Seen and Unseen: Building Civic Tech Under Pressure
Ryan Koch speaks with Josh, the independent developer behind Antifreeze and Flockwatch, about building civic-tech tools that help people see public law-enforcement activity. Josh explains how progressive web apps, replaceable infrastructure, restrained data collection, and clear moderation boundaries can improve resilience while protecting users and maintaining safety.
Key topics
Key topics
- Civic tech projects: Anti-Freeze and Flockwatch
- Technical infrastructure and resilience strategies
- Data privacy and minimal data collection
- Open web and progressive web apps as alternatives to app stores
- Partnerships and data sharing in civic tech
- Legal considerations and community guidelines
- Handling potential shutdowns and attack vectors
- Lessons for small organizations building resilient tech
Chapters
00:00 Josh’s civic-tech work and why public visibility matters
02:01 Why app-store removals led to Antifreeze
04:02 How Antifreeze alerts work and what Flockwatch maps
08:42 The reporting, photo-processing, and notification pipeline
11:21 Offshore hosting and replaceable infrastructure
13:30 Resilience: what breaks if a provider blocks access
18:24 Failure scenarios, fake reports, and legal pressure
20:04 12,000 installs, abuse controls, and a patched vulnerability
24:18 Device fingerprints, data minimization, and 72-hour retention
32:04 Location controls, watchdog access, and data backups
35:22 EFF guidance, moderation rules, and public-safety boundaries
40:16 Disputes, sustainability, and advice for mission-driven teams
46:26 Where to follow Josh’s work
Sound Bites
- "I believe people have the right to know when law enforcement is operating around them"
- "I wanted to build a censorship resistant app that exists on the open web"
- "Partnering instead of competing benefits the civic tech community"
Links
- https://www.dailykos.com/user/joshhacks/
- https://antifreeze.app/
- https://flock.antifreeze.app/
- https://wafflehacker.substack.com/