Let’s face it, at this point, there’s no stopping PRISM. Sure, coalitions have formed to protest the NSA for greater transparency about its spying programs, but Goliath is rarely beaten with a petition. Signatures don’t sway top-secret, billion dollar programs.
So, if Goliath can’t be beat, maybe he can be tricked. That’s where artists Anthony Antonellis and Carlos Sáez come in.
Their program Trigger Treat gives a list of official “trigger” words from the Department of Homeland Security that you can send to the NSA over Twitter or Facebook. The game Trigger Treat lets you play is absolutely absurdist: You get to tease the NSA, and confuse them into considering you for a watch list. Along the way, maybe you’ll teach the feds about art.
That’s a pretty great wrench to throw into the type of data the NSA is collecting , and it’s all through social media. Notably, Antonellis identifies this as central to the project.
“There are sites which already generate this type of list, or generate emails containing some of the words, etc.,” Anthony Antonellis told me. “So this site becomes more about the social media tracking part of Prism.”
If you’re willing to let the NSA know you’re paying attention to them before they start paying (more) attention to you, here’s what you do on the site:
Click one of the two “[YES]” buttons, choosing your social media of choice.
If you’re using Twitter, your pop-up screen will auto-fill with “trigger” words. Tip: If you’re using FB, you’ll have to fill in the words yourself.
Hey NSA, follow me! forschung Kosovo Indigo industrial espionage Hongqi-61 Cornflower Dick Durbin rsta http://t.co/Uy2Y6pSTzv #TriggerTreat
— Corinna Kirsch (@corinnakirsch) June 18, 2013
That is it. Easy hacktivism.
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