VPN Community Initiative Village 2022: Difference between revisions

From TCU Wiki
(Creating Draft of VPN Village)
mNo edit summary
 
(69 intermediate revisions by one other user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
= VPN Village Description =
__NOTOC__
[[File:VPN Community Initiative VPN Village (1).png|right|500px]]IFF’s virtual VPN Village took place this Fall. The Village, a combination of private and public events, was hosted with ARTICLE 19’s Team Digital, and with the support of the following partners: The Calyx Institute, TunnelBear, and NordVPN, and various other allies.
[[File:VPN_Community_Initiative_Village_Image.png|right|500px]]The VPN Village is a two-week virtual series of events focused on VPN user education and solidarity. The events held over the last week of November and first week of December will address gaps in user education around VPNs, the challenge of analyzing and selecting a VPN, and will show attendees how to set up their own VPN servers and proxies to support their communities and users combatting censorship globally.


VPNs (Virtual Private Network) are becoming the go-to tools for users looking to protect themselves from surveillance or to circumvent censorship. They are an essential tool for human rights defenders and journalists. However, it is often hard to choose a reliable and trustworthy VPN from the large market that includes expensive and shady providers. The VPN Village will cultivated conversations for those who are researching, distributing, or using VPNs. Workshops and trainings were  centered on addressing the impact of VPNs on the Internet Freedom community, both the good and bad. The Village made space for civil society, developers, activists, and VPN companies to come together to discuss:
The Village is part of TCU’s [[VPN Community Initiative]] which was formed in 2022 to bring together a diverse group of individuals working within and around the VPN ecosystem - including providers, researchers, digital security specialists and technologists - to collaborate and share knowledge.


* The use of VPNs as part of a censorship-resilient community
=Workshops & Events=
* Strengths, vulnerabilities and flaws inherent in VPNs, and understanding how they impact vulnerable or marginalized populations
* Best practices and standards in the promotion and use of VPNs
* Industry standards among enterprise and community-ran VPN instances


= Workshops & Events =
[[File:How_to_Become_Your_Community's_Provider_with_WEPN.png|left|100px]]
'''[[November 17 2022 GM|Becoming Your Community’s VPN Provider with WEPN]] with Amir Gharabaghi and Reza Nasab, WEPN'''


[[File:Placeholder Image.png|left|100px]]'''Running a Tor Relay and a Snowflake (Workshop)'''
Thursday, November 17, 2022 at 9am - 10am EST / 2pm - 3pm UTC ([https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Glitter+Meetup%3A+Becoming+Your+Community%E2%80%99s+VPN+Provider+with+WEPN&iso=20221117T09&p1=179&ah=1 What time is it in my city?])<br>


'''Date:''' Tuesday, November 28, 2022<br>
Join us to learn how WEPN works and what user needs it was created to address; discuss the current censorship and access situation in Iran and how WEPN is currently being deployed to support users in Iran; and learn how you can use WEPN to support individuals in Iran and other heavily censored regions. '''[[November 17 2022 GM|Read Notes Here]]'''<br>
'''Time:''' <br>
'''RSVP:''' <br>


'''Summary:''' <br>
'''Presenters:''' Gus (Tor Project)<br>


[[File:Run Snowflake Proxies.png|left|100px]]
'''[[Run Snowflake Proxies and Strengthen Internet Freedom]] with Gustavo Gus, Community Team Lead, Tor Project'''


[[File:Placeholder Image.png|left|100px]]'''Threat Modeling and VPNs (Talk and Q&A)'''
Tuesday, November 29, 2022 at 9am - 10:30am EST / 2pm - 3:30pm UTC ([https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Run+Snowflake+Proxies+and+Strengthen+Internet+Freedom&iso=20221129T09&p1=179&ah=1&am=30 What time is it in my city?])<br>


'''Date:''' Wednesday, November 29, 2022<br>
Have you considered helping users from censored regions to access the free and open internet? Snowflake is a new pluggable transport that allows people from all over the world to access the open internet. In this workshop, you will learn what Snowflake is, and how to set up a proxy and help censored users bypass internet censorship. '''[https://digitalrights.formstack.com/forms/vpnvillage2022_1 RSVP here]'''<br>
'''Time:''' <br>
'''RSVP:''' <br>


'''Summary:''' <br>
'''Presenters:''' <br>


[[File:Placeholder Image.png|left|100px]]'''Getting Started with Outline: Helping your friends and family access the Open Internet (Workshop)'''
[[File:Threat_Modeling_101_Tile.png|left|100px]]
'''[[Threat Modeling 101: Understanding When to Use or Not Use a VPN]] with Trinh Nguyen, Director of Safety and Technology, Team CommUNITY'''


'''Date:''' Tuesday, December 6, 2022<br>
Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 8:30am - 10am EST / 1:30pm - 3pm UTC ([https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Threat+Modeling+101%3A+Understanding+When+to+Use+or+Not+Use+a+VPN+%28Talk+and+Q%26A%29&iso=20221130T0830&p1=179&ah=1&am=30 What time is it in my city?])<br>
'''Time:''' <br>
'''RSVP:''' <br>


'''Summary:''' <br>
In this session, attendees will learn about basic risk assessment and threat modeling, VPN use cases, and how to determine when using a VPN may be helpful, or may not be. '''[https://digitalrights.formstack.com/forms/vpnvillage2022_5 RSVP here]'''<br>
'''Presenters:''' <br>


''Daniel LaCosse:''
Daniel LaCosse is an engineer on the Outline Team who's previous work includes a TEDx talk on the logic of storytelling and building the Vine web player from scratch (RIP). He spends his free time improvising board games and trying to convince random strangers they should only be building their apps on web (daniellacos.se/only [[don't include this link if we can't]]).


''Vinicius Fortuna:''
[[File:All_of_them_claim_to_be_the_best.png|left|100px]]
Vinicius Fortuna is the engineering lead of the team at Jigsaw that protects people’s ability to participate in the global internet. He has led the team through initiatives to prevent censorship via stronger internet standards and platforms; mitigate censorship via circumvention tools such as the Outline VPN and Intra; and expose censorship via measurements and data analysis.  


[[File:Placeholder Image.png|left|100px]]'''How to Critically Choose a VPN (Talk and Q&A)'''
'''[[“All of them claim to be the best”: A multi-perspective study of VPN users and VPN providers]] with Reethika Ramesh, CS PhD Candidate at the University of Michigan, and lead researcher at VPNalyzer'''


'''Date:''' Wednesday, December 7, 2022<br>
Tuesday, December 1, 2022 at 11am - 12pm EST / 4pm - 5pm UTC ([https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=%E2%80%9CAll+of+them+claim+to+be+the+best%E2%80%9D%3A+A+multi-perspective+study+of+VPN+users+and+VPN+providers&iso=20221201T11&p1=179&ah=1 What time is it in my city?])
'''Time:''' <br>
'''RSVP:''' <br>


'''Summary:''' <br>
Join Reethika Ramesh, lead VPNalyzer researcher and co-author of the aforementioned paper, to hear about the key takeaways from the VPN user survey and VPN provider interviews and find out about new developments with the VPNalyzer Tool,  a desktop tool that helps test and identify security and privacy issues with your VPN. '''[https://digitalrights.formstack.com/forms/vpnvillage2022_2 RSVP here]'''
'''Presenters:''' <br>


[[File:Placeholder Image.png|left|100px]]'''Everything You Wanted to Know about VPNs, but Were Afraid to Ask (Glitter Meetup)'''


[[File:Getting_Started_with_Outline.png|left|100px]]


'''Date:''' Thursday, December 8, 2022<br>
'''[[Getting Started with Outline: Helping your friends and family access the Open Internet]] with Vinicius Fortuna, Staff Software Engineer & Daniel LaCosse, Senior Software Engineer, Google'''
'''Time:''' <br>
'''RSVP:''' <br>


'''Summary:''' <br>
Tuesday, December 6, 2022 at 9:30am - 11am EST / 2:30pm - 4pm UTC ([https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Getting+Started+with+Outline+Workshop%3A+Helping+your+friends+and+family+access+the+Open+Internet&iso=20221206T0930&p1=179&ah=1&am=30 What time is it in my city?])<br>
'''Presenters:''' <br>
 
In this 1.5 hour workshop, participants will learn about what Outline is and how it works, and will then set up their own Outline VPN server. '''[https://digitalrights.formstack.com/forms/vpnvillage2022_3 RSVP here]'''
 
 
[[File:How to Critically Choose a VPN Service Tile.png|left|100px]]
 
'''[[How to Critically Choose a VPN]] with Viktor Vecsei, COO at IVPN'''
 
Wednesday, December 7, 2022 at 10am - 11am EST / 3pm - 4pm UTC ([https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=How+to+Critically+Choose+a+VPN&iso=20221207T10&p1=179&ah=1 What time is it in my city?])<br>
 
In this session, you will learn how to recognize signals of trustworthiness in VPN providers and more effectively analyze VPN recommendation resources in your search for a VPN service that respects your privacy, safety and security as a user. '''[https://digitalrights.formstack.com/forms/vpnvillage2022_4 RSVP here]'''
 
 
[[File:NewNode VPN Tile.png|left|100px]]
 
'''[[NewNode VPN: Internet Access In Shutdowns And Disruptions]] with Arina Shalunova & Marina Feygelman, NewNode'''
 
Thursday, December 8, 2022 at 10am - 11am EST / 3pm - 4pm UTC ([https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=NewNode+VPN%3A+Internet+Access+In+Shutdowns+And+Disruptions+%28Presentation+%26+Demo%29&iso=20221208T10&p1=%3A&ah=1 What time is it in my city?])<br>
 
There is a lot of talk about VPNs to fight censorship and using VPNs for security, but there’s a missing piece: what do you do when the internet isn’t there? Internet shutdowns generally happen at the times when up-to-date information is most important. '''[https://digitalrights.formstack.com/forms/vpnvillage2022_6 RSVP here]'''

Latest revision as of 12:16, 19 January 2023

VPN Community Initiative Village Image.png

The VPN Village is a two-week virtual series of events focused on VPN user education and solidarity. The events held over the last week of November and first week of December will address gaps in user education around VPNs, the challenge of analyzing and selecting a VPN, and will show attendees how to set up their own VPN servers and proxies to support their communities and users combatting censorship globally.

The Village is part of TCU’s VPN Community Initiative which was formed in 2022 to bring together a diverse group of individuals working within and around the VPN ecosystem - including providers, researchers, digital security specialists and technologists - to collaborate and share knowledge.

Workshops & Events

How to Become Your Community's Provider with WEPN.png

Becoming Your Community’s VPN Provider with WEPN with Amir Gharabaghi and Reza Nasab, WEPN

Thursday, November 17, 2022 at 9am - 10am EST / 2pm - 3pm UTC (What time is it in my city?)

Join us to learn how WEPN works and what user needs it was created to address; discuss the current censorship and access situation in Iran and how WEPN is currently being deployed to support users in Iran; and learn how you can use WEPN to support individuals in Iran and other heavily censored regions. Read Notes Here


Run Snowflake Proxies.png

Run Snowflake Proxies and Strengthen Internet Freedom with Gustavo Gus, Community Team Lead, Tor Project

Tuesday, November 29, 2022 at 9am - 10:30am EST / 2pm - 3:30pm UTC (What time is it in my city?)

Have you considered helping users from censored regions to access the free and open internet? Snowflake is a new pluggable transport that allows people from all over the world to access the open internet. In this workshop, you will learn what Snowflake is, and how to set up a proxy and help censored users bypass internet censorship. RSVP here


Threat Modeling 101 Tile.png

Threat Modeling 101: Understanding When to Use or Not Use a VPN with Trinh Nguyen, Director of Safety and Technology, Team CommUNITY

Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 8:30am - 10am EST / 1:30pm - 3pm UTC (What time is it in my city?)

In this session, attendees will learn about basic risk assessment and threat modeling, VPN use cases, and how to determine when using a VPN may be helpful, or may not be. RSVP here


All of them claim to be the best.png

“All of them claim to be the best”: A multi-perspective study of VPN users and VPN providers with Reethika Ramesh, CS PhD Candidate at the University of Michigan, and lead researcher at VPNalyzer

Tuesday, December 1, 2022 at 11am - 12pm EST / 4pm - 5pm UTC (What time is it in my city?)

Join Reethika Ramesh, lead VPNalyzer researcher and co-author of the aforementioned paper, to hear about the key takeaways from the VPN user survey and VPN provider interviews and find out about new developments with the VPNalyzer Tool, a desktop tool that helps test and identify security and privacy issues with your VPN. RSVP here


Getting Started with Outline.png

Getting Started with Outline: Helping your friends and family access the Open Internet with Vinicius Fortuna, Staff Software Engineer & Daniel LaCosse, Senior Software Engineer, Google

Tuesday, December 6, 2022 at 9:30am - 11am EST / 2:30pm - 4pm UTC (What time is it in my city?)

In this 1.5 hour workshop, participants will learn about what Outline is and how it works, and will then set up their own Outline VPN server. RSVP here


How to Critically Choose a VPN Service Tile.png

How to Critically Choose a VPN with Viktor Vecsei, COO at IVPN

Wednesday, December 7, 2022 at 10am - 11am EST / 3pm - 4pm UTC (What time is it in my city?)

In this session, you will learn how to recognize signals of trustworthiness in VPN providers and more effectively analyze VPN recommendation resources in your search for a VPN service that respects your privacy, safety and security as a user. RSVP here


NewNode VPN Tile.png

NewNode VPN: Internet Access In Shutdowns And Disruptions with Arina Shalunova & Marina Feygelman, NewNode

Thursday, December 8, 2022 at 10am - 11am EST / 3pm - 4pm UTC (What time is it in my city?)

There is a lot of talk about VPNs to fight censorship and using VPNs for security, but there’s a missing piece: what do you do when the internet isn’t there? Internet shutdowns generally happen at the times when up-to-date information is most important. RSVP here

Retrieved from "https://wiki.digitalrights.community/index.php?title=VPN_Community_Initiative_Village_2022&oldid=46874"