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Qadri studies workers who are seizing the means of computation, reverse-engineering and repurposing the apps that are meant to keep them in bondage and figuring out how to set themselves free. Her research on gig drivers in Jakarta is essential reading:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/08/tuyul-apps/#gojek

Indonesian drivers have banded together to build clubhouses that serve as break-rooms, union halls, tech workshops and scooter maintenance depots.

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These centers are the birthplace of "tuyul" apps, which allow workers to resist algorithmic "optimization" and adapt their working conditions to improve their pay and safety.

In her *Wired* piece, Qadri gives examples of other "tech workers" - that is, low-waged, casualized workers who are dispatched and managed by apps - who use technology to take back control, from "farmers who strike against a smart city plan" to riders who band together to get back their stolen scooters.

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This is mutual aid, with code. It is every bit as innovative and disruptive as Uber or Amazon, but because it is done *by* workers, rather than *to* workers, it is not recognized as such. Indeed, when workers modify the apps that script their movements, they're called "criminals," not "innovators."

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Take Doordash's smear campaign against Para, an app that let delivery drivers find out how much a job paid before they took it (Doordash hides compensation from drivers in hopes of tricking them into taking unprofitable runs):

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/tech-rights-are-workers-rights-doordash-edition

Doordash called Para a criminal app, baselessly accused it of identity theft, and insisted that drivers had no right to know how much they were going to get paid before they committed to a job.

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But as Para shows, seizing the means of computation is an important strategy for workers seeking a better life. The tactics of Adversarial Interoperability (AKA Competitive Compatibility or Comcom) can transfer power from Goliaths to Davids:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/adversarial-interoperability

But the *soi-dssant* disruptors of the business world will not tolerate being disrupted themselves.

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