[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":257},["ShallowReactive",2],{"/projects/ctrl-network":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"date":243,"description":244,"extension":245,"favorite":246,"meta":247,"navigation":246,"path":250,"seo":251,"sitemap":252,"stem":253,"tags":254,"thumbnail":255,"__hash__":256},"projects/projects/ctrl-network.md","CTRL+Network",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":237},"minimark",[9,20,25,30,37,53,70,76,105,126,135],[10,11,12,13,19],"p",{},"CTRL+Network is a piece of software for macOS and Linux that proxies a device's network traffic to use it as a space for learning and ",[14,15,18],"span",{"className":16},[17],"white-highlight","renegotiating our relationship"," with tech companies.",[21,22],"cta-card",{"cta":23,"link":24},"The full report is available here!","/projects/ctrl-network/CTRL-Network-Ezequiel-2026.pdf",[26,27,29],"h3",{"id":28},"overview","Overview",[10,31,32],{},[33,34],"img",{"alt":35,"src":36},"ProjectImage1","/projects/ctrl-network/cn-1.jpg",[10,38,39,40,52],{},"The commoditisation of behavioural data underpins the contemporary digital economy, embedding surveillance into the infrastructure of everyday needs",[41,42,43],"sup",{},[44,45,51],"a",{"href":46,"ariaDescribedBy":47,"dataFootnoteRef":49,"id":50},"#user-content-fn-zuboff2019",[48],"footnote-label","","user-content-fnref-zuboff2019","1",". The relationship between an individual and the corporations operating these systems is fundamentally unbalanced: the terms of engagement are mainly set by the companies, leaving individuals little capacity to negotiate.",[10,54,55,56,60,61,69],{},"Drawing on Illich's concept of ",[57,58,59],"strong",{},"conviviality"," (tools that expand individual agency rather than producing dependency",[41,62,63],{},[44,64,68],{"href":65,"ariaDescribedBy":66,"dataFootnoteRef":49,"id":67},"#user-content-fn-illich1973",[48],"user-content-fnref-illich1973","2","), CTRL+Network treats personal computing's movement towards surveillance-driven, non-convivial systems as something that can be pushed back against through tools that offer individuals more transparency and control.",[10,71,72],{},[33,73],{"alt":74,"src":75},"ProjectImage2","/projects/ctrl-network/cn-2.jpg",[10,77,78,79,82,90,91,95,96,104],{},"By sitting between the device and the network, the application performs an ",[57,80,81],{},"infrastructural inversion",[41,83,84],{},[44,85,89],{"href":86,"ariaDescribedBy":87,"dataFootnoteRef":49,"id":88},"#user-content-fn-bowker1999",[48],"user-content-fnref-bowker1999","3",", making requests that were designed to stay hidden a visible part of users' workspace. A local language model interprets this traffic in plain language. Once a request is legible, users can allow, block, fabricate, or poison it, drawing on Marichal's call to ",[14,92,94],{"className":93},[17],"become an algorithmic problem"," and degrade the value of extracted data",[41,97,98],{},[44,99,103],{"href":100,"ariaDescribedBy":101,"dataFootnoteRef":49,"id":102},"#user-content-fn-marichal2025",[48],"user-content-fnref-marichal2025","4",".",[10,106,107,108,116,117,125],{},"Sitting within the tradition of critical engineering",[41,109,110],{},[44,111,115],{"href":112,"ariaDescribedBy":113,"dataFootnoteRef":49,"id":114},"#user-content-fn-oliver2011",[48],"user-content-fnref-oliver2011","5"," and critical technical practice",[41,118,119],{},[44,120,124],{"href":121,"ariaDescribedBy":122,"dataFootnoteRef":49,"id":123},"#user-content-fn-agre1997",[48],"user-content-fnref-agre1997","6",", CTRL+Network's intent is not to solve surveillance capitalism, but to explore how small, critically designed tools can shift our relationship with unfair systems. By opening a channel for negotiation, it creates a space where individuals, and potentially communities, can examine and rewrite the terms of a contract they never had the chance to understand.",[10,127,128,132],{},[33,129],{"alt":130,"src":131},"ProjectImage3","/projects/ctrl-network/cn-3.jpg",[33,133],{"alt":130,"src":134},"/projects/ctrl-network/cn-4.jpg",[136,137,140,146],"section",{"className":138,"dataFootnotes":49},[139],"footnotes",[141,142,145],"h2",{"className":143,"id":48},[144],"sr-only","Footnotes",[147,148,149,166,179,192,205,224],"ol",{},[150,151,153,154,158,159],"li",{"id":152},"user-content-fn-zuboff2019","Zuboff, S. (2019) ",[155,156,157],"em",{},"The age of surveillance capitalism: the fight for a human future at the new frontier of power."," New York: PublicAffairs. ",[44,160,165],{"href":161,"ariaLabel":162,"className":163,"dataFootnoteBackref":49},"#user-content-fnref-zuboff2019","Back to reference 1",[164],"data-footnote-backref","↩",[150,167,169,170,173,174],{"id":168},"user-content-fn-illich1973","Illich, I. (1973) ",[155,171,172],{},"Tools for conviviality."," London: Calder and Boyars. ",[44,175,165],{"href":176,"ariaLabel":177,"className":178,"dataFootnoteBackref":49},"#user-content-fnref-illich1973","Back to reference 2",[164],[150,180,182,183,186,187],{"id":181},"user-content-fn-bowker1999","Bowker, G.C. and Star, S.L. (1999) ",[155,184,185],{},"Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences",". Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ",[44,188,165],{"href":189,"ariaLabel":190,"className":191,"dataFootnoteBackref":49},"#user-content-fnref-bowker1999","Back to reference 3",[164],[150,193,195,196,199,200],{"id":194},"user-content-fn-marichal2025","Marichal, J. (2025) You must become an algorithmic problem: renegotiating the socio-technical contract. ",[155,197,198],{},"Bristol University Press",". ",[44,201,165],{"href":202,"ariaLabel":203,"className":204,"dataFootnoteBackref":49},"#user-content-fnref-marichal2025","Back to reference 4",[164],[150,206,208,209,212,213,218,219],{"id":207},"user-content-fn-oliver2011","Oliver, J., Savičić, G. and Vasiliev, D. (2011) ",[155,210,211],{},"The Critical Engineering Manifesto",". Available at: ",[44,214,215],{"href":215,"rel":216},"https://criticalengineering.org/",[217],"nofollow"," (Accessed: 29 April 2026). ",[44,220,165],{"href":221,"ariaLabel":222,"className":223,"dataFootnoteBackref":49},"#user-content-fnref-oliver2011","Back to reference 5",[164],[150,225,227,228,231,232],{"id":226},"user-content-fn-agre1997","Agre, P.E. (1997) ‘Toward a critical technical practice: Lessons learned in trying to reform AI’, in Bowker, G.C., Gasser, L., Star, S.L. and Turner, W. (eds.) ",[155,229,230],{},"Bridging the Great Divide: Social Science, Technical Systems, and Cooperative Work",". Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ",[44,233,165],{"href":234,"ariaLabel":235,"className":236,"dataFootnoteBackref":49},"#user-content-fnref-agre1997","Back to reference 6",[164],{"title":49,"searchDepth":238,"depth":238,"links":239},2,[240,242],{"id":28,"depth":241,"text":29},3,{"id":48,"depth":238,"text":145},"2026","CTRL+Network is a piece of software for macOS and Linux that proxies a device's network traffic to use it as a space for learning and renegotiating our relationship with tech companies.","md",true,{"subtitle":248,"org":249},"Renegotiating surveillance through network traffic","UAL","/projects/ctrl-network",{"title":5,"description":244},{"loc":250},"projects/ctrl-network",null,"/projects/ctrl-network.thumbnail.jpg","X-ux5bosb9D1F1dx8I3dc5VKWOXr-rD_AoReJAHwh9w",1782016072960]