GOVCERT.NL Symposium 2008

Maurice Wessling

Maurice Wessling has worked in the field of civil rights, technology and policy since the beginning of the nineties. In 1996 he was a producer for Hacking in Progress, a three-day international open-air conference and festival at a remote location in the Netherlands, attended by 1500 hackers and security professionals. From 1997 to 2000 he worked for the Dutch ISP XS4ALL as a public affairs officer and media spokesman. In 2000 he founded Bits of Freedom, a privacy and civil rights organization. In 2006 he joined the Dutch campaign against voting computers (We don’t trust voting computers) as a full-time staff member. Currently Maurice is employed at the Dutch consumer union as a policy advisor on telecommunication issues. Maurice will speak at the GOVCERT.NL symposium in a personal capacity.

We don't trust voting computers Tuesday 16 September, 14:40-15:25, Penn Room

Only two years ago, 99% of Dutch voters used paperless voting computers to cast their ballot. Then a small group of hacker activists teamed up with legal and FOIA experts. “We don’t trust voting computers” demonstrated how easily the voting computers could be manipulated and how flawed the certification process was. Since then, the Netherlands has switched to paper ballots and red pencils. The story of “We don’t trust voting computers” is not only about the flaws of voting computers, but also about a small group of tech-savvy activists who questioned the way technology was used at the center of democracy.