I want to talk about something that some people may find offensive, and that I can’t talk about on Twitter to not get shadow banned as I have to rely on reach for my work.
The first time I attended Chaos Computer Congress was over 15 years ago. It had the best parties in town, and we would sneak in for the nightlife.
As I rekindled my interest in politics, computers and the internet, I became more aligned with the CCC’s mission: hacking the planet to hold power to account.
While I was already disappointed with some of the CCC’s policies – particularly on things like COVID and Bitcoin – this year was the first time that I seriously lost hope for and trust in the CCC as an institution – starting with its opening speech.
The CCC’s opening speech sets the theme for the event. This year, it was dedicated to the global rise of fascism. Speakers talked about Germany’s protests against the far-right AFD, about Donald Trump, LGBTQ and abortions, and pro-democracy protests in countries like Georgia.
But not a single word was lost to the genocide in Palestine.
Checking the CCC’s schedule, I merely found a single talk on Palestine, which explicitly made clear that it did not take a stance on whether Israel was right or wrong in its operations.
There were still a lot of great talks at the congress, and many assemblies showed their solidarity, but this complete lack of mention is what really stood out for me.
To understand what a hackers congress has to do with genocide, we need to take an uncomfortable look at Nazi Germany.
What enabled the Holocaust 80 years ago was not just a bunch of bloodthirsty eugenicist maniacs high on ungodly amounts of speed and their fascist ideologies. It was the streamlining of exploitation and murder to never before seen efficiency, with the help of new, more efficient technologies.
It is these same advancements in technology that are fueling the genocide in Palestine today. It’s surveillance on an unprecedented scale, evermore invasive spyware, AI enabled targeting and automated drone warfare.
You can think of Palestine what you want, but this technology is being exported from Palestine to the rest of the world today.
It’s facial recognition systems and license plate scanners that Israel uses to enforce apartheid that you’ll soon see scanning your biometrics for your next flight on holidays, or your car on your next trip to work.
It’s spyware companies that test their products to soon sell them to governments around the world targeting activists, journalists and opposition.
It’s psychological warfare utilizing dating sites like Grindr to social engineer Palestinians into spying on their peers and extort their sexual preferences.
Just last month, the a16z portfolio company Skydio, which is a major Israeli military contractor, was caught providing its surveillance drones to Yale University to monitor and track student protestors.
Some of you may find this topic uncomfortable as it may not align with your political views.
But the reality remains that the genocide in Palestine is a testing ground for never before seen surveillance tech that will soon be used on you. And the world’s most renowned hackers are silent.
