Communication

[vteague]

It matters how many other people care. Some campaigns such as #notmydebt have been very successful, especially when they combine effective communication with technology that coordinates and focuses people.

What should the next campaign be? What technology would support it?

[sarafalamaki]

I'm very concerned about the slow creep of biometric identifiers. It's a hard war to win, when people are so used to using their face and finger to unlock their phones.

[lachlansimpson]

I'm a big fan of Ushahidi and it's various offshoots. Not necessarily software we have a need for, but they have a number of solutions (eg do we have a demand for BRCKs in remote communities?)

[lachlansimpson]

Some sort of political party donation tracking database - one that draws the social network graph of those donors. Be handy to match them to politicians, parliamentary seats and divisions and grants/tenders as well. See who is scratching who's back.

[mongrel43]

When I chaired Internet Australia, we joined forces with Comms Alliance and others to try and wrestle down the metadata legislation. Also went up against PJCIS. Days of my life I will never get back. The shear lack of understanding of what they were trying to do was breathtaking. We spent many months working with the AG's dept trying to reconcile the legislation with the technical implications of what they were trying to achieve.

One thing I did appreciate was the respected and respectful conversations we had with senior offices in the AG's dept as opposed to the politicians. They too were clearly frustrated.

I think it is very important to expose and outline in clear plain language, the detrimental technical and social impacts of the blunt instruments used by Governments in a way that both the uninfomed citizen can understand but also in a way where politicians cannot ignore the message. Vanessa has been very successful at a number of levels!

Organisations such as EFA, DRW and in the past, Internet Australia have been good at interfacing the politicians. We are all involved in these organisations in one way or another. I think this group can be a good junction box for providing the enormous technical substance behind the work of keeping democratic rights and processes out in the open.

One objective might be to have a seat around the table as a matter of course before legislation is drafted and/or before the Government goes off and pours large amounts of taxpayer funds down a COVIDSAFE rabbit hole again?