--- layout: post title: Our Founding Principles description: Autonomic Co-operative And Our Core Values image: pic01.jpg category: values date: 2017-10-03 --- Autonomic is a worker co-operative. That means we are owned and run by our workers and not by bosses or investors. We make our decisions collectively using consensus. We are committed to a set of basic principles of working on projects for social good. We reject destructive and unsustainable practices within the tech industry. As individuals, we have become increasingly concerned with the levels of surveillance carried by nation states and corporations. Everyone deserves the fundamental right to privacy and safety online as well as in the physical world. We seem to be moving ever closer to a total reliance upon centralised services that mine our data for profit and are run in anything but our best interest as users. There is another way. The philosophy of [free software] allows for development guided not by profit alone, but instead by the desires and inspiration of the developers and users. Rather than subjugating users, it aims to empower users by making software source code available for anyone to examine, modify or share. We are committed to building the software commons by making as much of our code available under free software licences as possible. [free software]: https://fsfe.org/about/basics/freesoftware.en.html As the internet becomes ubiquitous in our everyday lives, we must consider the technologies that we utilise in order to communicate. We must all have the ability to discuss and collaborate without being spied upon or our personal information sold to the highest bidder. Autonomic are committed to providing a platform for progressive projects and ideas that require accessible and modern infrastructure to thrive and grow, whilst preserving our client's privacy and protecting their data. ## Privacy We seek to minimise data collection and retention wherever possible. If you don't need it, don't collect it. We will utilise and recommend encryption wherever possible, especially if it is end to end encryption and has been well tested in real life scenarios by non-technical users. We believe that unrestricted and uncensored access to the internet is a human right and we should all resist any attempts to censor the sharing of knowledge and experiences that helps build greater cooperation between peoples around the world. ## Transparency We don't give you any crap. If something goes wrong, we'll let you know and seek to communicate with our clients and the public in an effective manner. We are committed to using free (as in freedom) software wherever possible and seek to contribute back to the upstream projects we rely on where practical. We engage in ethical processes to avoid working with any organisations that are racist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynist or otherwise engage in oppressive behaviour. ## Sustainability As a worker co-operative, we aim to grow in a sustainable way. This means not taking venture capital or risky loans. We build this the smart way, through hard work. We are always learning and studying as we go. We are committed to learning more about about the ecological impact of technology. Whether that be the energy used by data centres or the components in our computing devices. We will engage with the wider co-operative movement and work together to grow our sector and begin to build a new world in the ashes of the old.
We hope this basic statement of principles has given you an idea of where we are coming from and perhaps where we will be heading. The plan is to revisit these ideas as we grow and access the impact of this project. We hope you will be a part of this adventure.