This week's net.wars, "Negative externalities", watches Texas police use license plate data to search for a woman they think might have self-managed an abortion; pushes back on a report that suggests a publicly funded NHS period-tracking app is a better idea; and notes the passage of the UK's new data bill weakening citizens' rights over their data: https://netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/06/13/negative-externalities/ #NetWars #UKpolitics #Abortion #DataBill #Privacy
privacy
I send thanks to the buyer from Pennsylvania who purchased an art print of
After the Bath, Grayscale -- https://2-steve-henderson.pixels.com/featured/after-the-bath-grayscale-steve-henderson.html?product=art-print
May the artwork take you to a delightful moment of peace, privacy, and calmness, a sanctuary from noise and stress.
#bath #bathroom #home #privacy #art #artwork #mastoart #fediart #buyintoart #ayearforart #drawing #artist #sale #luxury #decor #relax #relaxing #relaxation #calm #peace #peaceful
The Rebel Tech Alliance is a non-profit dedicated to bringing down #SurveillanceCapitalism
We explain the problem, provide extensive lists of vetted Alternatives, and show you who else is fighting this fight so we can Unite. We also have loads of Resources and Guides.
Please read through the site - it's in chronological order - and share widely. The more people leave #BigTech the less data Big Tech has, the less power they have. #Privacy is power!
The program you DON'T WANT TO INSTALL!
Share and educate people!
From the company that took all digitized content without permission to build their product, now we have a browser.
So the company can use your data and behavior and to lock you in to their statistical parrot (AI)
In case it’s not clear by this or by Google rushing to implement the ‘Gulf of America’ change, #Google is fully part of the American fascist regime.
You need to get off Google.
https://www.theverge.com/news/608858/google-calendar-missing-events-holidays
No-AI and solid end-to-end encryption is the new tech hype.
If you don't invest heavily in solid end-to-end encryption, privacy-protective and No-AI features, you will be left behind. People might even laugh at you.
Tell everyone.
German court rules #Meta tracking technology violates European privacy laws - https://therecord.media/german-court-meta-tracking-tech "sets a precedent which the court acknowledged will allow countless other users to sue without “explicitly demonstrating individual damages,” " big #privacy
#SCOTUS on Wednesday upheld Tennessee’s ban on #gender-affirming care for #transgender minors, a stunning setback to #TransgenderRights.
The 6-3 decision in a case from #Tennessee effectively protects from legal challenges many efforts by #Trump’s #Republican admin & #state govts to roll back #protections for transgender people. 26 other #states have laws similar to the one in TN.
#law #discrimination #bigotry #LGBTQ #CivilRights #HumanRights #privacy #BodilyAutonomy
https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-transgender-health-care-trump-79fc6f3bbdab2e92d6f0184201a468a9?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2025-06-18-Breaking+News
Bluesky will be age-gating content for UK users. It’s your privacy that pays.
The UK Online Safety Act has unleashed an unregulated market in age verification.
That we have to do these intrusive checks with countless providers for different platforms is dangerous.
https://www.theverge.com/news/704468/bluesky-age-verification-uk-online-safety-act
#onlinesafetyact #ageverification #ageassurance #privacy #dataprotection #data #biometrics #onlinesafety #ukpolitics #ukpol #bluesky
ORG turns 20 this year! 🎈 🎉 🎂
To celebrate two decades of fighting for digital rights, join us for a special event with Cory Doctorow @pluralistic in conversation Maria Farrell.
Register now to hear about Cory's writing, surveillance capitalism, the ‘enshittification’ of digital platforms and how to fight Big Tech ✊
It's not one to miss!
🗓️ Wed 16 July, 6pm BST
💻 Zoom
https://www.openrightsgroup.org/events/org-at-20-cory-doctorow-in-conversation-with-maria-farrell/
#ORG20 #digitalrights #bigtech #corydoctorow #enshittification #privacy #capitalism #surveillance
Edited 148d ago
The IRS Is Building a Vast System to Share Millions of Taxpayers’ Data With ICE
—
ProPublica has obtained the blueprint for the Trump administration’s unprecedented plan to turn over IRS records to Homeland Security in order to speed up the agency’s mass deportation efforts.
#News #Data #Privacy #ICE #Deportation #Immigration #IRS #Tax #Trump
"While these agents promise to make life easier by allowing users to “put your brain in a jar,” they can also gather valuable—and often sensitive—data. This is a core concern for #Signal, which is trusted by tens of millions of users, including those in government, military, human rights and journalism, for confidential communication and guaranteed #privacy."
https://observer.com/2025/07/signal-meredith-whittaker-agentic-ai-risk/
I just published “Generating Passphrases Like correct horse battery staple” at
https://www.ii.com/passphrase-generators/ - please post suggestions for passphrase generators as a reply to this toot and I'll include them in my article!
#InfiniteInk #Privacy #Security #Tech #Passwords #Passphrases #CorrectHorseBatteryStaple
#Words #Writing #Byℵ #ByNM
🚀🤘Introducing Psylo: A New Kind of Private Browser
After 9 months of development, we're super excited to finally launch Psylo, a new kind of private web browser for iOS and iPadOS.
In Psylo, each tab is its own “silo” with isolated storage, cookies, and even its own IP address. Psylo introduces advanced anti-tracking and anti-fingerprinting features that go beyond what a VPN can offer.
Full announcement: https://mysk.blog/2025/06/17/introducing-psylo/
Whether it works or not isn't the lede - face-scanning everyone to access social media's fuck off dystopian. Government by Black Mirror.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-19/teen-social-media-ban-in-doubt/105435036
Discover Murena Fairphone (Gen. 6): a new ethical smartphone unveiled 🥳
Today Fairphone introduces the next generation smartphone – the Fairphone (Gen. 6) and we are proud to announce you its deGoogled version Murena Fairphone (Gen.6) running /e/OS @e_mydata, an easy-to-use, privacy-first open-source operating system.
🟢 12 easily replaceable parts
🟢 Snapdragon 7s Gen 3
🟢 50 MP camera
🟢 Gorilla Glass 7i
Order yours today at https://murena.com/#FairphoneGen6 #SwitchDay #Privacy #e_mydata
Edited 140d ago
Will next week's Internet Governance Forum in Oslo be the final #igf? Some at the #UN hope so…
It would be quite a mistake to hand more power to the Member States at the expense of all the multistakeholders who have contributed so much over the years to the flying circus!
Don't miss our Tuesday lunchtime workshop: #Privacy-Preserving #Interoperability and the #Fediverse!
https://igf2025.sched.com/event/246Ho?iframe=no
A variety of US federal and state laws give cops the power to get your data from online services. This overview goes over how they work, and how they can be mitigated.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/06/how-cops-can-get-your-private-online-data
#privacy #police #security #encryption
ALERT for Bluesky Bridge Users 🚨 🦋
If you are using a Bluesky bridge on Mastodon, DO NOT TAG Mastodon accounts in your posts without prior informed consent from this person.
This could end up showing a preview of this person's profile picture and bio on Bluesky without their consent.
Additionally, be careful about how the upcoming Quote Post feature could behave with Bluesky bridges.
Some of us don't want our information shared with commercial platforms like Bluesky, and have not consented to this bridge.
This practice can even endanger some Fediverse users.
If you have chosen to share your
own data with commercial platforms, make sure you leave the same choice to others.
This is important.
#Privacy #Mastodon #Bluesky #BlueskyBridge #Fediverse #Consent
🤖 Gemini’s Gmail summaries were just caught parroting phishing scams. A security researcher embedded hidden prompts in email text (w/ white font, zero size) to make Gemini falsely claim the user's Gmail password was compromised and suggest calling a fake Google number. It's patched now, but the bigger issue remains: AI tools that interpret or summarize content can be manipulated just like humans. Attackers know this and will keep probing for prompt injection weaknesses.
TL;DR
⚠️ Invisible prompts misled Gemini
📩 AI summaries spoofed Gmail alerts
🔍 Prompt injection worked cleanly
🔐 Google patched, but risk remains
https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-gemini-bug-turns-gmail-summaries-into-phishing-attack
#cybersecurity #promptinjection #AIrisks #Gmail #security #privacy #cloud #infosec #AI
A recent comic on the US giving international tourists the Big Brother treatment
The #Trump admin has, for the first time ever, built a searchable national #citizenship #data system.
The tool, which is being rolled out in phases, is designed to be used by state & local election officials [sure] to give them an easier way to ensure only citizens are voting. But it was developed rapidly without a public process, & some are already worrying about what else it could be used for.
NPR is the first to report….
#surveillance #law #privacy
https://www.npr.org/2025/06/29/nx-s1-5409608/citizenship-trump-privacy-voting-database
Anyone wearing one of these things should be required to display a warning sign.
“Bee makes a $49.99 Fitbit-like device that listens in on your conversations while using AI to transcribe everything that you and the people around you say, allowing it to generate personalized summaries of your days, reminders, and suggestions from within the Bee app.”
#AI #Privacy #SurveillanceCapitalism
https://www.theverge.com/news/711621/amazon-bee-ai-wearable-acquisition