Freedom of the Press Foundation
Apr 26, 2016
Freedom of the Press Foundation panel. Left to right: Julia Angwin, Brandon Smith, Nabiha Syed, Sam Sinyangwe, and Sarah Cohen, March 2016. Photograph by Wendy Barrows
The Freedom of the Press Foundation collaborated with the Whitney Education department on a series of Public Programs in conjunction with the exhibition Laura Poitras: Astro Noise. The three-day program of events, held in the Susan and John Hess Family Theater from March 18-20, included the Freedom of Information in Action (FOIA) panel, TAILS Workshops, and CryptoParty.
For the panel on March 18, a group of journalists and activists discussed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), enacted in 1967 to guarantee public access to the documents of any federal agency in the United States. Panel members were Julia Angwin (ProPublica), Sarah Cohen (The New York Times), Sam Sinyangwe (Campaign Zero), Brandon Smith (independent journalist) and moderator Nabiha Syed (BuzzFeed). The panelists shared their first-hand experiences of working with FOIA agents and the painstaking process of using the organization to acquire government documents. They demonstrated a shared passion for uncovering truth and writing with honesty, all in the public interest.
Workshop participants learn how to download TAILS. March 2016. Photograph by Filip Wolak
Members of Freedom of the Press Foundation including Harlo Holmes, data researcher Matthew Mitchell, CryptoParty NYC co-organizer David Huerta, and artist/coder Allison Burtch led two TAILS workshops on March 19. Workshop participants were given step-by-step guidance on installing and using TAILS, a fully-encrypted, privacy-preserving operating system.
Harlo Holmes welcomes participants to the CryptoParty. March 2016. Photograph by Patrick MacLeod
The weekend’s events culminated with CryptoParty, an open forum on data, digital security, and privacy presented by Harlo Holmes, Matthew Mitchell, David Huerta, and security researcher Runa Sandvik. Topics of discussion included the recent case of Apple vs. FBI and privacy measures such as secure passwords and the TAILS operating system. Near the end of the event, participants had small group discussions with CryptoParty leaders and were encouraged to participate in future CrypoParty events held around the world.
Learn more about Public Programs here
Jackie Kong, Public Programs Intern