RightsCon Toronto 2018

LibreRouter, a device for geek-free Community Networks (AlterMundi)

Speakers: Nicolás Pace

The objective of this session is to present the LibreRouter "in the flesh" to the RightsCon audience in the hope that people there might find the device useful for their connectivity projects. We hope to explore possible partnerships and involvements in the LibreRouter + LibreMesh community.

Increasing access to information about abortion and reproductive health: A user-centered approach to developing smartphone apps in Indonesia, the United States, and Mexico (Ibis Reproductive Health)

Speakers: Ruvani Jayaweera & Inna Hudaya

Given the restrictions on access to abortion and reproductive health services around the world, there is a pressing need for exploration and development of new technologies to expand access to information about comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH), including and in particular information on abortion. This TechDemo will demonstrate how public health research methods were creatively used and integrated with user experience design, and discuss how perspectives from researchers, digital designers, and community advisors guided the technology development process in three different country contexts: Indonesia, the United States, and Mexico. The objective of this approach was to capture the needs and choices of potential users in a participatory manner, in order to generate an app that responds to each country’s context regarding access to sexual and reproductive health information and services.

Participants will be able to test out the beta-versions of the app developed for the Indonesia and US contexts and provide valuable feedback on 1) content, 2) design, and 3) privacy and security features. During the presentation, we will provide a web-based link for attendees to test the Indonesia and US apps on their mobile phones. By the end of the session, participants will be able to articulate how smartphone apps can address gaps in SRH information and access worldwide, the importance of participatory research and design processes for these apps, and at least three solutions to potential privacy and security concerns.

Internet Monitor: Real-time Internet censorship research and visualization tools demo (Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University)

Speakers: Casey Tilton & Justin Clark

Interested in learning more about the technology behind real-time Internet censorship research and contributing to the Internet Monitor project? In this session, researchers from the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University will demo two tools developed by the Internet Monitor project. First up is the Internet Monitor Dashboard, a tool that compiles and visualizes data about Internet activity and content controls in over 100 countries.

Next up is AccessCheck, a tool that lets users test in real time the availability of websites in countries around the world. Test results include a thumbs up/down notification indicating whether the website is available, as well as a screenshot and more detailed data on status codes, timings, and any errors encountered. In addition to testing single urls, AccessCheck allows users to test the availability of lists of country-specific websites that have been created by experts in the censorship practices of governments around the world.

Getting the firemen to tell us about the book-burnings: using HTTP 451 to increase transparency around censorship on the Internet (Article 19)

Speakers: Shivan Kaul Sahib

HTTP 451 is a status code adopted by the Internet Engineering Task Force in 2016. The aim was to increase transparency around Internet blocking by enabling the web server to provide details about a particular denial of content. For example, GitHub uses HTTP 451 (instead of 404 Not Found, which does not provide any information) to indicate that a particular git repository has been served a DMCA copyright takedown notice.

The purpose of the talk is to increase awareness about HTTP 451 and its role as a transparency vehicle, and to initiate conversations with a) web platforms who could potentially use it to increase transparency around blocks they're forced to implement, b) censorship measurement tools that could leverage the fact that HTTP 451 is a machine readable way of reporting blocked content.