| Formation | 2013 |
|---|---|
| Founders | Matt Mitchell |
| Founded at | New York, New York |
| Headquarters | New York |
| Products | anti-surveillance, cybersecurity education and advocacy |
| Founder | Matt Mitchell |
| Website |
CryptoHarlem is an anti-surveillance, cybersecurity education and advocacy organization. Founded by Matt Mitchell in 2013, CryptoHarlem provides the predominantly African American community in upper Manhattan with free workshops on digital security, encryption, privacy, cryptography, digital policing and surveillance.
History
CryptoHarlem was founded following the Trayvon Martin murder trial. Initially a series of security workshops, Mitchell said he founded the organization “due to the feeling of profound loss, the loss of all black folks, after Trayvon Martin’s death.” Monthly digital privacy clinics called "crypto parties" hosted by Mitchell and CryptoHarlem started in 2012.
In 2017 the organization's name appeared as an Easter egg in an episode of Mr. Robot.
In 2017, CryptoHarlem developed an open source tool to help organizations prepare for data breaches. The now-defunct site hosting the tool, ProtectYour.Org, was supported by the Mozilla Fellowship and the Ford Foundation. Calyx Institute has sponsored CryptoHarlem and its Crypto Parties since 2019.
The ACLU and CryptoHarlem have worked together on issues related to surveillance and privacy legislation, including the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology Act of 2020.
In 2021, Newsweek profiled Mitchell and CryptoHarlem as one of "America's greatest disruptors" for their work against "digital stop and frisk". The Electronic Frontier Foundation awarded Mitchell and CryptoHarlem with a Pioneer Award and hosted a discussion of their work.
In 2022, Mitchell, representing CryptoHarlem, was an invited speaker on "Easy Fixes for Algorithmic Bias" at The Barnard College Diversity in Computing Speaker Series.
References
- Simonite, Tom. "CryptoHarlem's Founder Warns Against 'Digital Stop and Frisk'". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- "CryptoHarlem - Calyx Institute". calyxinstitute.org. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ Kelley, Jason (October 7, 2021). "Pioneer Awards Ceremony 2021 Recap: Privacy Defenders Unite". Electronic Frontier Foundation (in Spanish). Retrieved May 13, 2022.
- "Security Pros, Librarians Holding Digital Privacy Clinics Across U.S." Consumer Reports. June 28, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ "CryptoHarlem Is Teaching Digital Security to the Over-Surveilled Black Community". www.vice.com. March 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- "CryptoHarlem". CryptoHarlem. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
- "Matt Mitchell of CryptoHarlem is building an open source tool to help organizations prepare for data breaches". TechCrunch. June 6, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- "protectyourorg.com". December 27, 2018. Archived from the original on December 27, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- "CryptoHarlem Party Tomorrow! - Calyx Institute". calyxinstitute.org. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- "CryptoHarlem is back and ready for action! - Calyx Institute". calyxinstitute.org. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- ^ Newsweek Staff (December 15, 2021). "America's Greatest Disruptors: Enterprising idealists using leading-edge technology to solve social and community challenges". Newsweek. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
- "Diversity in Computing: Matt Mitchell (CryptoHarlem & Ford Foundation) on Easy Fixes for Algorithmic Bias | Barnard Computational Science Center". csc.barnard.edu. April 5, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2022.