Maybe you noticed it too, but over the last couple of years there has been a movement towards less anonymity on the Internet, while no guarantees are returned in exchange. People obtaining documents they shouldn’t, attackers stealing information and governments (sometimes not even yours) obtaining information that you didn’t volunteer to give in the first place. All these things undermine the trust people have in technology and make it harder for you to maintain your personal space on-line. Because in the process some core values are lost, without people actually wanting to do that.

SmallSister is meant to do something about that by helping you find the much needed tools, by explaining technologies and the issues at hand and last but not least: by creating solutions to help you increase your own privacy and put you back in the driver seat. Obviously we don’t want crimefighters to stop fighting crime, but we do want to protect our civil rights protected. Those rights are the core essence that keeps our democracies alive.

Mission

Wherever you store your data or whenever you communicate something through the internet the is a risc of your privacy being violated. The objective of SmallSister is to reduce these PrivacyRiscs to an acceptable level.

So we try to create:

• A toolkit that is very simple to install and acts like a flushot for a computer to add privacy/security
• Sufficient information for people to empower themselves to secure systems and are aware of privacy-issues
• Software that is the missing glue for what already exists and helps us reach our goals

We think we have a good chance to achieve our goals, because:

1. In the past the threat was a theoretical one with a few examples. Now it is reality being rolled out;
2. Some time ago there weren’t really any good tools available for people to use and to work on. Now we have grown-up tools that need sometimes small steps: TOR, GnuPG. There are solutions like TorChat and there are projects that are taking steps;
3. More and more people in society are somehow feeling that privacy is at risk. They feel it is wrong, but fail to see what the consequences are. So there is a ‘market’ out there;

Obviously we’re not alone in the world and there are several resources with additional information on privacy. Please find them on our linkpage.

Status of the project

Well we just started the project and are still building this site. We have a mailing list where you can subscribe to and help us build a trustworthy, open digital future. Feel free to join.
This is what we have for now:

• A podcast making a point or showing how to work with applications to boost security or privacy. It is meant to be fun and informative;
• Beta releases of our SmallMail, SmallServer tools to help you communicate anonymously through an e-mail-like system;
• Logo

Issues we work on

At this point one issue has caught our immediate attention and that is data retention. This legal tools forces Telephony and Internet Service Providers to store information on their users. For instance who is behind an Internet-address or a telephone number. Not only that it also requires to register who tried to call whom and who has been e-mail whom. For users that would mean that certain things can’t be secret anymore. For instance: a whistle blower should go through a great pain to reach a journalist to break a story that would correct wrong. Or what about a company that tries to do a deal and fears to be frustrated by a foreign government that would pass information on to a local, competing company (as happened with Airbus and Boeing for instance). We intend to do something about that. So we look at anomizing e-mail.

In general we’re creating a toolkit that contains software and information.

What we really need

• a logo
• people with drive
• more coders (Python?) for the e-mail solution

What you can do inside and outside the project

There are so many things you can do to help privacy advance. You don’t have to join the project to make a difference (but we’d love to welcome you of course!):

• Tell people about the dangers of some privacy-unfriendly measures;
• Start using some Privacy Enhancing Tools yourself;
• Let your political party know you care about civil rights and feel worried about what is going on;
• Install tools if you’re technically more capable than friends of family;
• Be critical when pointless “security”-measures are enforced (like having people make a copy of your identification card). Ask why things are needed and don’t take answers like “For your and our protection” for granted. Complain if you have to or point to the abuse of personal data that can take place;
• Write on our wiki, discuss or even help us build something like code, translate things in your native language or documents;
• Tip us with idea’s, news, flaws in systems, flaws in legislation or observations;
• Join our mailinglist;

Just realize that ten minutes of your time sometimes has a huge impact on society, your brainwave can help and a 1,000 people spending one hour deliver us 1,000 man hours of work! And through the wisdom of the crowd we might actually get a whole lot more done!