Events

CryptoParty 101: an introduction to the grassroots movement to teach everyone in the community how to take control of their digital privacy and security

All levels of experience and interest welcome. No technical background or special skills required.

This is a hybrid event:

On campus at the Institute – Digital Learning Commons, McGowan Bldg, 411 Pacific Street
Online – Register below for Zoom details!

Cool! So, what’s a Cryptoparty?

Answering that question is a primary goal for this meet up. For starters, the CryptoParty movement is a decentralized, grassroots movement dedicated to teaching everyone in the community how to take control of their digital privacy and security. Many people find tech issues overwhelming, but a cryptoparty brings participants together to learn from one another in relaxed, informal spaces. Instead of sifting through all the information on your own, DLINQ staff and interns are excited to hold a space for Middlebury students, faculty, and staff to come together to acquire skills, build fluency, create community, and dream better.

A main focus of cryptoparties is exploring how data is being tracked through digital technologies and how we can take action to protect ourselves and others. This CryptoParty invites interested students and student group organizers from all academic programs to learn about participating, organizing, and partnering with the Office of Digital Learning & Inquiry to co-host a cryptoparty gathering this academic year.

In this session, our organizing team will provide some background from past events, share some examples of tools and practices we recommend to get started with personal crypto, and gauge interest in topics for organizing future Cryptoparties such as:

• Prioritizing actions you can take to protect yourself and others through personal threat modeling
• Strategizing how to clean up online presence and digital shadows
• Reviewing privacy, camera, and geolocation settings for data leaks on apps and personal devices
• Understanding search engine bias and learn how to use privacy oriented search tools
• Managing passwords securely and learning about alternative encrypted email and communication services
• Protecting physical devices (laptops, mobile phones) with data encryption and data blockers

Interested in a custom CryptoParty for your community group? Connect with us at dlinq @ middlebury.edu