5th of October 2023, Rome: a dynamic one-day gathering at the ETHRome privacy hackathon showcased a vibrant assembly of our community with leading figures in the industry such as NYM, Logos, Secret Network, Railgun, and Reclaim.

After the successful launch of our ecosystem at the Web3Privacy Now Summit in Prague on May 5th, we took center stage in Italy with the first of a long series of worldwide events to pioneer privacy in the web3 domain.

Along with our friends and contributors from other communities and organizations (Cryptocanal, Dyne.org, OONI, Swarm, PSE, Hopr…) we dove deep into the realm of privacy as a human right, sparking vital conversations and collaborative efforts.

The event aimed not only to inform but to actively shape data-privacy frameworks, educational resources, and lay the groundwork for privacy market building practices.

Find out what happened.

Why Rome

Known as the Eternal City, Rome has been a focal point of power and influence for over 2000 years. As the heart of the Roman Empire and the centre of the Catholic Church, It has witnessed countless political and social transformations.

Nowdays, as the home to the Italian Government, the Vatican, and several International Organizations, the city wields significant political influence to emphasize the importance of human rights and to shape European data policies.

Our aim with Community 1st Rome Takeover was indeed to go beyond tech talks, engaging with key political stakeholders and thought leaders to spark discussions on both technical and non technical level, help develop data-privacy reports, and open standards.

A New Privacy Hackathon is born

ETHRome (first edition) was the 1st web3 hackathon in the Country, had its focus on Governance and Privacy, and attracted more than 240 people.

One of our pivotal contributors (PG) also plays a key role in Urbe.eth - the driving force behind the hackathon. This dual involvement created a powerful synergy, amplifying our collective efforts to enhance privacy in the web3 domain.

Urbe.eth joined forces with a diverse array of privacy-centric projects, major industry players, and non-profit organizations. Meanwhile, we enriched the mix with our network of hacktivists, researchers, philosophers, and privacy advocates, orchestrating a pre-hackathon conference and a celebratory opening party.

Together we propelled practical contributions, resulting in the development of 40 projects, and firmly positioning ETHRome to become the leading global privacy hackathon.

Check out PrivacyBeats - the project developed by Web3Privacy Now community members Jakub, coinmandeer.eth, cryptomario, jiricepelka, and tree.

Unlocking Builders Talent and Collaboration

We believe that mentors and privacy-experts, as well as non-tech people and facilitators, are key figures in helping hackers to find meaningful perspectives and solve actual problems.

It’s only together—by merging perspectives, skills and visions—we can forge a path towards a more equitable, secure and privacy-respecting digital space.

“You should listen to community builders, designers, communicators and the people who lives where you think that your tools are going to be used.” It shouldn’t be like “I will just build it, and it’s so cool that someone will surely understand, come and use it.”

- Catsnacks (PSE), from “Empowering Builders to Make Better Privacy Solutions”

Something that we particularly appreciated was the Hacker Speed Dating event hosted by our friends from CryptoCanal, organizers of ETHDam (where Mykola was on stage in May with Ameen Soleimani & Parazyd from DarkFi).

Held right before the hackathon kick-off, this format proved to be an effective ice-breaker and an excellent way for facilitting team formation.

An Ideal Setting for Social Movement Engagement

The 'Community 1st - Rome Takeover' Summit took place at Villaggio Globale, a landmark center for culture and human rights, serving as the prelude to ETHRome.

Located near the Trastevere district and the Tiber River, Villaggio Globale stands out for its dynamic and creative use of public space. It truly represents the spirit of community engagement, activism, and resilience, thriving as a vibrant center of cultural expression.

It was the ideal setting for our needs, with its eclectic mix of art studios, associations, and grassroots movements. We were gratified to see how several members took an interest in our event and actively engaged in the discussion.

Speakers Diversity

Both speakers and attendees had different backgrounds and skill sets, which has enabled us to address the current web3 hot topics, as well as delve into the broader social, philosophical, and non-technical challenges presented by the digital world.

You can watch the recordings here.

This mix of varied perspectives and complementary expertise allowed us to assemble multidisciplinary panels, sparking engaging and insightful conversations among experts, activists, hackers, and the general public.

Free tickets, food and beverage.

Thanks to the support of our partners we will continue to make events as open and accessible as possible. We had non-stop artisanal crafted beer and delicious tipical roman food made. Nothing was left over.

Contribution to Privacy Market building practices

After creating the biggest database (500+ projects) for showcasing the web3-privacy projects' approaches, we've now started the development of:

• “PrivacyBeats” - a ranking system platform of all privacy-related projects in the Web3 domain to help users and builders to navigate the market,
 protect themselves from data leakages, hacking & anti-privacy actions.

• Privacy Guides for the general public - educational 101s to understand why privacy matters + how take actual steps to self-custody sensible data and self-govern how to connect to each other.

• Hackathon Curation packs - a collection of use-cases and practical tools for developers to undestrand actual web3 issues and develop meaningful solutions accordingly.

Here is a full list of our ongoing projects + how you can help.

Takeaways

1. “Smallish events are key for socializing & collaboration”

Stripped of distractions, overwhelming agendas, and divergent interests, maintaining a sharp focus on objectives and principles is key. By cultivating environments where participants feel deeply engaged and empowered in dialogue, we establish spaces that foster genuine connection and involvement.

2. Local privacy market facilitation

Although Italy became the 1st European country to adopt a crowdsourced Declaration of Internet Rights in July 2015, not much has been done since then.

Our hope and motivation were fueled by the presence of different individuals and initiatives dedicated to foster digital privacy in the country, the event indeed catalyzed new collaborations and laid the foundation for joint efforts with various local stakeholders.

Highlighting this were key figures like jaromil, founder of Devuan and dyne.org, who delivered insights on the history of hacktivism in Italy, and Arturo Filastrò, Project Lead at OONI and vice president of Hermes, who further enriched the discussions.

3. Free-standing model for Independence and Authenticity

We remain committed to a development model sustained by voluntary contributions and donations. Our extensive research, project development, and tool production thrive thanks to the support of individuals and organizations who care about privacy.

We will continue with this authentic approach, bolstered by your support and the vibrant involvement of the community.

How to Get Involved

⎆ Join the Community

• Enter the conversation and start contributing to the development of our projects

• Gather with likeminded individuals at our next events

• Check out our tools & research

⎆ Offer Financial Support

• Donate here to help us staying independent and distributed

• Check out our projects and give grants