Steve Phillips Email and Phone Number
California, United States
Steve Phillips's Location
San Francisco Bay Area, United States, United States
About Steve Phillips
Hi there! I'm Steve, an award-winning software developer and privacy hacker.At present I'm designing radically simple, safe, comprehensible software that works more like biology. Building a better stack is how I can fulfill my purpose: to ensure an exciting and prosperous future for humanity.Below you will find some of what I have done, and what I'm doing now:0. Chief Hacker at Relay: I'm building "decentralized, anonymous, self-hostable Signal" that also lets you seamlessly send files of unlimited size. Here's a 17-second demo: https://youtu.be/49I6dTQecmM .1. I was the resident Privacy Hacker at Spring ACT where I designed and led the implementation of the Digital Safe feature of Sophia, the world's first chat bot helping domestic abuse survivors. See below for the international innovation awards we have won.2. Creator of CrypTag. I invented a way to make encrypted data partially searchable without decrypting it. I presented this software at DEFCON, "the largest underground hacker conference", in 2015.3. Creator of Executable Philosophy, a new philosophical methodology; see ExecutablePhilosophy.com4. Co-founder of Santa Barbara Hackerspace, which -- and this will shock you -- is a hackerspace in Santa Barbara(!)I love computer programming, cryptography, philosophy, ambitious people, democratizing forces, and revolutionary projects.After 22 years of using Linux, 15+ years of writing code and starting software companies, and 1 million words of philosophical writings, I have a great feel for what I am best at and what I love to do. Resultantly, my current passions and foci include:0. Developing software to defend human rights, primarily using cryptography.1. Perpetually bettering myself in the areas of computer programming, computer security, privacy- and anonymity-enhancing software techniques, leading teams of fellow world-changers, software tool development, and related sub-fields.2. On occasion, freelance web development (mostly in Go, Python/Flask/Django, and JavaScript/React/Svelte).Relevant skills: Go, Python, JavaScript, React, Svelte, V, Janet; Linux, Emacs, Git, Ansible, Docker, Podman, Electron; PostgreSQL, SQLite; Linux SysAdmin, EC2, Digital Ocean; Concurrent Programming; Microservices, API Design; HTML, CSS; Speaking, Thinking, Planning, Pitching, Leading, Organizing, Executing, RevolutionizingSpecialties: Go/Golang, Privacy-enhancing Software, Linux, Startups, Being Ambitious, Loving "Work"; CrypTag (creator); Executable Philosophy (creator); LeapChat (designer and co-creator); Autonomous United (founder)
Steve Phillips's Current Company Details
Steve Phillips Work Experience Details
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FounderRelay Anonymous MessengerCalifornia, United States
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Senior Software EngineerLemitree Dec 2023 - Present
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Chief HackerRelay Anonymous Messenger Jun 2023 - PresentRelay is essentially decentralized, anonymous Signal for teams.Specifically, Relay:(1) Embeds the Tor daemon for serious anonymity,(2) Doesn't require an email address or phone number (or anything else) to create an account,(3) Is decentralized (you can run your own Relay server!),(4) Lets you share files of *any* size, and(5) Enables you to organize a group of people into a collection of chat rooms (a bit like Discord or Slack)Relay is built on the same open source encryption libraries and techniques as Signal, for maximum privacy.In addition to catering to privacy and anonymity enthusiasts, Relay is also a general tool that also supports everyday use cases. Travelers and videographers will love being able to send large files to friends, family, and clients more seamlessly than with any other app.Relay is also for hardcore tech people. Under the hood, the Relay protocol is the ultimate Swiss Army knife for moving bits from point A to point B. Developers, DevOps folks, and SysAdmins can use the Relay command line tool to securely and instantly move data and files between different programs, VMs, servers, and devices.
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Privacy HackerSpring Act – Action. Compassion. Technology. Dec 2021 - PresentBern, ChI was brought in to design and lead the building of a Digital Safe for domestic abuse survivors to securely store evidence of their abuse to later show to law enforcement.I invented a number of techniques to make this practical and convenient for users while also being highly secure.We launched the Digital Safe in October 2022. In the 13 months since, Spring ACT has won several innovation awards because of this work, including:1. The Swiss Future Prize, directly handed to our team by the President of Switzerland2. First Place in the Social Innovation Tournament3. We were one of the winners of the 2022 Prize for Innovation in Global Security by the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, explicitly for the Digital SafeI was recruited by Rhiana Spring, Founder of Spring ACT, after she read about me in a book about programmers who are changing the world ("Coders", by Clive Thompson).In December 2023, Rhiana was nominated for Person of the Year in Switzerland!How I got involved in Spring ACT, from Rhiana herself -- https://springact.org/steve-phillips/More on one of the awards we've won: https://springact.org/2022/12/13/prize-for-innovation-in-global-security/I have done a combination of volunteer work and freelance contract work for Spring ACT since Rhiana reached out to me in December 2021. -
Futo FellowFuto Feb 2023 - May 2023I've been awarded a FUTO Fellowship to give me the space, time, and money to focus on adding awesome new features to LeapChat, an ephemeral, end-to-end encrypted chat app that has hosted 30,000+ chat rooms since inception!The FUTO Fellowship grant money is no-strings-attached, aside from: (1) your software be open source. (2) Don't Be Evil; don't steal your customers' data or exploit them! And (3) No Selling Out; if your project is for-profit, don't sell it to Big Tech!Check out LeapChat at leapchat.org .You can apply to become a FUTO Fellow at https://futo.org/fellows/ . -
Founder, CeoEffective.Af Oct 2018 - May 2023Simple, affordable, secure task management, with built-in encrypted chat, file sharing, and confetti -- lots of confetti. -
Freelance Software DeveloperFreelance Software Developer Jun 2015 - Oct 2022My recent freelance software projects have included:- Writing microservices in Go on AWS (MySQL)- Writing APIs in Flask (CouchDB)- Building large Django web apps (Postgres)
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Lead Developer & Project ManagerPursuance Apr 2017 - Sep 2018During my tenure, Pursuance:- Built and launched LeapChat, end-to-end encrypted ephemeral chat in the browser, which has since been used by thousands without needing to install any software- Unveiled the first demo of the Pursuance software system at Aaron Swartz Day in San Francisco- Had two talks accepted into RightsCon, a human rights-centric technology conference; I gave one talk and we had an esteemed panel whistleblowers, activists, and journalists give another- Successfully raised $53,110 via Kickstarter, intended to fund the continued software development after achieving *so much* with no funding whatsoever over 15 monthsMy job was to build and to recruit others to help me build and design software -- the Pursuance System -- that provides the tools that individuals need to create groups, called pursuances, whose actions ultimately lead to a vast and formidable ecosystem of opposition to institutionalized injustice.The Pursuance Project was started by formerly-imprisoned journalist and activist Barrett Brown.
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FounderCryptag Jul 2015 - Sep 2017Secure mobile and desktop apps for activists, journalists, and you.CrypTag was originally unveiled at the DEF CON security conference, also known as "the world's largest underground hacker conference", in August 2015.CrypTag is the only technology in the world that can encrypt data, tag it, and query it without decrypting it first, and do so without requiring any special server software.After not receiving a fellowship since CrypTag was seemingly not ambitious enough, I realized that, in addition to the "encrypted Dropbox + tagging" use case, that I could build a suite of applications that fetch their (encrypted) data from anywhere -- Dropbox, Sandstorm, your own server, any file-syncing service in the world, etc -- and enable users to securely collaborate around that data, even over the Tor anonymity network.So the current 10-year goal of CrypTag is: Data privacy for every Internet user. CrypTag (a non-profit) is achieving this by creating free, open source, censorship-resistant, secure mobile and desktop apps for activists, journalists, and you.Some code and many lessons learned have been carried through to Pursuance and, now, EffectiveAF.
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Co-Founder And Board MemberSanta Barbara Hackerspace Inc. Aug 2010 - Oct 2015Wikipedia defines a makerspace (aka "hackerspace") as "a location where people with common interests, usually in computers, technology, science or digital or electronic art can meet, socialize and/or collaborate. A hackerspace can be viewed as an open community labs incorporating elements of machine shops, workshops and/or studios where hackers can come together to share resources and knowledge to build and make things."At Santa Barbara Hackerspace we work on hardware and software projects of all types, including an underwater ROV, autonomous octocopter, a written-from-scratch IRC bot, and cool web applications.In November 2010 we officially became a California non-profit, and in September 2013 we achieved federally-recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit status. Anyone is free to attend -- especially those who want to acquire useful technical skills by building things that interest them.We frequently host Microcontroller Mondays, WebTech Wednesdays, and ThinkTank Thursdays at 6pm, plus General Meetings during SBHX Saturdays, which begin at noon in our very own hackerspace!Find out more on our blog at http://sbhackerspace.com or join our chat room at http://irc.sbhackerspace.com. You can receive our email updates by joining our Google Group at http://gg.sbhackerspace.com.The co-founders can be reached via email at sbhackerspace@gmail.com -
Senior Developer222Labs May 2014 - Apr 2015222Labs is a meta-startup working on a slew of ideas, ranging from SaaS products to electronics and Internet of Things (IoT). So far we've built applications using various fun technologies, including Go, Python, AWS (EC2, S3, RDS, Route 53), Docker, CoreOS/Fleet/Etcd, and many more.
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Technical DirectorThe Citizenweb Project Apr 2014 - Jul 2014We're revolutionizing the way people use the Internet and helping users protect themselves from suspicionless surveillance all in one fell swoop. Read more about us and our flagship project, arkOS, at https://arkos.io.(I relinquished my position to focus on local freelance programming and my philosophical writings.)
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Co-Founder, CtoSyndicate Pro Mar 2013 - Jun 2014Syndicate Pro is a financial technology company created to disrupt the syndicate market with a more data-driven, quantified approach to IPO investing.What I've done:- Created a highly concurrent, efficient Go program that is doing ~100 things at any given moment, and which serves as the backbone of our software stack. It has never crashed in production- Built a very large fraction of the product (all 4500 lines Go, and some Python and JavaScript)- Thoroughly reviewed every single line of code before each deployment to production- Automated our originally haphazard, error-prone deployment process using Ansible- Used a Python profiler and memcache to make a major feature 5-10x faster- Contribution of dozens of technical and strategic ideas daily, a great many of which we've acted upon- Plenty of miscellaneous: wrote and edited copy (website, ads, blog posts), social media, funnel analysis- Remained deeply impressed with my co-founders and their abilities -
Co-FounderOpenweb Engineering Jan 2013 - Apr 2013OpenWeb Engineering specializes in highly scalable custom web development. We leverage one or more clouds to achieve high-availability, so your web app keeps working even in the event of server failure. -
Co-FounderPtm Web Engineering Jul 2011 - Aug 2012PTM turns big ideas into valuable software products.I found and closed clients, recruited both employees/in-house contractors, managed our Linux servers, and most importantly, built the majority of the back end of the apps/sites/products we made using Python/Django.
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Co-FounderOutofcite Feb 2012 - Mar 2012Dead-simple, instant citations for students. How to use the product:1. Highlight an ISBN or DOI in your browser2. Click bookmarklet3. Choose MLA, APA, or Chicago-style formatting, copying the citation to your clipboard4. Paste the pre-formatted citation into your Works Cited page!The entire process takes < 5 seconds. Pretty cool.At Startup Weekend EDU (#SWEDUBAY) we won the "Pure Execution" category; tied for 2nd place overall. Only team to complete and demo a functioning prototype.Jim McGaw and I built the Python/Django back end, Jim created the JS bookmarklet, AJ Bahnken did the entire front end (including responsive design), and Michael Larson pitched and handled all business matters -- including getting 2 paying customers! (The entire competition lasts 54 hours.)Michael performed most of the final presentation, which included my demoing the product. The presentation received several rounds of applause.
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Co-Founder, Lead DeveloperFactcheck.Me Nov 2011 - Mar 2012FactCheck.me began using NLP (Natural Language Processing) to turn facts into multiple choice tests.I wrote the Django back-end and created the JavaScript bookmarklet. With the demo version, users could highlight a number-containing fact on any website, click the bookmarklet to POST that sentence to the FactCheck.me server, then log into FactCheck.me to take auto-generated multiple-choice quizzes.Intended uses: a learning aid for learners (personalized testing + The Spacing Effect == good), a teaching aid for teachers (never manually create another test again!), and whatever else we could come up with.In March 2012 we decided to set FactCheck.me aside to focus on OutOfCite after our team tied for 2nd place at Startup Weekend.
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Co-Founder, Lead DeveloperConferencemein Jul 2011 - Nov 2011Dead-simple call conferencing for small businesses.Instead of forcing everyone who's scheduled to take part in a conference call to remember about the call in the first place, phone in on time, dial the 10-digit phone number, then type in a 4 to 9-digit room number that was emailed to them -- which is especially painful when you're on the go -- we decided there had to be a better way.The idea of ConferenceMeIn is this: one person schedules the call, and when it's time to begin, everyone _receives_ a call, at the same time, and boom -- you're in.In 40 hours flat we had a working prototype. A few days later we did a presentation and live demo at the Startup SB Meetup group.Most of this app was written in Python, but the part that makes many calls in parallel and maintains a connection with the Asterisk call server in each one, I used Go. This is the first time I used Go in production.
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Web Developer For Reality OverlaySanta Barbara City College Sep 2010 - Jul 2011Santa Barbara, Ca, UsCreated Python/Django-based web app to: (1) Store and retrieve virtual graffiti (images) created and posted by iPhone our users; (2) Display graffiti to our web visitors; (3) Block forged requests to upload inappropriate content (arbitrary images not created with the iPhone app). -
Computer Networking Lab TaSanta Barbara City College May 2010 - Oct 2010Santa Barbara, Ca, UsAfter taking the CNEE 125 and 126, each 5-unit networking classes, I was offered a job to tutor other students in the networking lab.I taught computer networking (with an emphasis on sub-netting), maintained virtual Linux servers, and helped students train for the CCNA exam.In the summer of 2010 I helped teach CNEE 120: Fundamentals of Network Security. I performed more-than-weekly ethical hacking demonstrations, taught students how to use Ubuntu in VirtualBox, and explained many security concepts and types of attacks.In October 2010, I left to focus on building H2O Ops and being a programmer and entrepreneur for the foreseeable future.
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Co-Founder, Web DeveloperH2Oops.Net Sep 2010 - Jan 2011Created web-based test engine from scratch using Python and Django. Managed git repositories on staging and production servers. This was my first-ever product, and I learned _so_ much from building it. -
Math TutorSelf-Employed Jan 2009 - Dec 2010I tutored dozens of high school and college students in many types of math, from pre-Algebra through Calculus, while spending the rest of my time teaching myself Python/Django web development so I could some day make a living writing code. It worked :-).
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Founder, Linux Geek, Curriculum Designer, WriterPhillips Technologies, Llc Aug 2009 - Jun 2010Phillips Technologies was a technology consultancy focused on teaching others how to use Linux and other free and open source server software. Our primary product, produced by Jeff Fuller and I, was "Linux Network Administration", a 57-page lab manual meant to teach students how to install, configure, and administer their very own Ubuntu server.The booklet covers how to install VirtualBox (most students were on a Windows host), Ubuntu, then within Ubuntu: DHCP, DNS, FTP, SSH, email, and web servers. Finally, students could install WordPress on top of Apache so they could host their own blog.The college course we hoped to inspire with this booklet never came to fruition, but you can find the final version of this booklet at https://tryingtobeawesome.com/files/LinuxLabManual.pdf
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Computer Repair SpecialistMumze.Com Sep 2002 - Oct 2002Solved software, hardware, and networking problems for clients, including but not limited to the (re-)configuration of client software, server software, and recovering lots of SPARCSTATION 10 passwords by using a combination of floppy disks, SSH, and John the Ripper.I was then offered a position performing FreeBSD tech support, but declined due to time constraints.
Steve Phillips Education Details
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Uc Santa BarbaraPhilosophy (Double-Major) -
Santa Barbara City CollegeComputer Science
Frequently Asked Questions about Steve Phillips
What company does Steve Phillips work for?
Steve Phillips works for Relay Anonymous Messenger
What is Steve Phillips's role at the current company?
Steve Phillips's current role is Founder.
What schools did Steve Phillips attend?
Steve Phillips attended Uc Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara City College.
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