Exhibits at The Glass Room New York

In November and December 2016, Tactical Tech in partnership with Mozilla, opened The Glass Room NYC, an immersive pop-up tech store with a twist, that explored the issues of data and privacy through art, interactive displays and workshops.

Something to hide

Who is working for whom when we accept the deal of providing our data in return for free services, how much of this ‘personal’ data is still ours and who really owns it? Through a series of playful objects this tables invites us to reconsider what we mean when we say we have ‘nothing to hide’.

Ever wondered why you are getting those ads for hotels in your vacation destination just after you book your flights there? Or ads for winter boots...
Even if you think your password is unique, according to a 2019 survey by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, “123456” is the most commonly use...
We often think of data traces in the online world, but what about the data traces we leave behind as we move through physical spaces? Forensic tech...
What do you think about an online shopping service that sends products to your home before you have even ordered them? In 2014, Amazon was granted ...
Random Darknet Shopper is an automated online shopping bot, which randomly purchases one item a week with a maximum budget of $100 in Bitcoins. The...
Tired of endlessly swiping through no-matches on dating apps? Are you over the back-and-forth messaging that leads nowhere? Smell Dating is a new k...
Wherever large amounts of data are collected, there are often empty spaces where no data live. Mimi Onuoha’s ongoing research project identifies th...
Who are you really working for when you work out? The information your Fitbit collects about you is not only valuable to you alone. Your doctor or ...
Your phone can keep your memories much better and for much longer than you can. From June 2010 to April 2011 James Bridle, and anyone else with an ...

Normal is boring

How powerful is the ‘disruption’ of Silicon Valley? Branded as disruptive ‘Un-Companies’, these entities are more precisely major stake holders of power, influence, and wealth. Exhibits at this table explore what is being done with the vast accumulation of knowledge, wealth and power by tech companies and tech billionaires. All works in this section are by Tactical Tech and La Loma.

When we think about the slogan, ‘One account. All of Google’, just how much information is in that ‘One account’. What exactly constitutes ‘All of ...
This year, Apple Inc. became number 3 on the Fortune 500 behind only Exxon Mobil and Walmart. This 3D infographic contrasts its wealth accumulated ...
Remote-control birth control may be the wave of the future. In 2012, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave a grant of nearly £8 million to Mic...
Based on technology developed at PayPal, Peter Thiel founded a data-analysis company known as Palantir Technologies. Palantir is a start-up with a ...
In 2010, Mark Zuckerberg – the founder of Facebook – claimed the age of privacy was over. A couple of years later, Zuckerberg paid over $40 million...

Big Mama

A comprehensive look into the modern state’s reinvention of itself as the e-government or digital agency. Objects here demonstrate institutionalized methods of data observation, tracking, pattern recognition and its adaptation to governmental operations from national identification to refugee aid. Dressed up as care, Big Mama takes these precautions because “it’s for your own good”.

Parabon Snapshot produces facial profiles from DNA samples. The software takes complex genetic data–such as that found at a crime scene–and from it...
Churchix uses facial recognition software to track church attendance. It helps church administrators to monitor members of their congregation and p...
: UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency 
This promotional video illustrates how the UNHCR and the private company IrisGuard have collaborated to implement iris scanning – the unique identi...
With a growing elderly population and strained resources to care for them, technology companies are trying to fill the gap. Silver Mother™ is a pro...
Could technology help us predict future criminals, or perhaps even future victims? Predictive policing aims to do just that and is increasingly bei...
‘People analytics’ is about gathering information on the social interactions of employees in the workplace. Who talks with who, where and how often...
What if you could help fight crime from your computer at home? Texas Virtual BorderWatch was a public-private partnership between the start-up Blue...
: Lockheed Martin 
In 2000 and 2010, Lockheed Martin carried out the census for the United States; in 2001 and 2011 the census for the United Kingdom; and in 2006 and...
: TechnoPatriots 
Self-appointed border-watchers are increasingly using remotely operated cameras to catch people sneaking into the country. The cameras represent a ...
The Sickweather app’s “patent pending algorithm” scans social media for people who show their locations and share information about being unwell, f...
Healthy Day is an app similar to The Sickweather that invites users to report their symptoms.
The Risk Assessment and Horizon Scanning (RAHS) program is a nationwide information-collection and analysis initiative implemented in Singapore for...

Data Detox Bar

At the Data Detox Bar, you are invited to explore the inside of the online world. Visit the Alternative App Centre to get open-source tools and services for improved privacy. Let our staff of Ingeniuses help you trace your digital footprints, and pick up a Data Detox Kit for an 8-day programme of practical tips on how to manage your digital life.

At the Data Detox Bar, you are invited to explore the inside of the online world. Visit the Alternative App Centre to get open-source tools and ser...

Out of the box

Have you ever wondered what your data looks like from the other side–what cellphone providers, internet providers or websites can see about you andy our preferences and habits as you use their services? If so, take a look at these short, soundless animations showing a bird’s eye view of what data is collected, by who and how. Some of the animations look at the data traces we leave behind when we use digital devices moving around the city or a physical space, some look at how our work and life patterns can be seen from our online data traces as we browse the web,send emails or use social media sites, and others look at how our data is bought, sold, analyzed and utilized and how it begins to shape the societies we live within.

Every time you go online, you are connected through servers in different countries and jurisdictions. These virtual journeys are tracked, and your ...
The buying, selling and analysing of our data is a massive industry, yet it is one we don’t know much about. Who are data brokers and how do they o...
How many times have companies claimed that they will anonymise your data? The suggestion of anonymisation is that it will promise us privacy if we ...
IC WatchMany of us use social networking sites to find new jobs, get new clients or build new business relationships. In doing so, we share a lot o...
We often hear about metadata – that is, data about data. Apart from the content of your communications, metadata can reveal what we are doing, with...
‘Algorithm’ is a buzzword that is used to explain everything from big data to machine learning. This animation unpicks why we should care about alg...
: Open Data City Tactical Tech @Info_Activism
Whenever we can, we join free WiFi networks to get online when we are on the move. This animation – based on data gathered from a conference held i...
If you use a smartphone, you have on online profile. Do you have one or many? Are you in control of your profile? Is it based on information you ar...
: Open Data City Tactical Tech @Info_Activism
As we go about our daily lives, we generate all kinds of information through our smart phones, all of which can disclose insights into our actions,...
From Dave Eggers’ The Circle to Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, fiction writers are beginning to paint a nightmarish scenario for us of the ‘scorin...
Whenever you browse a website, someone is looking over your shoulder. Almost every site visit is tracked by a third-party that shares and sometimes...