Say it loud enough and the council has to listen.
Building kit matters, but so does what happens off the laptop. Here's how this turns into something on the ground.
Get a handful of people together in your town or city and you've got a local cell. Somewhere to swap kit, plan a build night, keep an eye on what's happening near you. Doesn't need to be big to start with, most things worth doing start with three or four people in a pub.
Most data centres go through a local council planning process before a spade touches the ground. That's a public process anyone can take part in. If one's proposed near you, your local group can put in objections, turn up to the planning meeting and make sure the council hears from more than just the developer.
Peaceful, organised, and legal. That means telling your local council or police about a march in good time, having a couple of people on the day whose only job is safety and keeping things calm, and knowing your rights beforehand. A well run protest gets covered by local press. A messy one gets used against you.
We're not the first people to care about this. Digital rights groups and privacy campaigners such as Open Rights Group and Big Brother Watch have been raising this stuff for years, and plenty of local campaigns already exist against specific data centre or surveillance camera proposals. Sabot isn't out to compete with any of that, we want to add hands to it. If your local group is already tied to a wider campaign, tell us, we'll help however's useful.
A short, honest letter about a local data centre proposal or a facial recognition van being parked on the high street takes twenty minutes and it works better than people think. Councillors especially notice when more than one constituent writes about the same thing.
Note down where you've spotted number plate cameras, facial recognition vans or new data centre planning notices in your area. Small bits of local knowledge add up to a proper picture over time, and it's useful for anyone else fighting the same fight nearby.
None of this needs you to be an expert or have done it before. It needs people willing to turn up.
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