Note: this month's San Francisco Techno-Activism Third Monday will take place on TUESDAY 17th FEBRUARY, because we didn't want to stomp all over your long weekend.

"TPMs, Management Engines, Secure Boot, Trusted Boot and things in-between."

Introduced by Matthew "mjg59" Garrett, free software kernel coder.

Hardwired code that can prevent you swapping out your computer's operating system. Hidden, cordoned-off processors embedded in your PC that runs secret code, and can read your computer's memory and talk over the Internet without your knowledge.

For the last decade, and largely unnoticed, computers and mobile devices have been sprouting features that challenge the idea that the owner of a PC has ultimate control over their own hardware and software.

These "trusted computing" developments have been called "treacherous computing" by free software advocates because of their ability to betray the control of your computer to strangers. But might they also hold out the promise of better protection against external surveillance and compromise?

Matthew Garrett won the 2013 Free Software Foundations' Free Software Award for his work to ensure that open platforms could work in conjunction with Secure Boot, and is now a FSF board member.

EFF Headquarters,
815 Eddy Street,
San Francisco,
CA 941110

Matthew's talk starts at 6:30PM - get here for 6:00 for snacks and introductions.

Join our TA3M-SF mailing list for info of future talks.