Impressions from the Chaos Communication Congress (39c3)

At the end of last year, I attended the Chaos Communication Congress (39c3) of the Chaos Computer Club (CCC)¹ for the first time in Hamburg. For four days, the Congress feels like its own open and welcoming world – full of nerds of all generations.

Alongside many technical talks, the Congress also features a large number of contributions dealing with the ethical and political impact of technology on society. Many of these talks are easy to follow even without a deep technical background and are often surprisingly entertaining. A large part of the program is recorded and made publicly available shortly after the event on media.ccc.de. Some talks are in German, others in English – and for many recordings, translated audio tracks (e.g. German/English) can be selected or downloaded directly from the video page.

A few recommendations to get an impression of the Congress:

• Gegenmacht – Best of Informationsfreiheit – an entertaining overview of freedom of information and transparency, with Arne Semsrott from FragDenStaat². (German, English audio track available)

• CCC-Jahresrückblick – the traditional annual review by CCC speakers, looking back at the past year. (German, English audio track available)

• „They Talk Tech“ – live – a live podcast recording with Anne Roth, well suited for listening on the go. (German only)

• „Passwort“ – der heise security Podcast – also recorded live at the Congress; especially the first two segments are worth a listen. (German only)

• „KI“, Digitalisierung und Longevity als Fix für ein kaputtes Gesundheitssystem? – a nuanced look at technological promises in healthcare. (German, English audio track available)

• AI Agent, AI Spy – with Udbhav Tiwari and Meredith Whittaker from Signal³, discussing surveillance, power structures and current developments around AI. (English)

• A post-American, enshittification-resistant internet – Cory Doctorow on platform capitalism and digital dependencies. (English)

• Ein Jahr Adenauer SRP+ und der Walter-Lübcke-Memorial-Park – a political and provocative appearance by the Center for Political Beauty. (German, English audio track available)

Finally, I find myself agreeing with Marc-Uwe Kling, who in his talk Die Känguru-Rebellion: Digital Independence Day calls for a regular Digital Independence Day from minute 42:24 onwards. A small, low-threshold invitation to occasionally question one’s own digital habits. If you are curious, have a look and feel free to join in. More information is available at di.day (website in German; talk in German with English audio track).

PS: If you want to bookmark talks or download already published recordings, you might want to take a look at Chaosflix⁴, an unofficial Android app for CCC videos.

PPS: If you are generally interested in the history and self-image of the CCC, I can recommend the documentary “Alles ist Eins. Außer der 0” (2020), for example on YouTube (German).