[Air-L] [FlashLab seminar] Zelly Martin (UT Austin) 18/04/2024 “End-to-end encryption as sociotechnical process: How pro-choice activists construct security beyond material tools.”

[Assia]

Dear all,

The Flashlab seminar is thrilled to announce the first session of its new
quarterly *“Bodies and Digital technologies” series* which will be held in
hybrid format on* Thursday April 18, 2024* from *4pm to 5:30pm Central
European Time (CET)*. We will welcome *Zelly Martin* (The University of
Texas at Austin) for a presentation entitled:

*“End-to-end encryption as sociotechnical process: How pro-choice activists
construct security beyond material tools.”*

*Abstract*: On June 24th, 2022, the United States Supreme Court overturned
Roe v. Wade, and thus the federal right to abortion for people who can get
pregnant in the United States. In the nearly two years since, 21 U.S.
states have restricted or banned abortion, resulting in a cascade of
suffering, including people forced to travel to access abortion care of
even wanted pregnancies with fatal fetal abnormalities. Concurrently, our
increasingly datafied society and related surveillance capitalism poses
dire threats for people who use the internet to access abortion or do
abortion-related work. Social media platforms share data with law
enforcement that can–and has–negatively impact those seeking care, as in
the infamous case of a Nebraska mother and daughter’s Facebook messages
being used as evidence to criminalize the daughter’s self-managed abortion.
As such, encrypted messaging apps, or chat apps which ensure only the
sender and receiver of a message may view its content, have become crucial
tools for abortion-seekers and abortion activists. Yet, there are potential
harms associated with such a heavy reliance upon exclusively technical
security. As part of my dissertation research, I conducted interviews with
pro-choice activists, anti-abortion activists, pro-encryption activists,
and Texas law enforcement to understand the sociotechnical processes of
creating privacy and security in a post-Roe America. In this talk, I will
explore the continued necessity for feminist community-building beyond mere
technical security, and the need for reframing encryption ideology beyond
its techno-libertarian, white, patriarchal roots.

*Flashlab is an independent hybrid seminar led by and for early-stage
social science researchers interested in digital technologies. Sessions are
usually held in Paris, France and online.*

Practical information are shared ahead of time on the seminar mailing list:
flashlab at framalistes.org.
Alternatively, feel free to request the connection link directly at
flashlab.contact at gmail.com.

Kind wishes,
Valentin Goujon and Assia Wirth

-- 
Assia WIRTH
PhD Candidate @ Paris-Saclay University
<http://www.universite-paris-saclay.fr>
@AssiaWirth <https://twitter.com/AssiaWirth>
<http://www.universite-paris-saclay.fr>