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header: "Digital Independence Day - Reclaiming Our Digital Autonomy"
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title: Digital Independence Day - Reclaiming Our Digital Autonomy
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# Digital Independence Day
## Reclaiming Our Digital Autonomy

**Michał Czechowski**
University Lecturer & Open Source Enthusiast
Stuttgart, Germany

*Science in the City Festival Malta – September 17, 2025*

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# About Me

**Michał Czechowski**
- University Lecturer at DHBW Stuttgart & LFH Hannover
- 20+ years software engineering experience
- FOSS transformation specialist
- Polish-German background: generational experience with authoritarian control
- Passionate about empowering digital independence through democratic technology

*"From surviving authoritarianism to building digital freedom"*

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- **2014**: Oracle aquires a marketing tech start-up based in Cupertino, California, for around **$400 million**.

- **2016**: Oracle bragged about profiling 5 billion people worldwide, creating detailed cohorts from **sensitive web browsing activity, names, home addresses, email addresses, and cross-device tracking data**

- **$42.4 billion annual revenue** from their BlueKai data brokerage operations, selling personal profiles to advertisers and third parties without consent

- **2024**: Oracle forced to pay $115 million settlement after class action lawsuit led by privacy researchers Michael Katz-Lacabe (USA), Jennifer Golbeck (USA), and Johnny Ryan (Ireland)

<!-- A class action lawsuit is a legal case where one or more people sue on behalf of a large group, or "class," of others who have suffered similar harm from the same defendant. -->

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# What is Digital Independence?

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# Digital Independence
## Democratic Control Over Information Systems

**Digital Autonomy**: The capacity for individuals and societies to make informed, voluntary decisions about their digital tools and data

- **Individual Level**: You control what software runs on your devices
- **Societal Level**: Communities govern their digital infrastructure
- **Democratic Level**: Transparent, accountable technology governance

*Democracy enhanced by autonomy leads to better societal outcomes*

<!-- Original thought: democracy minus (some) freedom - but we mean democratic control over technology, not corporate freedom -->

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# Why Does Digital Autonomy Matter?

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# The Fourth Revolution: Living in the Infosphere

**Luciano Floridi's Core Thesis**: We now inhabit a "hyper-historical" world where the distinction between online and offline life has collapsed.

The **infosphere** - our combined digital and physical reality - means:
- Information systems ARE the infrastructure of modern society
- Digital dependencies create systemic vulnerabilities
- Control over information systems equals control over society itself

*We are no longer users of digital tools - we are inhabitants of digital reality*

<!-- Floridi, "The Fourth Revolution: How the Infosphere is Reshaping Human Reality" - this is the foundational argument for why digital autonomy matters existentially -->

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# Critical Infrastructure Dependencies

**When information systems control:**
- **Healthcare**: Electronic records, diagnostic systems, life support
- **Logistics**: Supply chains, transportation networks, food distribution
- **Finance**: Payment systems, banking infrastructure, economic stability
- **Democracy**: Media platforms, electoral systems, public discourse
- **Education**: Learning platforms, research access, knowledge distribution

**Single point of failure = societal breakdown**

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# When Digital Systems Fail, Society Fails

**Recent Systemic Failures:**
- Hospital ransomware attacks → patients die from delayed care
- Social media manipulation → electoral interference, democratic erosion
- Supply chain attacks → economic disruption, infrastructure breakdown
- Platform censorship → suppression of legitimate discourse
- Algorithmic bias → systemic discrimination at scale

*Digital dependence without democratic control = societal vulnerability*

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# Who Opposes Digital Autonomy?

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# The Opposition Alliance

**Surveillance Capitalism Model:**
- Extract behavioral data at unprecedented scale
- Manipulate user behavior through algorithmic control
- Create dependencies to maintain market dominance

**Authoritarian State Interests:**
- Monitor and control population behavior
- Suppress dissent through platform manipulation
- Weaponize civilian technology infrastructure

**Shared Goal: Centralized control over information systems**

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# Real-World Digital Attacks

**Cambridge Analytica (2018)**: 87 million Facebook profiles harvested for election manipulation

**Meta's Teen Depression Experiments (2021)**: Deliberately harmful algorithms tested on adolescents

**Israel-Lebanon Pager Attack (2024)**: Consumer communication devices remotely weaponized

**Palantir Surveillance Infrastructure**: Military-grade population monitoring sold to corporations and governments

**TikTok Algorithmic Influence**: Foreign state influence over domestic youth culture and political discourse

<!-- Additional examples: NSA PRISM program, Chinese social credit system, Russian election interference, facial recognition deployment -->

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# Who's Fighting Back?

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# Digital Independence Success Stories

**🇩🇪 Schleswig-Holstein**: Complete state migration to Linux and LibreOffice, ending Microsoft dependency

**🇫🇷 Lyon**: 17,000 government computers migrated to Ubuntu, saving €2M annually in licensing costs

**🇪🇸 Extremadura**: 200,000 students educated on Linux-based systems, creating digital literacy without vendor lock-in

**🇮🇹 South Tyrol**: Government-wide OpenOffice deployment, demonstrating scalable alternatives

**🇧🇷 Brazil**: Constitutional requirement for open standards in government systems

<!-- Additional: Barcelona's decidim platform, Estonia's X-Road infrastructure, Taiwan's vTaiwan digital democracy -->

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# FOSS vs. "Open Source" vs. Proprietary

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# Software Models Compared

**Proprietary Software:**
- Black box code, vendor control, only licenses
- Surveillance capabilities built-in

**"Open Source" (Silicon Valley):**
- Source visible but corporate-controlled
- "Open washing" marketing tactics

**Free & Open Source Software (FOSS):**
- Community governance, transparent code
- Privacy by default, no surveillance by design

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# How to Gain Digital Autonomy

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# Your Liberation Toolkit

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| Category | Proprietary Tool | FOSS Alternative | Implementation Notes |
|----------|------------------|------------------|----------------------|
| **Communication** | WhatsApp | Signal | End-to-end encrypted, normie-friendly |
| | | Element (Matrix) | Decentralized protocol, tech-savvy users |
| | Twitter/X | Mastodon | ActivityPub federation, choose instance wisely |
| | Discord | Element/Matrix | Bridges available for Discord migration |
| **Web Browsing** | Chrome/Chromium | Firefox | Mozilla Foundation, privacy-focused |
| | | LibreWolf | Firefox without telemetry, hardened |
| | | Ladybird | Complete rebuild browser from scratch (summer 2026) |
| | Plugins | Block Origin, Privacy Badger etc. | Useful firefox/chromium extension for increased security |
| **Productivity** | Microsoft Office | LibreOffice | Full office suite, document compatibility |
| | Notion | Logseq | Local-first knowledge graphs |
| | Slack | Mattermost | Self-hosted team communication |
| **Video Conferencing** | MS Teams, Zoom | Jitsi Meet | Self-hostable, browser-based meetings |

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# Your Liberation Toolkit (continued)

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| Category | Proprietary Tool | FOSS Alternative | Implementation Notes |
|----------|------------------|------------------|----------------------|
| **Cloud & Storage** | Google Drive | Nextcloud | Complete cloud replacement |
| | Google Photos | Immich | Self-hosted photo management |
| | Dropbox | Syncthing | P2P file synchronization |
| **Media** | YouTube | PeerTube | Federated video hosting |
| | | NewPipe | Android app, no Google Services needed |
| **Email** | Gmail | Proton Mail | Swiss privacy laws protection |
| **Mobile OS** | Android (Google) | GrapheneOS | Pixel devices only, maximum security |
| | | LineageOS | Wider device support |
| **Desktop OS** | MS Windows | GNU/Linux | Hundreds of different distributions like Ubuntu, Arch etc. |
| | macOS | Asahi Linux | Apple Silicon Macs, experimental support |


<!-- Full table available in presentation notes with password managers, maps, video conferencing, etc. -->

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# Implementation Strategy

**1. Kyū (yellow belt 🟡):**
Communication tools, Browser, Search, Office suite 

**2. Kyū (orange belt 🟠):**
Operating system, Cloud storage, Email communication

**3. Kyū (green belt 🟢):**
Cloud storage, Self-hosting, Complete sovereignty



---

# Workshop Implementation Guide

**Today's Focus:**
- GNU/Linux hands-on exploration
- First terminal commands
- Building your personal migration roadmap

**Take Home:**
- Bootable Linux USB drive
- Curated software recommendations
- Community connection for ongoing support

*Each participant leaves with practical next steps*

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# Call to Action

**Digital Independence is Democratic Necessity**

In Floridi's infosphere, our digital choices are political choices.

**Today's Workshop**: Hands-on GNU/Linux exploration
**Your Mission**: Begin your liberation journey
**Our Goal**: Build digitally sovereign communities

*The future of democracy depends on who controls our information systems*

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# Trade-offs of Using FOSS

**Everything Comes with a Price:**

- **Self-Responsibility**: No one to blame except yourself when things go sideways
- **Accessibility Over Polish**: "Not so smooth" interfaces, therefore highly accessible  
- **Modular Solutions**: Rarely "All-in-One"-Solutions, mostly a potpourri of multiple solutions to meet your needs

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# References (1/3)

**Core Theory:**
- Floridi, L. (2014). *The Fourth Revolution: How the infosphere is reshaping human reality*. Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780199606726

**Digital Attacks & Surveillance:**
- Cadwalladr, C. & Graham-Harrison, E. (2018, March 17). Revealed: 50 million Facebook profiles harvested for Cambridge Analytica in major data breach. *The Guardian*. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/17/cambridge-analytica-facebook-influence-us-election

- Wells, G., Horwitz, J., & Seetharaman, D. (2021, September 14). Facebook knows Instagram is toxic for teen girls, company documents show. *The Wall Street Journal*. https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-knows-instagram-is-toxic-for-teen-girls-company-documents-show-11631620739

<!-- https://web.archive.org/web/20220831224342/https://www.wsj.com/articles/facebook-knows-instagram-is-toxic-for-teen-girls-company-documents-show-11631620739 -->

- Frenkel, S., Bergman, R. & Saad, H. (2024, September 18). How Israel Built a Modern-Day Trojan Horse: Exploding Pagers. *The New York Times*. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/18/world/middleeast/israel-exploding-pagers-hezbollah.html

<!-- https://web.archive.org/web/20250912012501/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/18/world/middleeast/israel-exploding-pagers-hezbollah.html -->

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# References (2/3) 

**Government FOSS Success Stories:**
- The Document Foundation (2024, April 4). German state moving 30,000 PCs to LibreOffice. https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2024/04/04/german-state-moving-30000-pcs-to-libreoffice/

- Gascó, M. (2003). New technologies and institutional change in public administration. *Social Science Computer Review*, 21(1), 6-14. [Extremadura case study]

- Camara, G. & Fonseca, F. (2007). Information policies and open source software in developing countries. *Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology*, 58(1), 121-132. [Brazil open standards]

**Digital Democracy Platforms:**
- Aragón, P., et al. (2017). Deliberative Platform Design: The Case Study of the Online Discussions in Decidim Barcelona. *Social Science Computer Review*, 39(6), 1139-1162. https://decidim.barcelona/

- vTaiwan Project Documentation. (2023). Digital Minister of Taiwan. https://vtaiwan.tw/

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# References (3/3)

**Infrastructure & Surveillance Systems:**
- Kotka, T., Vargas, C.A. & Korjus, K. (2015). Estonia's blockchain-based e-Residency program. *Computer*, 48(9), 106-108. [X-Road infrastructure]

- Greenwald, G. (2014). *No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State*. Metropolitan Books. [PRISM program]

- Liang, F., et al. (2018). Constructing a data‐driven society: China's social credit system as a state surveillance infrastructure. *Policy & Internet*, 10(4), 415-453.

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# Questions & Discussion

**Additional Resources:**
- Open Source Alternative Directory: https://www.opensourcealternative.to/
- OSS Malta Community: https://ossmalta.eu/
- Presentation Materials: https://dailysh.it/malta
- Contact: malta@dailysh.it

*"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."*
*- Chinese Proverb*

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# Digital Independence Day - Workshop
## Hands-On Exploration

**Michał Czechowski**
University Lecturer & Open Source Enthusiast
Stuttgart, Germany

*Science in the City Festival Malta – September 17, 2025*

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# 1. Kyū

## yellow belt 🟡

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# 2. Kyū

## orange belt 🟠

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# 3. Kyū

## green belt 🟢

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