Technology for Liberty

An embryonic coalition for freedom focused technology

I worked in the technology sector for most of my career. My specific focus was on enterprise software. For many years I researched technology markets - interviewing corporate decision-makers about their technology needs. I can honestly state that every technology client I worked for for - as employee and as advisor - engaged in ethical business practices. The focus was always on how technology could help businesses solve business problems or improve commercial processes. And I still believe that digital technology can improve productivity and make our lives collectively better. In my career I was involved in launching one of the first wireless networking products, many mobile applications, several enterprise software products and numerous data communications solutions. I worked with some incredible visionaries and trailblazers. And I can say with confidence that I never worked for any companies that supported warfare, civilian surveillance or data integration designed to manipulate human behaviour. In short, my clients were all about creating competitive advantage and profit - not exploiting people or undermining the fabric of society, or killing people.

Tech should be about liberation - not watching our every move.

When the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom recently had a gala banquet to welcome the US President and a Who’s Who delegation of Tech Bros to the United Kingdom it became very clear that such ethical considerations weren’t top of the government’s (or the Tech CEOs present) priorities. There was much talk of ‘investment’. But the definition of ‘investment’ has been altered somewhat. For example, if a tech firm announces the creation of a new data centre in the UK (conditional on UK government contracts with the same firm), it doesn’t really meet the definition of investment, in my view. It’s simply corporate expansionism that squeezes-out UK indigenous companies. In fact it really needs to be asked what these data centres are to be used for? AI? Snooping? Citizen surveillance? Digital ID systems? Because, based on the guest list (Oracle, Microsoft, Palantir, Open AI) and the proximity of the banquet with a public statement about the UK’s intention to roll-out Digital ID for every UK adult, those are the very companies likely to come up trumps. Goodbye national and individual sovereignty.

I posted recently along these lines over on LinkedIn and several people have supported me in highlighting my concerns about the direction of travel of Digital ID in the UK and elsewhere - and the involvement of the usual suspect tech firms in the development of such systems in ‘partnership’ with government. And it’s my view that many Tech leaders are appalled as I am.

It’s for this reason that I put out this call now. If you’re a technology professional, or a tech business leader or founder, and you’d like to be involved in a loose coalition (working title, Tech for Liberty) please comment on this post (and subscribe to this site). I’ll then be in touch - in order to try to facilitate some type of steering committee. I’ll also put together a pledge that we could communicate widely. A pledge to resist, in every ethical way available to us, the process of Digital ID roll-out, and to halt the process of citizen monitoring and coercion by so-called democratic governments.

So, please, make yourself known. I’d love to have your support. Because tech should be about enriching our democracies and our inalienable human rights - not monitoring and controlling our every move.