The Datenklo (German) or data toilet (English translation) is a

portable toilet A portable or mobile toilet (colloquial terms: thunderbox, porta-john, porta-potty or porta-loo) is any type of toilet that can be moved around, some by one person, some by mechanical equipment such as a truck and crane. Most types do not require ...

cubicle which has been re-purposed to provide connectivity at hacker camps. This typically includes

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

and

wired communication Wired communication refers to the transmission of data over a wire-based communication technology ( telecommunication cables). Wired communication is also known as wireline communication. Examples include telephone networks, cable television or i ...

such as

Ethernet Ethernet ( ) is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 198 ...

. A major event can be served by many data toilets: for example, in 1999 the Chaos Communication Camp had 17 booths.

History

The original Datenklo or CCC-Modem was an

acoustic coupler In telecommunications, an acoustic coupler is an interface device for coupling electrical signals by acoustical means—usually into and out of a telephone. The link is achieved through converting electric signals from the phone line to so ...

modem The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...

in the early 1980s for which the

Chaos Computer Club The Chaos Computer Club (CCC) is Europe's largest association of Hacker (computer security), hackers with 7,700 registered members. Founded in 1981, the association is incorporated as an ''eingetragener Verein'' in Germany, with local chapters ...

made plans and schematics available. The moniker 'loo' refers to an ingenious idea in the construction of the device: The use of rubber cuffs, commonly available as plumbing supplies, to connect the audio transducers to a normal telephone receiver. The goal of this acoustically-coupled device was to avoid prosecution for the (illegal at the time) connection of an unlicensed device to the telephone line. The Datenklo name was subsequently repurposed to describe the use of rented portable toilet cubicles to host communications infrastructure at hacker camps:

Connectivity

The Datenklo provides a temporary

wiring closet A wiring cupboard is a small room commonly found in institutional buildings, such as schools and offices, where electrical connections are made. While they are used for many purposes, their most common use is for computer networking where it may ...

for the networking equipment required to deliver pervasive connectivity to hacker camp attendees: Datenklos are interconnected to create the site network, with hacker camp attendees asked to bring their own cables if they would like a wired connection to their tent: Cables spilling out of a Datenklo

The role of Angels

Hacker camps are generally organized and run by volunteers known as

angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

, and the Network Operation Centre angels not only create the network as part of site build-up and tear it down afterwards, but also connect attendees' cables to the switches in the Datenklo: Many other roles exist for angels:

Back to the future

Whilst wireless networking and Internet protocols have become the norm for voice and

data communication Data communication, including data transmission and data reception, is the transfer of data, transmitted and received over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel. Examples of such channels are copper wires, optic ...

, the Datenklo provides hacker camp attendees with the opportunity to build and learn about Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), turning the Datenklo into a "phone box" of sorts: Datenklo at Dusk 01

References

Sources

* {{cite book , last=Denker , first=Kai , title=Hacking Europe , chapter=Heroes Yet Criminals of the German Computer Revolution , series=History of Computing , publisher=Springer London , publication-place=London , date=2014 , pages=167–187 , isbn=978-1-4471-5492-1 , doi=10.1007/978-1-4471-5493-8_8 Computer networking Hacker camps