The term Aluhut (German for tinfoil hat) describes a person who is paranoid about all kinds of surveillance, tracking, or being a target of mind control. A common belief among these people is that wearing a tinfoil hat protects your brain from mind-manipulating waves sent from satellites in space and so on. These ideas are usually labeled conspiracy theories and are not taken seriously by the majority of people. In the hacker scene, ‚Aluhut‘ is thrown around as a friendly insult in a mocking, joking way.
On the other hand, since the Snowden revelations, the fact that all kind of mass surveillance is deeply integrated in every communication today has become publicly accepted knowledge. Formerly ‚crazy‘ tinfoil hat stories, like submarines eaves-dropping on fiber cables on the ocean floor, have unfortunately proved to be true. Futuristic-sounding methods of data interception are part of our daily lives now. But we can’t see, feel or hear it. Let’s be honest, nobody is giving up Facebook or Google. As a result, ‚Nothing to hide‘ is the common mantra of the post-private society. Mass surveillance is becoming a widely-accepted phenomenon as a trade-off for speculative security. This is the world we live in now.
It seems like by just by knowing about all these surveillance programs through the Snowden revelation, we have all become tinfoil hats. So let’s make some!! Really beautiful ones!! Maybe they do help in the end?!? They protect really well!! ALUHÜTE are perfect, and the latest fashion!
Aram Bartholl 2016
