Movement Infrastructure Research

Nice look at the social practices helping activists resist Big Tech data surveillance.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/16/big-tech-breakup-parties

“Generally speaking, we’re living under the most sophisticated surveillance apparatus in all of human history,” said Daly Barnett, a senior researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “While the reach and sophistication of these surveillance apparatuses escalate, so too are authoritarian movements. It makes sense [that] those two things would escalate at the same time, but I think people are recognizing those two trends and trying to figure out what to do about it.”

Counterspy 2.0
May 1-3, 2026
Atlanta GA
As Flock cameras get removed in city after city, residents resist new data centers, and rapid response networks defend their communities from AI-wielding cops, a new opposition is taking shape against techno-dystopia.
The world of digital security is at a fork in the road - one path is mastering surveillance technology to build an empire for private corporations and abusive authorities. The other also involves mastering surveillance technology, but for the purposes of turning the systems that surround us back on the powerful. This is a digital security conference, but we're not here to do the State's work - we're turning the tables.
If you are an activist threatened by surveillance, a technologist interested in supporting social movements, a hacker researching the repressive capabilities of the authorities, or someone curious about any of those things, we hope to see you in Atlanta.
Limited capacity ➡️ register at https://counterspy.zip

Watch this CounterSpy talk about surveillance on modern cloud platforms and how autonomous data infrastructure and projects like Co-op Cloud can help protect social movements from abusive authorities: Platform Surveillance and Data Autonomy
https://counterspy.zip/archive

Watch our talk at this year's HOPE conference @hopeconf@mastodon.online

Data Autonomy: Counter-Surveillance Strategies for Civil Society
https://youtu.be/zxgoACKKH30?t=36010

Watch this CounterSpy talk about Stingrays, cell site simulators, and the techniques law enforcement use to surveil protesters using cellular networks: Understanding IMSI-Catchers, Stingrays, and What You Can Do
https://counterspy.zip/archive

the NeON Digital Arts Counter Cloud Action Plan is a great example of what it looks like to take responsibility for the data infrastructure of your formation as a broad political/social question that is also specific and technical.

https://neondigitalarts.com/counter-cloud/

Watch this CounterSpy talk about mobile device security, and the advanced security features being implemented in GrapheneOS to protect activists and others targeted by state surveillance: GrapheneOS, Guts and All
https://counterspy.zip/archive

Recordings, slides and workshop notes from CounterSpy are now available at: https://counterspy.zip/archive

Thanks to everyone who attended CounterSpy! The depth of expertise and experience you all brought was truly impressive.

We will soon have slides and talk recordings available for those who missed the livestream.

Watch the CounterSpy livestream today at https://tv.sandboxatl.org

Schedule at https://counterspy.zip/schedule

"the Fourth Amendment hasn’t been updated to account for modern problems like digital data. [...] There's no oversight for the way the government is executing warrants on digital devices."

https://www.engadget.com/government-warrant-search-phone-cloud-fourth-amendment-legal-191533735.html

The growing partnership between law enforcement and Big Tech is a defining political development of our era. It's only getting started.

"US law enforcement has been increasingly quick to enlist Big Tech’s help in recent years. From late 2014 to early 2024, the number of accounts shared by Google jumped 530%; at Meta (formerly Facebook), it surged 675%; and at Apple, it climbed 621%"

https://proton.me/blog/big-tech-data-requests-surge