Morlock Elloi on Sat, 7 Apr 2018 20:49:12 +0200 (CEST)


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Re: <nettime> Francesca Bria: Our data is valuable. Here's how we can take that value back


On the intention side, DECODE is superb.

For example, in "D4 7_Privacy Interface Guidelines.pdf":

3.3 Privacy Design Considerations
3.3.1 User-Focused
3.3.2 User Control
3.3.3 Information and Device Context
3.3.4 Consent
3.3.5 Clarity and Understandability
3.3.6 Inform
3.3.7 Educate
3.3.8 Minimise the capture and display of data

Feels good.

More technical documents, other than recycling few Ethereum components, also have lots of good intentions. Some are antological tech PR - in "D1.4-first-version-of-decode-architecture-v1.0.pdf", on p.34:

.... "Smart Rules" in DECODE are compatible sociolect that can be parsed into a semantic model referred to a finite ontology and executed by a distributed computing cluster."

Unfortunately no existing CPU can execute good intention instructions.

The devil still resides in details. DECODE appears to be a customized Linux distribution that runs on VM, placed on multiple "nodes" that form some kind of cluster.

What do the end users actually get?

They *download* stuff onto their machines. Because they *trust* the sources of downloads, as the sources are run by nice people, not the other ones. On "D1.4-first-version-of-decode-architecture-v1.0.pdf", p.32:

The wallet will be available as a standalone application that a
participant can download to their device (either laptop or mobile
device).

and a bit later on the same page:

DECODE intends to provide tools and documentation to allow operators
to host wallets on behalf of their existing users.

After the fluff is discarded, this is the good old "trust us" play, where a small group of "provably honest people that will never get subverted" dishes out stuff to the trusting user rabble.

Like a said, this is FB/GOOGL in NGO disguise, and the whole thing reeks of fraudsters on the government tit (apparently some with identity politics leanings ... I am white?) It is only natural that, after revealing what the current carriers of the surveillance capitalism really are, it will be re-packaged into politically correct "communal" cellophane.

----

I try not to get personal and do the ad hominem attacks - I had no idea about the project details when I wrote the first post in this thread, other than what was in the parent article itself. It turns out that I guessed right. As for the tech credentials, I wrote few compilers, few full crypto stacks, designed and operated distributed communication systems with millions of endpoints, etc.





Ethernal cynico/critical approaches lead nowhere else, plus I find it
very odd and grotesque to read white old men criticising the
enthusiasm and achievement of a woman who has radically changed the
way tech procurements are perceived in Barcelona and Europe.

So you delude me morlockelloi and recently you are really flooding the
mailinglist which is becoming less funny than usual. this is probably
too technical and specialised for you, but I'll just post it here for
anyone interested
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