OTF Monthly Report for January 2015

 
Mon, 2015-02-23 22:33

In January, OTF continued to sign numerous FY 2014 contracts bolstering its active portfolio of more than 40 projects and initiatives that increase global Internet freedom.

Notable accomplishments

  • The Localization Lab now supports 34 internet anti-censorship projects with more than 2,600 participating individuals contributing to the submission and verification of over 354,000 translated words into over 200 languages and dialects.
  • OTF Red Team initiated 5 audits on Internet freedom technology projects in January, and is nearing completion of 3 audits for technologies critical to unrestricted access to information, including a public audit for Wikimedia Foundation’s MediaWiki platform.
  • OTF’s rapid response initiative has established a framework for defining and detecting attempts to tamper with online content, such as denial-of-services attacks.
  • OTF-sponsored fellows focusing on censorship detection and analysis projects started their projects this month with Citizen Lab, the University of Washington, Strathmore University and Georgia Tech/Princeton with work including exploring safe means of measuring Internet censorship at scale, comparing threats to Internet Freedoms in three Eastern African countries, and investigating techniques to improve communication of network interference to end users.
  • Currently there are 12 proposals under review by OTF staff and the Advisory Council. Within this batch, there are projects which are identifying new solutions to ongoing challenges to Internet freedom including but not limited to: the development of a peer-to-peer adhoc messaging platform, an intrusion detection system for mobile devices, a platform to detect spear-phishing attacks and more.
  • OTF-supported project Open Whisper Systems released a private beta of their “Signal” integrated app, unifying their secure voice calls app RedPhone and secure SMS app TextSecure, on iOS. Open Whisper Systems has also implemented multi-device support on Android and iOS.
  • From 11 applications, five applicants for final review of their next generation circumvention technology projects through OTF’s Emerging Technology Fellowship Program (ETFP).
  • OTF Staff participated in the International Human Rights Funders Group conference held in San Francisco, California.
  • OTF’s Legal Lab is currently developing a series of beginner’s legal guides to Internet Freedom with Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard Law School.

Select news collected by OTF from the month of January. Get the full feed live @OpenTechFund