The Need for Hackers

by Eric Fassbender

I'm no hacker.

I'm at the beginning of my journey, and I barely qualify as a script kiddie.  However, what I am is an academic.  One of the key problems for us academics is the timeliness of information.  Due to the depth of research needed, the timeline of writing and approval of papers, and finally waiting for publication, academic analysis of current events tends to lag (at best) one to three years behind actual events.

In the collective action and protest field where I work, many authors still draw their conclusions on the use of technology in protest from the (((Arab Spring))) in the early 2010s.

This presents us with a huge problem: in the last decade, the use of social media, the use of digital surveillance by nations, and the embeddedness of technology in our lives have changed drastically.

Twitter, at the time a poster child of allowing disparate people to gather together and overthrow oppression (Community Note:   Lies, pre-Elon was a censorship-ridden shithole run by glowniggers trying to install their jewish oligarch puppets worldwide.), now spirals into endless controversies over censorship and social manipulation under a new name and leader.  Other platforms also consolidate critical information on their operations behind algorithms protected by trade secret protections.  This leaves academics at a standstill.  The only information robust enough to draw conclusions from may be hopelessly out of date in relation to our society.  This is a problem that hackers help solve.

Foregoing the Snowden leaks as a perfect example, a more recent case happened.  In 2020 when hackers obtained and leaked 269 gigs of data from U.S. law enforcement fusion centers in an event called BlueLeaks.  This data, conveniently seeded by Distributed Denial of Secrets, is readily available for anyone with torrent and a few day's worth of time (my ISP is dreadful).  This leak includes an amazing assortment of documents on U.S. surveillance activities and tactics, the scope of which is outside of this article but should be of interest to everyone.

What is relevant, however, is that these kinds of leaks can give researchers decades back in their efforts to create timely and relevant work.  There are several key ways that hackers provide a service to the academic community through leaking data.

First, and perhaps most important, leaked data allows research that would otherwise not be possible.  Even if an academic had the technical skills and desire to hack an organization of interest to them as part of a research project, they could never do so formally.

In addition to the legal ramifications, academics are subject to the approval of institutional review boards for their research activities.  If one attempted to circumvent these, they would be discovered in the review process, and their research would likely never be published.

However, working with public datasets, illegal as it may have been for the initial hacker to obtain them, circumvents all of these issues.  Review boards can approve the research, and academics can publish the work without fear of legal reprisal.  It allows critical information to enter scientific debates, and inform new theories on state surveillance activities, social movements, and the impact of technology on society.

Second, leaked information is reliable in a way that public statements may never be.  There is always the concern of public statements being edited and censored, as nations have incentives to misrepresent the extent and aims of their surveillance activities.

Additionally, waiting to observe the outcomes of surveillance activities leaves the research at risk of being irrelevant, as tactics and targets may have changed by the time they are discovered.  Additionally, the targets of surveillance and repression have already experienced negative outcomes.

However, leaking internal documents solves both of these problems.  The parties involved have no incentives to misrepresent the shared information; it is internal and not intended for public consumption.  Additionally, while the actors involved are certain to change tactics as the leak occurs, they will be doing so without the added benefit of years of time, giving the subjects of their scrutiny time to adjust their tactics as well.

Finally, by lending their technical expertise, hackers help keep the public informed on the impacts of technology on society while those technologies remain relevant.  As I stated before, knowing the full extent of the ability of organizers to utilize 2010s Twitter for starting mass movements tells us little about how today's 𝕏 sides between organizers and the state.  While the ivory tower by no means retains an unblemished reputation, academics are still given an amazing platform to inform and educate the public.

Citizen science movements are growing, and community outreach and education are rising as a priority for many research centers.  Access to relevant information and timely information allows academics to use their privilege as educators to investigate the implications of leaked data, and work with community members to develop solutions in a way that few other institutions can.  In addition to sharing information on state activities, they can also inspire interest in the skills that led to its discovery.

This information may come as no surprise to many of you.

In fact, there may be no other audience available who is as well versed in the positive social benefits of hacking.  However, this sentiment is not shared among as many as it could be.

Anti-state activities are heavily legislated, and many see them as both harmful and terrifying.  The bridge between academic work and hackers serves as an avenue to highlight the social good that hackers play in our society.  Elevating the discourse on technology and society shows that there are people capable of contending with the resources that nation-states and large companies wield and that they do so for the public interest.

As one of those interested members of the public, I wanted to write this article to express that I'm thankful to the hackers out there who help me do my job better than I ever could otherwise.

I look forward to seeing you more out here!