Hello all,
Greetings from (currently freezing cold) Scotland and apologies for the cross-posting. I'm a researcher at the University of Edinburgh studying antisurveillance technologies, software development and how these are shaped at different levels by ideas about crime and surveillance. I'd describe my work as criminological but with a strong critical dimension - my research isn't about "fighting crime" or developing cybersecurity policy. I'm interested instead in exploring the power relationships, social and technological factors which determine how actions and communities are labelled criminal, and include harms caused by states and other powerful actors which may not traditionally be considered as "crimes".
From this perspective, I would like to explore how the values and perspectives of people who develop software to resist surveillance and promote anonymity online shape the technologies they work on, and whether this expertise changes how they see these issues. I have a background in (statistical) programming and I'm particularly interested in finding out how people see these issues playing out in practice in their work.
While I'd like to carry out more in-depth research in the new year, at this stage I'm interested in making sure I'm asking the right questions. As such, I'd be very grateful if anyone involved in Tor development, either as a core developer or as a volunteer, would be interested in having a chat, or if possible a short interview. Any discussions would be anonymous and carried out in accordance with the ethics policy of the University of Edinburgh, and you would be able to withdraw consent for participation at any time for any reason - or none at all.
I'll be contactable at this email address (listed in my signature) and on the IRC channels as JHistone - if you're interested (or just want to say hi or have a chat) please feel free to get in touch.
Best wishes,
Ben Collier
Doctoral Researcher The University of Edinburgh
SCCJR profile: http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/about-us/people/ben-collier/ Edinburgh University profile: http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/research/students/viewstudent?ref=339 Twitter: @JohnnyHistone Email: s1263350@sms.ed.ac.uk
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.