What is personal data in an age where data is everything but personal? The Glass Room is an interactive exhibition on data and privacy that provides different ways of understanding how technologies and data are changing our lives. The Glass Room currently comes in three formats:
The Glass Room Misinformation Edition explores how social media and the web have changed the way we read information and react to it. The exhibition consists of a series of posters, interactive apps and animations which can be hosted in public or private spaces anywhere in the world. It also exists as a freely-accessible virtual experience online – click here to try it out! The Misinformation Edition has been translated into Italian, German, Spanish and French, with more languages coming soon.
This edition was developed as a result of high demand from visitors of larger Glass Rooms in London and New York, who also wanted to set up similar exhibitions in their cities. This smaller, portable version comes in a lightweight and adaptable format that can be set up in a variety of different spaces from libraries and schools to conferences and metro stations. So far we've hosted over 100 events in over 20 countries and our resources are available in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
The Glass Room Plus is curated exhibition that can be set up at large cultural events in Europe. The Glass Room Plus features 15 art objects, a Data Detox Bar and a training programme for a team of ‘Ingeniuses'.
The Glass Room began in 2016 at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin as part of their Nervous Systems exhibition, examining the relationship between human and machine. There, Tactical Tech set up The White Room, a space designed to look like a tech store, but really containing art objects that provoke visitors to think about their relationship with technology. After the success of this exhibition, we partnered with Mozilla to create The Glass Room New York later in 2016, as a stand-alone, pop-up exhibition in SoHo, with additional art objects and a full programme of events. Its impact - from media coverage to attendance to engagement – far exceeded all expectations. The following year, in 2017, again in partnership with Mozilla, we brought The Glass Room to London, drawing nearly 20,000 visitors over three weeks.
The Glass Room presents Capsule 2.0, 'Nothing Personal?', our latest showcase of digital objects, both old and new. This second capsule explores how technologies are designed, branded and engineered to collect deeply personal data and influence our real-time behaviours.
From the tech boom to tech backlash, our understanding of the digital has become both deeply personal and deeply political. Two major Glass Room exhibitions tackling these themes are taking place in The Netherlands, in Leeuwarden and Amsterdam.
The Glass Room presents Capsule 1.0, a quarterly showcase of digital objects - old and new - from previous Community Edition series, independent investigations and collaborations. This first capsule explores how our phone numbers, face prints and personal data travel from our smartphones to different third-party organisations.
Check out this updated visualisation of the data you give away when you click 'I Agree', with key phrases from the terms and conditions of popular apps and services.
The Glass Room: Misinformation Edition, which can be visited online or hosted offline, has been translated into French, German, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Slovenian, Lithuanian and Ukrainian, with more coming soon. Take a look and visit the exhibition virtually in your preferred language!
The Glass Room: Misinformation Edition explores how social media and the web have changed the way we read information and react to it. This new exhibition, which can be visited online or hosted offline, tackles all forms of misinformation.
We are delighted to announce that The Glass Room has been selected as one of the winners of Creative Review's The Annual 2020 award. The Glass Room was described as "thought-provoking...a fascinating look at our relationship with digital devices".
Thank you to everyone who took part in The Glass Room San Francisco that ran from 16 October to 3 November 2019 with over 20,000 visitors, a daily program of events, and over 50 artworks that playfully and provocatively explore our relationship to technology.
Working with data comes with risks. This four-step guide from our Data & Activism project is designed to help individuals, NGOs and other civil society actors create their own Data Policy.
When you Google your name, you'll likely find a whole range of digital traces: do you want the world to find everything you've ever put online? A new Data Detox Kit article explains how to curate your online identity and accounts.
Our Voter’s Guide explains how personal data is collected and used by political parties and candidates – and what voters can do about it. The seven tips are now available in both English and Dutch.
This new chapter of the Organiser's Activity Book from our Data & Activism project looks at event promotion. The playful activities, aimed at organisers, campaigners and human rights defenders, explore the consequences, risks and benefits of using tools like social media in terms of personal data.
Whether you’re expressing your disapproval on the web or on the streets, technology will play a role in how you protest. This Data Detox guide will help activists and protesters stay vigilant when using smartphones, social media, and messaging apps.
Our Executive Director Stephanie Hankey writes for Project Syndicate about how we use systems driven by big data in crises such as the coronavirus pandemic.
Cet article aborde les questions de savoir quelle technologie est bonne, sûre et appropriée à utiliser en ces temps complexes si nous voulons agir et travailler de manière responsable et à distance. Comment décider de la technologie à laquelle nous devons faire confiance ? Il examine également ce qui pourrait être fait à l'avenir pour répondre à cette question beaucoup plus facilement qu'aujourd'hui.
Tactical Tech's co-founder Marek Tuszynski addresses the question of which technology is good, safe and appropriate to help us act and work responsibly and remotely during the coronavirus pandemic - and how to make answering this question easier in the future.
Our co-founder Stephanie Hankey writes on Medium about misinformation on WhatsApp.
