Columbia University presents a unique festival which will explore digital literacy and hacker culture.

In its inaugural year, Defrag will emphasize that the identity of hackers is not so black and white, and that each of us everyday citizens must “hack” systems in order to gain control of our privacy and data as well as our freedom and expression in cyberspace, too. It is easy to consider the vulnerability of our individual data, privacy, rights, and safety as political and military dramas play out in and through cyberspace: election hacking, email leaks, ransomware attacks on cities, and massive disruptive attacks against shipping, hospitals, and power plants. And yet at the same time, it can be difficult to imagine the nuances and understand the policy and current discourse surrounding these risks.

There will be two virtual events associated with Defrag in 2020, and a main event held in 2021.

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