Tech Tools for Activists book published

how do we know this isn't a plant to give a false sense of security?
what if we did what you say, but then you secretly know a way around it?

what qualifications do you have and what credentials do you have that we can trust?

Great - I desperately need this!

The booklet is printed using planet-based inks, but is not in and of itself a plant. Here's how you can check this for yourself ...

1. Ask techie friends that you trust about the contents.
2. Look for online resources.
3. Get books about tech security from the library.
4. Read tech books in bookshops (or, if you are better off than me, but them).

No one of these methods is bomb-proof by themselves, but taken together they should offer some verification.

One tip I would offer is do not wholly trust what manufacturers say about the security of their own products - look at what independent specialists say.

It's not a plant, honest! Though I guess it could be, so why believe me? Take a look at the web site ( http://hacktivista.net), follow the project so far, have a look at the book's development ( http://www.booki.cc/tech-tools-for-activists/) you'll see that it's totally open and that all the decision making and editing for this book was done in public. So it'd be hard for it to really be a plant, though I'll leave it to you to decide....

As to whether you should take everything mentioned in the book to be the final, utterly up-to-date and definitive answer on any given topic, no I don't think you should, obviously. This is a booklet produced openly by activists writing from their knowledge and experience, but it's not definitive. It's a booklet that highlights the issues involved and tries to provide some suitable answers and recommendations, it's intended to make us think a little bit more about what we're communicating and how.

There's probably no better security than talking to someone you personally have known for many years face to face out in the open, having checked that your 'friend' hasn't got some form of recording device planted on them. Try to make sure you're in the middle of a large field and that it's a windy day.

20,000+ people signed up for tomoro's demo on Facebook. Probably most of them with their real names. Sounds like this book is just what's needed. Nice one!

"The HacktionLab collective has just published it's first paper output..."

NO!

"The HacktionLab collective has just published its first paper output..."

YES!

it's = abbreviation of "it is"
its = possessive pronoun

sorry for this advice to grammatically-challenged activists ;-)

That just stuck out like a sore thumb. Other than that it looks like an excellent resource!