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Klingner discusses Martus, a free and open source software program

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Jeff Klingner, computer science consultant at Benetech, delivered Dec. 8 Liberation Technology Seminar on the topic of collecting, protecting, and analyzing human rights data. Klingner discussed Martus, a free and open source software program created by his team at Benetech. Martus, the Greek word for “Witness” is a secure database that is used to document human rights violations. 

The software was built on the premise that information is a critical asset in human rights work, but such information is liable to various forms of threats. Careful documentation of information has been destroyed by termites, volcanic eruptions and other forms of natural hazards. Digitized data is liable to be stolen by those who seek to abuse such information, and so Martus has extended security features including backups, encryption, secure communication and even a panic button to erase data quickly.

To protect documentation of activists, Martus has a database that is easy to use and has safety features including encryption, version management backup and also the ability to share information with those who are authorized. Information can also be made public, which can then be discovered by others using the Martus search engine.

The talk explored various issues that human rights workers working on sensitive issues may face, and the efforts that were taken by the Benetech team to provide the greatest possible security to sensitive information. Klingner also discussed the organizational innovations that Benetech had to make to build a wider engagement with the coder community in order to build software for public purpose through initiatives such as socialcoding4good.

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Two approaches to debates on technology and democracy: Evgeny Morozov

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On Dec. 1, Evgeny Morozov visiting scholar at CDDRL's Program on Liberation Technology delivered a seminar on the current state of the Internet and the democracy debate after the Arab Spring. Morozov argued that there are two distinct approaches in the debates around technology and democracy: instrumentalist and ecological. The instrumentalist position holds that the Internet is just a neutral tool - an instrument and amplifier - that can be used for both good and bad. The key determining factor is how people use it. The argument is that if the Internet were not available, protestors would use another tool. This view is supported by Mark Zuckerberg who argued that, “Whatever technology they may or may not have used was neither a necessary nor sufficient cause for getting to the outcome.” Malcolm Gladwell further argues that, “People with a grievance will always find ways to communicate with each other.” Morozov argued that there are some limitations to this perspective. He suggested that the instrumentalist position knows how to deal with assessing the effectiveness of protests, but what about assessing the likelihood of protests? The Internet helps to make protests more efficient but due to the role of slacktivism, it also can decrease the likelihood of protests taking place.

The ecological position, according to Morozov has a more nuanced position on technology. It describes the affect that technology has on the whole ecology: the actors, the incentives and the institutions. The Internet is seen not just as a tool but also as a means of transforming both the environment where politics happens and those who participate in politics. A possible long-term effect is that in authoritarian regimes, the Internet may be creating a new, digital, networked public sphere. Marc Lynch suggests that, “The strongest case for the fundamentally transformative effects of the new media may lie in the general emergence of a public sphere capable of eroding the ability of states to monopolize information and argument, of pushing for transparency and accountability and of facilitating new networks across society.”

Morozov suggested that we should not over-estimate the role that is played by the Internet. He suggested, “If a tree falls in a forest and everybody tweets about it, it may not mean that the tweets caused the tree to fall.” For example, Morozov argued that sometimes the system is almost dead when people start protesting. It is not that the protestors actually caused the system to fall. Morozov further questioned whether the Internet is facilitating the emergence of decentralized and leaderless political structures.

In addressing the Internet Freedom agenda, Morozov stressed the following points to policymakers:

  • Don't listen to Internet experts, focus on regional experts instead to understand environment and ecology.
  • The agenda needs to acknowledge that most work needs to happen at home to regulate surveillance, censorship software, and preserve online anonymity. Change doesn't need to come from autocratic governments, as that misses priorities.

Morozov is the author of ‘Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom’ and is a visiting scholar with the Program on Liberation Technology at CDDRL.

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Tavneet Suri- Liberation Technology Seminar Series

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Tavneet Suri is a development economist, with a regional focus on sub-Saharan Africa. Broadly, she studies the evolution of markets and various market failures in these economies. In particular, her main areas of focus are agriculture and formal and informal financial access. For example, she has worked on the adoption of seed technologies in Kenya and the extent of informal risk pooling mechanisms in rural Kenya. Her ongoing research includes understanding the adoption and impact of mobile money (M-PESA) in Kenya; the role of infrastructure in agricultural markets in Sierra Leone; the diffusion of improved coffee farming practices through social networks in Rwanda; the role of different types of formal and informal collateral in credit markets for assets in Kenya. She regularly spends time in the field, managing her various research projects and data collection activities.

Tavneet is a Faculty Research Fellow at the NBER, an Affiliate of BREAD, J-PAL and CEPR, and Co-Director of Agriculture Research Program at the International Growth Center.

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Tavneet Suri Assistant Professor of Applied Economics Speaker MIT
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Liberation Technology Seminar Series

Implementing a Biometric Payment System:The Andhra Pradesh Experience

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The Government of India is embarking on an ambitious program to provide all residents with a biometric unique ID (UID) to improve beneficiary experiences in public programs. The Andhra Pradesh Smartcard Program is the longest-running biometric electronic benefits transfer (EBT) initiative in India and the experiences from Andhra Pradesh can therefore provide key insights into the process and impact of implementing such a biometrically authenticated payment system. The Andhra Pradesh Smartcard Study is a large-scale randomized evaluation of the impact of using biometric smartcards on beneficiary welfare and has been underway for 18 months at this point. Professor Muralidharan will present preliminary results from this research focusing on the insights gained from studying the process of rolling out Smartcards in Andhra Pradesh.

Karthik Muralidharan is an assistant professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego where he has been on the faculty since 2008.Born and raised in India, he earned an A.B. in economics (summa cum laude) from Harvard, an M.Phil. in economics from Cambridge (UK), and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard. He is a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a Junior Affiliate at the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), a Member of the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) network, an Affiliate at the Center of Evaluation for Global Action (CEGA), and a Research Affiliate with Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA).

Prof. Muralidharan's primary research interests include development, public, and labor economics. Specific topics of interest include education, health, and social protection; measuring quality of public service delivery; program evaluation; and improving the effectiveness of public spending (with a focus on developing countries). Courses taught include undergraduate and graduate classes in development economics, program evaluation, and the economics of education.

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Karthik Muralidharan Assistant Professor of Economics Speaker UC San Diego
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Liberation Technology Seminar Series

Respect for Context

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Helen Nissenbaum is Professor of Media, Culture and Communication, and Computer Science, at New York University, where she is also Senior Faculty Fellow of the Information Law Institute. Her areas of expertise span social, ethical, and political implications of information technology and digital media. Nissenbaum's research publications have appeared in journals of philosophy, politics, law, media studies, information studies, and computer science. She has written and edited four books, including Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy, and the Integrity of Social Life, which was published in 2010 by Stanford University Press. The National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Ford Foundation, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator have supported her work on privacy, trust online, and security, as well as several studies of values embodied in computer system design, including search engines, digital games, facial recognition technology, and health information systems.

Nissenbaum holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Stanford University and a B.A. (Hons) from the University of the Witwatersrand. Before joining the faculty at NYU, she served as Associate Director of the Center for Human Values at Princeton University.

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Helen Nissenbaum Professor of Media, Culture and Communication, and Computer Science Speaker New York University
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Liberation Technology Seminar Series

Combating Cyber Insecurity Around the Globe

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Christopher Painter has been on the vanguard of cyber issues for twenty years. Most recently, Mr. Painter served in the White House as Senior Director for Cybersecurity Policy in the National Security Staff. During his two years at the White House, Mr. Painter was a senior member of the team that conducted the President's Cyberspace Policy Review and subsequently served as Acting Cybersecurity Coordinator. He coordinated the development of a forthcoming international strategy for cyberspace and chaired high-level interagency groups devoted to international and other cyber issues.

Mr. Painter began his federal career as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles where he led some of the most high profile and significant cybercrime prosecutions in the country, including the prosecution of notorious computer hacker Kevin Mitnick. He subsequently helped lead the case and policy efforts of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section in the U.S. Department of Justice and served, for a short time, as Deputy Assistant Director of the F.B.I.'s Cyber Division. For over ten years, Mr. Painter has been a leader in international cyber issues. He has represented the United States in numerous international fora, including Chairing the cutting edge G8 High Tech Crime Subgroup since 2002. He has worked with dozens of foreign governments in bi-lateral meetings and has been a frequent spokesperson and presenter on cyber issues around the globe. He is a graduate of Stanford Law School and Cornell University.

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Christopher Painter Coordinator for Cyber Issues Speaker US State Department
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Liberation Technology Seminar Series

Tools of Change: How the Internet Helped Shape the Arab Spring

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The Internet has served as a tool in the struggle for freedom in the Arab Spring uprisings, from Tunisia--where bloggers made sure the struggle was heard around the world--to Syria, where revolutionaries have used YouTube to fill in the gaps the mainstream media has been unable to report. Though not a catalyst, social media has nonetheless played a role in organizing and disseminating information from protests this past year, from Tahrir Square to Zucotti Park.

Jillian York has studied the powerful role of social media in the Arab Spring, as well as the drawbacks of these dynamic tools, and speaks to their use throughout the past year in the Middle East and North Africa.


Jillian C. York is Director for International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), where her work focuses on a range of issues including government Internet censorship, corporate social responsibility, export controls, surveillance technology, and online safety. She writes regularly about these and related issues for publications including Al Jazeera English, Bloomberg, Foreign Policy, the Guardian, and Al Akhbar English.

York is also a contributor to and on the board of Global Voices Online. Prior to joining the EFF, she worked at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society on a number of projects including the OpenNet Initiative and Herdict.

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Jillian York Author and Director for International Freedom of Expression Speaker Electronic Frontier Foundation
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Liberation Technology Seminar Series

An Evening With the Knights

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Abstract:
Stanford’s Knight fellowship program offers a unique opportunity for experienced journalists a space to rethink journalism by providing the space and time to innovate. Five teams of Knight fellows will share their ideas on using technology to push the boundaries of journalism. They will discuss ideas to empower non-professional journalists to create compelling news stories for the new media, using technology to share government information across boundaries, circumventing censorship and other ideas.

Presentations will be made by:

Grima Fantaye
Djordje Padejski
Deepa Fernandes
Emad Mekay
Michelle Holmes

and their teams.

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Knight Fellows Speaker Stanford University
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Liberation Technology Seminar Series
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