May 12, 2025

Essay: What's in a name?

This week:

There are a million legitimate reasons why standing up to bullies may require a pseudonym (and a cowl), or even anonymity.

As has been clear for centuries, and even more so in this moment of inescapable mass surveillance, some of us — by nature of our birth nation, skin color, ethnicity, sex, gender, religious beliefs, and/or who we love — are in far more clear and present danger than someone like me.

And yet — millions of people over decades and centuries have stood in broad daylight and put their names and their bodies, their finite time and resources to the test, on the line, to fight for a better future for themselves and the generations to come.

Here's What You Can Do:

Donate to the Electronic Frontier Foundation to defend digital privacy.
Volunteer with organizing initiatives through Tech Shift , to help build a fairer, more just technological future.
🌍️ Get educated about where your data is going online by using the Markup’s Blacklight tool .
🌍️ Be heard about unlocking global energy data so that researchers worldwide have access to it.
Invest in tech for good and use your capital to scale climate tech with Carbon Equity .