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NOTE – THIS MEETUP IS VIRTUAL AND WILL BE CONDUCTED ONLINE WITH EFF-AUSTIN’S ZOOM ACCOUNT. We had originally hoped to resume in-person meetups this month but have held off another month to give the Omicron surge in Austin time to abate. We hope to start a hybrid in-person/virtual meetup format starting in March. For this month, to join the meetup, RSVP to this event, and then click the link that you will be shown upon RSVPing. The meeting room passcode is 573615. Also, please note that due to the increasing popularity of these virtual meetings increasing the likelihood of Zoom-bombing, we have been forced to institute tighter permissions and security around meeting attendees. Going forward, guests will not be able to share their screen, unmute themselves, or message anyone besides the host(s) in the chat without permission from the meetup organizers. When we are in the Q&A portion of the presentation, guests can raise their hands and will be granted said permissions.

This month we’ll be joined by Deputy Managing Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Nathan ‘nash’ Sheard, for a dynamic discussion on the threats inherent in government use of privacy-invasive surveillance technology and why a broad range of communities have chosen CCOPS ordinances as the most democratically empowering way to facilitate critical discussions and provide accountability measures that advance public safety & civil liberties.

As the Deputy Managing Director of EFF, nash works to assure the organization’s work is impactful, collaborative, and innovative. Before joining EFF’s executive team, as Organizing Director, nash led EFF’s grassroots, student, and community organizing efforts. nash’s work is informed by lived experience with aggressive and militarized policing in the US and abroad, including racial profiling, police brutality, and activist repression.

Communities across the US have found Community Control of Police Surveillance (CCOPS) laws to be a practical step on the path to systemic change. Adopted in more than a dozen cities, CCOPS laws empower the people of a community, through their elected representatives, to decide whether or not city agencies may acquire or use surveillance technology. Given the threat many of these technologies pose to essential freedoms, in many cases, the right choice will be to say “no,” full stop.

From our friends at Make Every Media: Make Every Media’s Virtual Media Lounge is opening its digital doors to EFF-Austin for a post-meetup virtual pub happy hour! Decidedly NOT zoom, this spatial video conferencing platform is the closest thing we’ve found so far to simulating an in-person kind of presence without a VR headset. With the freedom of four glorious directions of movement, you can leave and join conversations at will, grab a private table for two, play an interactive party game, search for old-school 8-bit rpg easter eggs, and more! This lounge is best experienced in a Chrome Browser on your computer. Visit https://MakeEveryMedia.com/MediaLounge the day of the event to get your day-link, and see you after the talk 🙂