunt"
ArticleClaire L. Evans publishes “’We Are the Future Cunt’: CyberFeminism in the 90s,” revisiting the work of cyberfeminists such as VNS Matrix. Early dreams of a utopian, gender-free space haven’t become reality and what counts for feminism online now is less countercultural than it was; Evans suggests we “draw VNS Matrix up from the depths and inject a little into our veins,” them being the voices “sorely missing from today’s many fractured conversations about feminism in online spaces.” -
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Foxy Doxxing
Creation of Foxy DoxxingHarlo Holmes creates Foxy Doxxing, a system “whereby anyone can forward a mention email to a little bot on the internet that will perform this research on their behalf,” the research being evidence of online abuse. This program was inspired by Twitter abuse after one of Holmes’s Tumblr posts. Foxy Doxxing was meant to “equalize the balance of power between the attackers and those who are being attacked” because Homes likes “projects that empower. Empowerment is what the internet is about.” -
Senate Bill 1342
Illinois Legislature introduces Senate Bill 1342, protecting police from being recorded by the public. “The bill would also discourage people from recording conversations with police by making unlawfully recording a conversation with police – or an attorney general, assistant attorney general, state’s attorney, assistant state’s attorney or judge – a class 3 felony, which carries a sentence of two to four years in prison.” This is brought up in Deep Lab’s book relating to public accountability. -
Assembly and First Residency
Deep Lab (Documentary)During the second week of December, Deep Lab members start their initial research while supported by STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University. From Dec. 8 to 13, they work in an “accelerated pressure project, blending aspects of a hackathon, charrette and a micro-conference,” which result in a book, the Deep Lab Lecture Series, and an 18-minute documentary. -
Internet Infrastructure
Accompanying WebsiteIngrid Burrington started research on Internet infrastructure in 2014 that remains ongoing. In 2015, she publishes "Seeing Networks in New York: A Field Guid to Internet Infrastructure." “It’s sometimes hard to connect what happens on a server in Virginia to what happens on a screen in Manhattan,” Burrington says. "Looking for markings and monuments and hardware seemed like a more accessible approach to getting people excited about network infrastructure." -
IDEAS CITY and Second Residency
NEW INC x Deep LabDeep Lab’s second residency takes place May, 2015, when the New Museum invites them to address “questions of transparency and surveillance, citizenship and representation, expression and suppression, participation and dissent … the invisible forces at work in our cities” during the third installment of the museum’s IDEAS CITY festival. While panels, workshops, performances and participatory activities take place, Deep Lab also creates an open-source toolkit for use after IDEAS CITY ends. -
Deep Lab "Surveillant Anxiety" Interview
"Surveillant Anxiety" PanelNina Mashurova interviews Deep Lab founder Addie Wagenknecht and members Simone Brown and Maddy Varner about the group’s origins and surveillance-related concerns as a follow-up to their “Surveillant Anxiety” panel during IDEAS CITY. Regarding concern, Wagenknecht says, “I find right now what is the most scary is the trust people have in corporations that they don’t have in each other. The amount of data and personal information we hand to them everyday which people don’t question scares me.” -
Zen and the art of making tech work for you
Complete ManualThe beta period of “Zen and the art of making tech work for you,” a “living, growing collection of practical guidance and information.” The manual explores two overlapping issues: the crafting of online presences and creation of safe online and offline spaces. The manual originated during the 2014 Gender and Technology Institute where participants and facilitators – “mostly from the Global South” – shared strategies and tools for protecting digital privacy and security for women and trans people
