Workshop
At Foyer Hub 3
This workshop is the second part of the Obfuscation Workshop on Thursday.

As social media and online services permeate society, we are increasingly expected to trade quite personal information for access to basic services. In response, some users attempt to conceal private information from data-hoarding corporations via privacy controls or encryption, while others resort to self-censorship and withdrawal from digital life. But such efforts are often costly and/or futile. In this workshop, we propose a different approach, namely obfuscation. Rather than limiting your digital expression, unleash it to generate a data profile so absurd that no algorithm can make sense of it.

Continuing their work on obfuscation tools such as TrackMeNot (which obfuscates search-query data by randomly issuing fake searches) and AdNauseam (which virtually clicks on every Ad it sees), Mushon Zer Aviv and Daniel C. Howe invite you to celebrate your online expression and engage in an experimental data performance. "Like" every post on Facebook; "favorite" every tweet with the word "and"; add all of your contacts to Gmail's "VIP" list…

In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to explore the concept of obfuscation through both historical and contemporary examples and embark on experimental data performances that target the watchful "eyes" of curious algorithms. Experiments will be run over the course of the week, culminating with public presentations of results by workshop participants on the final day of the festival.

Participants should bring a laptop or other electronic device.