(courtesy of NYC Mesh)

NYC Mesh, an alternative non-profit internet service provider, is hosting its first Greenpoint meetup tonight for those interested in helping to bring the internet service provider to the neighborhood.

The meeting and info session take place tonight (5/15) at 238 Franklin St. at 7 p.m., RSVP here.

NYC Mesh is working to bring what it calls quick and affordable internet, it works a web of wireless connections from a ‘supernode’ that connects locally to rooftop antennas.

The concept is modeled after the Spanish “Gulfi” service where equipment and installation come with a fee, but after that customers do not receive a monthly bill.

Two supernodes, one in lower Manhattan and a second in Bushwick, are currently beaming out the signal to rooftops in NYC that Mesh has onboard, according to the New York Daily News.

Internet users concerned with their privacy and data being shared with their corporate internet provider may be attracted to the NYC Mesh policy not to harvest user data. According to the NYC Mesh FAQ, user data through their service is neither collected or stored:

By default, our mesh router is firewalled from your local network. It is not possible to reach beyond the mesh router to your local access network (LAN).

Network traffic within the mesh is not encrypted by default. When connecting through the mesh you should use the same standard precautions as you would when connecting to WiFi at a coffee shop or airport: use https (lock icon) web sites for secure connections (most browsers do this by default nowadays), or use a VPN service.

If you connect to the mesh network indirectly over the internet (for example over a cable ISP connection) this is by tinc VPN and is secure….

NYC Mesh does not collect, store, or log any user traffic or content that passes through our network.

NYC Mesh may periodically look at traffic headers for troubleshooting purposes as traffic passes through the NYC Mesh network, however, this data is never logged or stored. NYC Mesh may collect aggregate statistics to monitor traffic flow to ensure a successful network.

The NYC Mesh network is unencrypted, easy to join, and depends on donated internet from individuals and other companies which is outside the control of NYC Mesh, therefore NYC Mesh is unable to detect or prevent traffic monitored at those access points.

NYC Mesh will comply with all laws in the jurisdictions where it operates; however, as per our community policy, no data is collected or stored, and therefore no data exists to provide to agents who request it.

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