I just updated the RTA blog post about #Meta with this nugget of info that I had overlooked: they have your #WhatsApp#encryption keys.... 🤦🏼♂️
So they can say "your content is end-to-end-encrypted" until the cows come home, but they can still access it whenever they want! (and they always want to, because they are an #advertising and #AI business, and supplier-of- #surveillance -info-to-the-cops business)
Do you trust Meta with your keys?
One key 'feature' of WhatsApp (and iMessage for that matter) is that they also handle your encryption keys. This undoubtably makes life easier for people (messages can be easily restored/ported to another device) but it also means that ultimately the keys to your encrypted messages are owned by people who you cannot trust (i.e. Meta).
And sure enough in a lawsuit against Meta it has been alledged that Meta actually can see your message content, and they scan it for their advertising and AI business, and for security agencies.
🤝75 years of the European Convention on Human Rights
A landmark treaty that reshaped Europe after the second World War, protecting millions of Europeans and supporting our shared values of human rights, democracy and rule of law.
Because human rights aren’t optional. They’re universal.
A list of fundamental human rights on a light, textured background. The text reads: "Right to life. Prohibition of torture. Prohibition of slavery and forced labour. Right to liberty and security. Right to a fair trial. No punishment without law. Right to respect for private and family life. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Freedom of expression. Freedom of assembly and association. Right to marry. Right to an effective remedy. Prohibition of discrimination. Prohibition of abuse of rights." Below, in smaller blue text: "EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS 75 YEARS (1950 - 2025)" next to a small image of the EU flag.
I mean, it's a drag, and we're all really busy, but there's going to need to be some kind of revolution. Says Skeletor flying a flag with his favorite leader in it - himself.
We're so relieved to see Germany reaffirm its opposition to the dangerous Chat Control proposal--the one that would mandate mass scanning of communications.
Germany's long been a solid champion of privacy, and the news that it was considering backing mass surveillance was alarming. 1/
@Mer__edith in the negotiations do you suggest to them alternative ways that police and security forces could catch bad actors using encrypted services?
I.e. trying harder with investigative work.
If big tech can track us everywhere and predict our behaviour using metadata, why can't the authorities do the same?
In Bill McKibben's new book Here Comes the Sun, he frequently laments activists' tendency not to celebrate our wins, a habit that sees us always feeling as though we were losing, even when we're racking up massive victories:
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
A Chinese Communist propaganda poster showing a cross-section of Chinese people waving the Little Red Book. The Little Red Book has been replaced with solar panels. The background has been replaced with the EU flag.
I'm one of the founders of The Rebel Tech Alliance https://www.rebeltechalliance.org/
and you describe part of our mission: to unite [whoever it is we need to unite] in order to improve the UX of Commons software.
So my questions are
who do we need to unite, to get more funding into open source projects?
how is that done without enshittifying those projects?
404 Media is suing ICE for documents relating to its $2 million contract with Paragon Solutions. These are the journalists you should be supporting with your subscription money because they are meeting the moment.
If you care about digital privacy, and not supporting the anti-democratic forces of #bigtech then sometimes it's a bit depressing and you feel helpless.
Cheer yourself up by seeing just how many organisations are out there fighting that fight for you 💪🏼:
Meta previously lost its shit at 404 Media when we reported that someone had paired facial recognition tech with the company's smart glasses. Now Meta is building the invasive technology itself.
“Microsoft to install facial-recognition technology in stores, which could be used to identify individual customers: When a shopper approaches the shelf, she would see a price calibrated specifically for her. The next shopper might pay a different amount based on their profile. Retailers could use shopper data to charge higher prices to those who can afford to pay more.”
We are determined to keep the online world informative and free from distortion.
Our Digital Services Act gives you more rights online, with extra measures to protect young users.
Very large online platforms and search engines are obliged to:
🔹 stop the spread of illegal content;
🔸 tell users if and why their content was removed;
🔹 give users options to opt out of seeing recommended content based on profiling;
🔸 ban ads targeted to minors;
🔹 be transparent about your interactions with AI.
A visually striking poster with the word 'reality' repeated three times in a three-row square. It is written in bold. On the right, there is the word 'transparency' and on the top of it the word 'safety' written in smaller font size. Below there is a green switched-on button with "DSA” written inside it.
@EUCommission this is great. But is the 'options to opt out of seeing recommendations based on profiling' really enforced?
If so that would really sort the problem out! #microtargeting via #algorithms is how reality gets distorted, and differently for each person.
Really you should ban surveillance (behavioural) advertising - that is a root cause one level deeper. The #RTB system 'bidsteam' data is the fuel for the cancer of the last 25 years: #surveillancecapitalism from #bigtech
Screenshot: Under a Type to Siri box, there is a ChatGPT response:
Aral Balkan is a designer, technologist, and advocate for user rights, best known for his work on privacy and digital rights. He has authored books like "Designing for Privacy and its Legal Framework" and "The Web We Deserve." These works explore the intersection of design, technology, and privacy, offering insights into creating ethical digital experiences. For more detailed information, you might consider visiting his personal website or publisher's page.
This fucking Free Our Feeds bullshit is basically trying to do for Bluesky what Mozilla does for Google.
And guess what, there’s Mozilla’s executive director and president on as custodians alongside two guys from AI companies and the executive director of Meta partner Social Web Foundation.
I’m so bloody sick and tired of bloody Silicon Valley asshats sucking all the oxygen out of the room with their bullshit and I truly hope the folks roped into legitimising it realise this and distance themselves as quickly as possible (you know who you are).
@LukefromDC
@aral looking for education here - what's the problem with Chromium-based browsers?
Obviously not chrome, as that is spyware, but the others e.g. Vivaldi....
@Vivaldi
@LukefromDC
@aral thank you.
This query comes from the fact that Google are switching from trackers to device fingerprinting.
So I don't think your blog holds true any more:
"On the much brighter side, websites, in general, do not use fingerprinting since there are so many easier ways to track users, such as tracking cookies and Local Storage."
It would be great if you put out an updated blog showing how people can best counteract Google's new creepiness using Vivaldi.
@aral Public Benefit Corporation = must state a mission "that benefits society" so they are "not just about profit", and you have shares so investors can get a return.
It actually sounds quite sensible. So how will #OpenAI abuse it, I wonder?
The only way being anti-genocide would imply antisemitism would be if all semites were genocidal. Thankfully, this is not the case, however much Israel would like it to be, and however much that desire, in itself, is antisemitic.
A) McKinsey has gotta be in the top 10 list of the world's most evil companies nobody really thinks about; I mean you can say weapons contractors and big oil, but people THINK about those business. McKinsey hides behind "consulting."
B) Love to spend millions on game planning how to NOT do anything about climate crisis and the capitalism that drives it.
Students making victory signs and lighting candles in support of Vaclav Havel's presidency during a protest rally in Albertov quarter in Prague. On the banner on the right is written:
"Liberty"
Who should we support this year with the 7th Proton Lifetime Charity Fundraiser?
After raising $730K last year, we’ve now donated over $2.7 million to organizations around the world that align with our mission. Nominations are open until November 13th. https://proton.me/blog/lifetime-fundraiser-survey-2024
A graphic with an infinity symbol and the text 'call for submissions' and 'proton Lifetime Fundraiser 7th Edition'
You know, fuck this, stream of consciousness coming up. Mute/whatever as you see fit.
Trump didn’t win this election. Kamala lost it. The Democrats lost it. Neoliberalism lost it.
Turns out if you’re on team moderate social injustice and your opponent is team total social injustice, you’re playing the social injustice game with the people who wrote the damn book. Who did you think was going to fucking win?
What I’m trying to say is this: Fuck. Neoliberals. (1/13)
“One way to achieve the desired level of integration is to control the entire software stack, right down to the operating system … on a new technologically advanced operating system tentatively named ‘KDE Linux’”
This. Finally. Yes.👆
And, hopefully, folks like
@starlabssystems can take this further and add hardware to the stack: e.g., The StarBook is designed for KDE Linux. You can run any distribution on it but everything works 100% on its default OS. https://floss.social/@akademy/113123668949310341
