Smári McCarthy
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Smári McCarthy (; born 7 February 1984) is an Icelandic-Irish politician, innovator and information activist known for his work relating to direct democracy, transparency and privacy.


Early life

McCarthy was born in
Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...
,
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
, the son of Kolbrún Óskarsdóttir and Eugene McCarthy. His mother is Icelandic while his father is Irish. At age one, his family moved to England. At age 9, they returned to Iceland, settling in
Vestmannaeyjar Vestmannaeyjar (, sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,414, most of whom live in the archipelago's main town, Vestmannaeyja ...
, a town and
archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...
off the south coast. He studied mathematics at the
University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...
, but left to get involved with the digital fabrication movement.


Career

McCarthy got involved in the digital fabrication movement in 2007 and was involved in the creation of the first Icelandic
fab lab A fab lab (''fabrication laboratory'') is a small-scale workshop offering (personal) digital fabrication. A fab lab is typically equipped with an array of flexible computer-controlled tools that cover several different length scales and variou ...
in
Vestmannaeyjar Vestmannaeyjar (, sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,414, most of whom live in the archipelago's main town, Vestmannaeyja ...
. He has worked with Fab Labs elsewhere, including
Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Help:IPA/Persian, ͡ʒä.lɑː.lɑː.bɑːd̪ is the list of cities in Afghanistan, fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 200,331, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part ...
,
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
. The same year, McCarthy proposed the
Shadow Parliament Project A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade (shadow), shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section (geometry), cros ...
, a project intending to "
crowdsource Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods and services, goods or services—including ideas, Voting, votes, Microwork, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary ...
democracy". In an essay outlining the project, he described what is now known as Liquid Democracy. The project launched Skuggaþing (Icelandic for "shadow parliament") in early 2010. In 2012, he started the wasa2il software project in order to address shortcomings with existing implementations of Liquid Democracy. In 2008, he co-founded of the Icelandic Digital Freedom Society (FSFÍ), a free software, privacy and digital rights organization in Iceland. In 2009, he organized the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative along with various other media freedom and free speech activists, including
Birgitta Jónsdóttir Birgitta Jónsdóttir (born 17 April 1967) is an Icelandic politician, anarchist, poet, and activist. She was a Member of the Althing (MP) for the Southwest Constituency from 2013 to 2017, representing the Pirate Party, having been elected at t ...
,
Julian Assange Julian Paul Assange ( ; Hawkins; born 3 July 1971) is an Australian editor, publisher, and activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006. He came to international attention in 2010 after WikiLeaks published a series of News leak, leaks from Chels ...
and
Rop Gonggrijp Robbert (Rop) Valentijn Gonggrijp (born 14 February 1968) is a Dutch hacker and one of the founders of XS4ALL. Biography Gonggrijp was born in Amsterdam. While growing up in Wormer in the Dutch Zaanstreek area, he became known as a teenage hack ...
. In 2011 the International Modern Media Institute (IMMI) was formed around the initiative, with McCarthy serving as executive director. In 2013, McCarthy he left that role, but he still serves as a board member of IMMI. In 2012, he co-founded the
Icelandic Pirate Party The Pirate Party (, ) is a political party in Iceland. The party's platform is based on pirate politics and direct democracy. The party was founded on 24 November 2012 and ran for the first time in the 2013 parliamentary election. History The ...
, along with
Birgitta Jónsdóttir Birgitta Jónsdóttir (born 17 April 1967) is an Icelandic politician, anarchist, poet, and activist. She was a Member of the Althing (MP) for the Southwest Constituency from 2013 to 2017, representing the Pirate Party, having been elected at t ...
,
Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson (born 22 October 1980) is an Icelandic former member of parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Represen ...
, and various others. He stood as their lead candidate in Iceland's
South Constituency South () is one of the six multi-member constituencies of the Althing, the national legislature of Iceland. The constituency was established in 2003 following the re-organisation of constituencies across Iceland when the Southern constituency w ...
in the 2013 parliamentary elections, but he did not win a seat. In the summer of 2013, McCarthy co-founded the
free software Free software, libre software, libreware sometimes known as freedom-respecting software is computer software distributed open-source license, under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, distribut ...
project
Mailpile Mailpile is a free and open-source email client with the main focus of privacy and usability. It is a webmail client, albeit one run from the user's computer, as a downloaded program launched as a local website. Features In the default setup of ...
along with
Bjarni Rúnar Einarsson Bjarni is an Icelandic male given name and may refer to: * Bjarni Ármannsson resigned as CEO of Glitnir (formerly Íslandsbanki) in May 2007 * Bjarni Ólafur Eiríksson (born 1982), footballer (defender) from Iceland *Bjarni Benediktsson (born ...
and
Brennan Novak Brennan may refer to: People * Brennan (surname) * Brennan (given name) * Bishop Brennan (disambiguation) Places * Brennan, Idlib, a village located in Sinjar Nahiyah in Maarrat al-Nu'man District, Idlib, Syria * Rabeeah Brennan, a village located ...
. The team successfully
crowdfunded Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance, to fund projects "without standard financial ...
$163,192. McCarthy's role in the company is privacy and security. In 2014, McCarthy joined the editorial board of Scottish pro-independence newspaper ''
Bella Caledonia ''Bella Caledonia'' is an online magazine publishing social, political and cultural commentary. It was launched in 2007 and came to particular prominence during the campaign period of the Scottish independence referendum that was held in 2014. ...
''. McCarthy left Mailpile to become the chief technologist of the
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is a global network of Investigative journalism, investigative journalists. It was founded in 2006 and specializes in organized crime and corruption. It publishes its stories through ...
, where he has helped design and code the Investigative Dashboard project. In 2016, McCarthy was elected as a Pirate Party member of the
Althing The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Parliament, national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ('Thing (assembly), thing ...
.


Public speaking and activism

McCarthy has spoken at numerous conferences such as
Oekonux The originally German Oekonux (pronounced "urkonooks") project was founded to research the possibilities of free software to fundamentally change the current political and economic structures. Oekonux considers that the mode of production of free ...
,
FSCONS Free Society Conference and Nordic Summit (FSCONS) is a Nordic conference trying to bridge the gap between software and cultural freedom held each autumn in Gothenburg, Sweden. It shares many similarities with FOSDEM (Free and Open source Software ...
, Internet at Liberty and SHARE as well as having lectured at various universities and summer schools. Common themes include direct or electronic democracy, press freedoms, a critique of industrialization as a centralizing force and the culture of the Internet. More recently he has spoken about privacy in the context of state surveillance.Where States Go To Die
C4ss.org (12 October 2013). Retrieved on 2016-02-04.
McCarthy was a member of
WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by ...
. According to Julian Assange: The Unauthorised Autobiography, McCarthy gave British-American journalist Heather Brooke copies of US diplomatic cable leak. After seeing the reaction of other WikiLeaks members when they learned this, McCarthy remotely accessed Brooke's computer and wiped the files. According to McCarthy, Brooke had given him permission to access her system, but not delete the file. McCarthy explained his actions to Brooke saying, "I've been put under a lot of very serious pressure and I'm afraid for my security." According to
Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...
in 2011, the events could put WikiLeaks in legal jeopardy. In 2012, WikiLeaks has alleged that McCarthy was approached by agents of the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
In 2013, it was reported that in October 2011 Google was served with a search warrant for the content of McCarthy's emails over his work with WikiLeaks. McCarthy has made appearances in '' We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks'', SVT's documentary ''Wikirebels'' and VPRO's ''de Wikileaks Code'' as well as numerous television interviews. McCarthy is a supporter of the
Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly The Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (CUNPA) is a global network of more than 300 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and 1,500 current and former parliamentarians from around 150 countries devoted to establishing a United ...
, an organisation which campaigns for democratic reformation of the United Nations and the creation of a more accountable international political system. He is also a signatory of the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucl ...
's Parliamentary Pledge.


Selected writing

* ''Passing over Eisenhower'' * ''Where States Go To Die: Military Artifacts, International Espionage And The End Of Liberal Democracy'' * ''Cloud Computing: Centralization and Data Sovereignty'', with Primavera De Filippi * ''Mediating Democracy'' in ''Redvolution: El poder del ciudadano conectado'' * ''Bergeron's Children'' in Despatches from the Invisible Revolution, edited by
Keith Kahn-Harris Keith Kahn-Harris is a sociologist and music critic. He is an honorary research fellow and senior lecturer at Birkbeck College, an associate fellow of the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, and a lecturer at Leo Baeck College. Khan-Harris wa ...
and Dougald Hine * ''Cloud Computing: Legal Issues in Centralized Architectures'' with Primavera de Filippi in ''Net Neutrality and Other Challenges for the Future of the Internet'' * ''The Future of Information Freedom'' in '' The Future we Deserve'', edited by Vinay Gupta * ''The End of (artificial) Scarcity'' in ''Free Beer'', edited by Stian Rødven Eide * ''Islands of Resilience'', with Eleanor SaittaIslands of resilience
/ref>


References


External links

*
Fellowship of Free Software Foundation of Europe interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Smari 1984 births
Smári McCarthy Smári McCarthy (; born 7 February 1984) is an Icelandic-Irish politician, innovator and information activist known for his work relating to direct democracy, transparency and privacy. Early life McCarthy was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, the ...
Smári McCarthy Smári McCarthy (; born 7 February 1984) is an Icelandic-Irish politician, innovator and information activist known for his work relating to direct democracy, transparency and privacy. Early life McCarthy was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, the ...
Smári McCarthy Smári McCarthy (; born 7 February 1984) is an Icelandic-Irish politician, innovator and information activist known for his work relating to direct democracy, transparency and privacy. Early life McCarthy was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, the ...
Living people
Smári McCarthy Smári McCarthy (; born 7 February 1984) is an Icelandic-Irish politician, innovator and information activist known for his work relating to direct democracy, transparency and privacy. Early life McCarthy was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, the ...
Smári McCarthy Smári McCarthy (; born 7 February 1984) is an Icelandic-Irish politician, innovator and information activist known for his work relating to direct democracy, transparency and privacy. Early life McCarthy was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, the ...
Smári McCarthy Smári McCarthy (; born 7 February 1984) is an Icelandic-Irish politician, innovator and information activist known for his work relating to direct democracy, transparency and privacy. Early life McCarthy was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, the ...
Smári McCarthy Smári McCarthy (; born 7 February 1984) is an Icelandic-Irish politician, innovator and information activist known for his work relating to direct democracy, transparency and privacy. Early life McCarthy was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, the ...
Smári McCarthy Smári McCarthy (; born 7 February 1984) is an Icelandic-Irish politician, innovator and information activist known for his work relating to direct democracy, transparency and privacy. Early life McCarthy was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, the ...
Smári McCarthy Smári McCarthy (; born 7 February 1984) is an Icelandic-Irish politician, innovator and information activist known for his work relating to direct democracy, transparency and privacy. Early life McCarthy was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, the ...
People associated with WikiLeaks
Smári McCarthy Smári McCarthy (; born 7 February 1984) is an Icelandic-Irish politician, innovator and information activist known for his work relating to direct democracy, transparency and privacy. Early life McCarthy was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, the ...
Smári McCarthy Smári McCarthy (; born 7 February 1984) is an Icelandic-Irish politician, innovator and information activist known for his work relating to direct democracy, transparency and privacy. Early life McCarthy was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, the ...