GetSneak (OP)
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May 04, 2018, 04:54:26 PM
Last edit: May 04, 2018, 07:33:34 PM by GetSneak |
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A Sneak Manifesto
Things weren’t always this way. It began so gradually, at first, we barely knew it was happening. As it took off, it kept us distracted with digital wonders we could never have imagined, offered to us before we ever realized what we were missing, and all for “free”. By the time it had pervaded every corner of our lives, we had all but forgotten it was there. Yes, once and a while it misses the mark, or in its eagerness to please, shows us too soon the very thing we mentioned to a friend but a minute ago, and we wince a bit, or shiver, before moving on. And every year, every hour, it comes to know us a little better, learning from its mistakes, until it fades into the background, out of sight and out of mind. But it’s always there, and what it knows of us we have no means to learn, nor how it came to know these things, nor what about it us it has bought or sold, nor whom it serves.
We live in a world of pervasive sensors, mobile devices, and digital services that capture vast amounts of data about us every minute of our lives. Fed to an army of proprietary and often biased algorithms that we have no legal right to examine, our data may be used to determine whether we get a loan, a job, a lease or a medical procedure. It has become the greatest accelerator of income inequality the world has ever seen, lining the pockets of the wealthy with untold riches, and creating new digital divides. Hacks and leaks of our personal information stolen from ill-defended systems have become so commonplace that they no longer cause alarm, and seldom are there consequences for the companies responsible.
We have come to accept that governments record and mine every conversation, every search query, every website we visit, and every purchase we make, and we console ourselves with the benefits. Is it to prevent a catastrophe, or to spot dissent? Everything is so convenient now, and how reassuring it is to watch the evening news, where for every successful act of terror, half a dozen dreadful plots are foiled in the nick of time, forces descending upon the would-be perpetrators in the wee hours of the morning, with barely a shot fired. Political leaders remind us that dangerous times require extraordinary measures, and a new social contract. Privacy is a privilege for loyal citizens, and it’s always conditional. Anonymity is a mask for criminals. Encryption must have back doors.
No.
Not on our watch.
Privacy matters. Privacy is our control over other people’s access to information about us. It is part of human nature. It is an innate, instinctive ability. Even before we learn to speak, we discover our power to choose when to share our feelings with others. Privacy is no mere privilege, but a fundamental right. For good reason is privacy enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: it is both the means of our liberty, and the price we pay for our liberty.
Anonymity matters. Anonymity depends on our ability to conceal our identity from others. Without it, democracy cannot exist. Information is power, and a government that knows everything that it citizens say and do even within their homes has the power to hold them accountable to government, rather them being accountable to them. In a world of vast information asymmetries, the public mask of anonymity is the last recourse of the whistleblower, and the greatest force for accountability that an individual may wield against the might of a corporation flush with ill-gotten gains or a corrupt government that no longer represents those it was created to serve.
Time, however, is not on our side, for an entire generation has grown up with a sense that the battle is already lost. More and more we hear attempts to rationalize it: “Why do I care what they know — I have nothing to hide,” or helplessness: “I gave up worrying long ago — what can I do about it?” Many have come to believe that privacy is dead, an antiquated notion no longer meaningful in the modern world.
Some may choose to hope and wait for courageous politicians and conscientious business leaders to emerge and rein in the synergistic forces of government surveillance and surveillance capitalism before they completely erode the very foundations of freedom, dignity, and the rule of law. Some, however, may not.
Enough is enough.
About Sneak
Sneak was created with a singular vision: to inspire, mobilize and empower a new generation of cypherpunks to rise up, take matters into their own hands, and reclaim the right to privacy while there is still time. It is a time for urgent action. Acts of privacy. Acts of cryptography. Acts of code.
Our mission is to create the most private distributed ledger technology the world has ever seen, one that is provably impervious to re-identification attacks. It must be fast, feeless, and infinitely scalable. Sneak will function as a true cryptocurrency, while supporting other capabilities such as smart contracts, data storage, and communications. Sneak is a startup focused on cutting-edge engineering, compelling user experiences, irresistible branding, and a vibrant community, all built from scratch. Sneak will be the end-to-end solution you know you can trust to safeguard your identity, your data, your business, and your rights in a world of prying eyes. Privacy by Design.
To get there, we need people everywhere who share our values and are committed to our proactive defense of the right to privacy to get involved. Join us, and let’s work together to create a safer, more just, and more prosperous future for all.
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