#ShinyHunters data leaks fuel $2,000 #sextortion email scam

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/shinyhunters-data-leaks-fuel-2-000-sextortion-email-scam/

#privacy #cybersecurity #DataBreach

United and American don't just swap miles with hotels and card partners. Airline data broker ARC sells passenger travel records to DHS and marketers, cross-linked with your card spending into a full movement profile.

#privacy #surveillance #socialmedia #indigoprivacy

#OnTrac notifies customers of #DataBreach after network hack

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ontrac-notifies-customers-of-data-breach-after-network-hack/

#cybersecurity #privacy #delivery #shipping

A new Jscrambler study found bank mortgage and account-opening pages quietly firing tracking pixels that send your data to Google, Meta, TikTok, and others. Across 14 cases, tracking fired without valid consent at 9 banks: before the cookie banner, after 'reject all,' or despite 'essential only.' One Spanish bank sent TikTok your hashed email and phone during a mortgage application. The cookie banner won't save you. Block trackers in the browser: Brave, uBlock, Pi-hole. #privacy #indigoprivacy

Judge rebuffs #Trump admin demand for phone records from #NYT reporters

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/07/judge-rebuffs-trump-admin-demand-for-phone-records-from-nyt-reporters/

#journalism #privacy

If you use a #web browser other than Apple Safari, there's an awesome #privacy preserving extension you can install called Privacy Badger.

It's an excellent free tool that stops advertisers and other third-party trackers:

If an advertiser seems to be tracking you across multiple websites without your permission, Privacy Badger automatically blocks that advertiser from loading any more content in your browser. To the advertiser, it’s like you suddenly disappeared.

This isn't strictly an ad blocker. It helps preserve your online privacy. It's the first extension I install when I'm setting up a new browser, either for myself or a friend.

Privacy Badger is created and offered by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world.

#QuickPrivacyTips #browser #web #privacy

https://privacybadger.org/

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@eteryu/116981009404335498

A powody, dla których warto powoli odchodzić od F-Droida i dlaczego sam model tego repozytorium mocno się zestarzał, opisywałem niedawno na blogu:

https://eteryu.space/ewolucja-zaufania-dlaczego-czas-f-droida-mija/

#FDroid #Android #Security #Privacy #FOSS #CyberSecurity

Alt...

Zrzut ekranu fragmentu artykułu z bloga na ciemnym tle.

New on the blog: Privacy and Power: Local AI and Zero-Knowledge Sync in Makro

https://makroexpander.com/blog/privacy-and-power-local-ai-and-zero-knowledge-sync-in-makro

#Privacy #Encryption #Productivity

Attention 📣 #privacy focused #GrapheneOS users, keep an eye for this legal bullshit that is happening in the US right now:

https://www.techspot.com/news/113236-us-prosecutors-charge-atlanta-man-after-grapheneos-phone.html

If they get it their way, they will make GrapheneOS criminal.

#acab

We have a duty to resist authoritarianism and mass surveillance.

We owe it to the next generations.

#Privacy #BeTheResistance

Reports that Madison Square Garden temporarily shut off its facial recognition system for Swift’s wedding expose a glaring problem with how the elite wield and control mass surveillance.

They gonna ram it in. They create the problem to solve the problem. Boy oh boy they getting creative on those camera tricks… @1:49… constitution be damned… there is nothing good left in the USA… nothing but a zombie corporation ran by pdfiles. We are slaves no doubt about that. It is like us plebs get no chances but the corpos get infinite forgiveness.

Hey. Hey, you. Yes, you. Do you have a public key? Do you know what I'm talking about? A public encryption key protects your #privacy and #security in the digital age.

If you're using Gmail or any similar service your emails are being scanned before you even read them. If you're lazy like me you can even use a service like @protonprivacy or @Tutanota and they will handle the #encryption bits for you.

https://gnupg.org

Someone asked in an activism group I was in: “What’s the best way to remove metadata from photos?” And one answer was: “Take a screenshot.”

And you know what, it’s hard to argue with that. You lose resolution and quality each time you do it. But everyone knows how to take a screenshot and crop it, and it really does remove metadata.

It *has* to be simpler for people to be sure that their shared photo has no metadata they don’t intend to share. Like, “simpler than a screenshot” simple.

#technology #privacy

How #Cops Use #Flock to Track People, Not Cars
Cops have used Flock's FreeForm search feature to look for people with tattoos and wearing specific sport shirts, and searches sometimes include the target's race, according to data.
Highlights while people associate Flock cameras with scanning license plates and tracking vehicles, cameras are also capable of following the movements of particular people or groups of people.
https://www.404media.co/how-cops-use-flock-to-track-people-not-cars/
https://archive.ph/k4E8q
#privacy #surveillance

US accuses American of allegedly wiping his phone using a ‘duress’ password during border search

https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/24/us-accuses-american-of-allegedly-wiping-his-phone-using-a-duress-password-during-border-search/

#cybersecurity #privacy #politics #GrapheneOS

France plans to require age verification for social media, with access potentially blocked for users under 15 who don't have parental consent.

Supporters say it's about protecting children online. Critics warn that mandatory age verification could impact privacy, anonymity, and data collection.

Read more: https://digitalescapetools.com/2026/07/france-social-media-ban-age-verification-privacy.html

#Privacy #SocialMedia #AgeVerification #France #DigitalRights #OnlinePrivacy #TechNews #DigitalEscapeTools

#ChickFilA #DataBreach affects more than 13,000 customers

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/chick-fil-a-data-breach-affects-more-than-13-000-customers/

#privacy #cybersecurity #FastFood

If you’re one of the initial users of the still relatively new Searcher Chromium browser extension (to protect privacy by triggering configurable random searches)—

—then Searcher now allows you to define how often a search should be triggered on a domain (useful to avoid one on every page navigation):

https://iadefensa.com/solutions/searcher-chromium/

(As with any of the IA Defensa tools, use is on you, so configure it responsibly.)

#search #privacy #obscurity

Man gets six years for hacking 750 women's #Snapchat accounts

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/man-gets-six-years-for-hacking-750-womens-snapchat-accounts/

#privacy #cybersecurity

#Meta's new #AI glasses let people secretly film and photograph you!

https://tuta.com/blog/metas-new-ai-glasses

#privacy #SmartGlasses

#Microsoft responds to #LG monitors installing #McAfee ads on #Windows

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/microsoft-responds-to-lg-monitors-installing-mcafee-ads-on-windows/

#cybersecurity #advertising #privacy

Hundreds of Drone-as-First-Responder Programs Could Soon Be Launched Across the Country

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/07/hundreds-drone-first-responder-programs-could-soon-be-launched-across-country

#drone #privacy #surveillance

Many rely on Big Tech—US-governed, surveillance-prone, and built on data monetization. In the UK, Germany & France, 8/10 feel too dependent on US tech. Europe offers stronger privacy laws and digital-rights tech. 🔍🇪🇺 Try European search options: https://proton.me/learn/european-alternatives #Privacy #DigitalRights #Europe

Privacy.sexy builds privacy and hardening scripts for Windows, macOS and Linux. You pick the changes you want, read the exact commands and side effects, then copy or download the script and run it yourself. Nothing runs in the browser, no backend.

The original by undergroundwires hasn’t had a commit since April 2025 and the OSes moved on. Windows shipped Recall and Click to Do, wmic is gone, half the registry paths point at nothing. I forked it and started fixing.

What’s different:

• Updated the Windows catalog for the new AI features (Recall, Click to Do, Copilot).
• Removed tweaks I think were harmful, like ones that disabled browser updates or antivirus for a marginal privacy win. Gone or opt-in now.
• Deleted the Electron app. Shipping a stale Chromium to run a static page is a worse tradeoff than opening a browser.
• Fixed dead registry paths and stale commands across all three platforms.
• Added regression tests so a script that disables security-critical behavior fails CI.

One disclosure: I use AI assistance to write and research scripts, and review everything against vendor docs and the tests before merging. If you find a script that’s wrong, that’s the best bug report you can file and I’ll fix it fast.

Independent fork, AGPL-3.0 like the original, not affiliated with undergroundwires. The architecture and most of the script library are their work.

By developer @turtlecute@feddit.it

Australian #energy provider #Origin says #DataBreach exposes client data

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/australian-energy-provider-origin-says-data-breach-exposes-client-data/

#Australia #privacy #cybersecurity #infrastructure

Privacy.sexy builds privacy and hardening scripts for Windows, macOS and Linux. You pick the changes you want, read the exact commands and side effects, then copy or download the script and run it yourself. Nothing runs in the browser, no backend.

The original by undergroundwires hasn’t had a commit since April 2025 and the OSes moved on. Windows shipped Recall and Click to Do, wmic is gone, half the registry paths point at nothing. I forked it and started fixing.

What’s different:

• Updated the Windows catalog for the new AI features (Recall, Click to Do, Copilot).
• Removed tweaks I think were harmful, like ones that disabled browser updates or antivirus for a marginal privacy win. Gone or opt-in now.
• Deleted the Electron app. Shipping a stale Chromium to run a static page is a worse tradeoff than opening a browser.
• Fixed dead registry paths and stale commands across all three platforms.
• Added regression tests so a script that disables security-critical behavior fails CI.

One disclosure: I use AI assistance to write and research scripts, and review everything against vendor docs and the tests before merging. If you find a script that’s wrong, that’s the best bug report you can file and I’ll fix it fast.

Independent fork, AGPL-3.0 like the original, not affiliated with undergroundwires. The architecture and most of the script library are their work.

By developer @turtlecute@feddit.it

#Flock's CEO Says its ALPRs Don't Do Video After Repeatedly Announcing They Can

https://www.404media.co/flocks-ceo-says-its-alprs-dont-do-video-after-repeatedly-announcing-they-can/

#ALPR #privacy #surveillance

RE: https://bardicperspiration.club/@tiefling/116986688837502073

VPN and encrypted apps are good, easy way to preserve privacy.

They may be not perfect, as nothing is resilient to human mistakes (like clicking links or sharing password/PIN codes), but they are good enough to protect privacy and security.

It's always better to use apps like Proton VPN or Signal instead of not using them.

#privacy #VPN #Signal #security #encryption

RE: https://mastodon.social/@noybeu/116963315470756002

The idea to replace cookie banners with making privacy preferences once at the browser level is good.

It would be much better from practical side and browser makes could strengthen protection of privacy by strict enforcement of preferences.

#privacy #browser #web #cookies #internet #EU #Europe

🫧 Social coding commons boosted

noyb.eu » 🌐 2026-07-22
@noybeu@mastodon.social

🍪 There's one thing we can all agree on: we're fed up with misleading cookie banners. 🚫 And we finally have a chance to get rid of them!

💡 The solution? Simple! Express your privacy preferences once, for example via your browser or device, and have them respected permanently.

📃 A proposal to end this tracking circus is currently on the table of EU lawmakers – and could easily simplify things for everyone in the European Union.

➡️ killthecookiebanner.eu

Alt...

A banner saying "It's time to kill the cookie banner" and a link to a website killthecookiebanner.eu

Portmaster might be goated for privacy #privacy #privacymatters

For #TaylorSwift, Madison Square Garden’s Controversial Cameras Briefly Went Dark

https://www.wired.com/story/for-taylor-swift-madison-square-gardens-controversial-cameras-briefly-went-dark/

#MSG #privacy #surveillance #FRT #FacialRecognition

Linkwarden is a free, open-source bookmark manager that helps you save, organize, and preserve webpages. It can automatically archive pages as screenshots, PDFs, and HTML files, supports collaboration, includes browser extensions and mobile apps, and can be self-hosted for full control over your data.

More details: https://digitalescapetools.com/tools/tool.html?id=linkwarden

#OpenSource #SelfHosting #Bookmarks #Privacy #Productivity #FOSS #DigitalOwnership

Alt...

Screenshot of the Linkwarden project page featuring its logo and the tagline "Bookmarks, Evolved." The page highlights GitHub Trending (#3 Repository of the Day), an active Discord community, Hacker News mentions, the latest release, localization progress, and project sponsors.

Great new video from Techlore! Chat Control could turn a photo sent to a doctor into a police investigation. Techlore breaks down how photo/message scanning works and how to protect yourself.

By @techlore
🔗 https://techlore.tv/w/h8kW4d5yh4eh7peGnPViQ4

#privacy #ChatControl #encryption #digitalprivacy

Stop the tracking circus. Kill the cookie banner!

Tired of misleading cookie banners? The EU Commission has finally proposed a solution: set your privacy preferences in the browser once, and never see another banner. Unfortunately, the tracking industry is pushing back – and so far, they’ve been successful. We need YOUR help to #KillTheCookieBanner!

🍪 https://killthecookiebanner.eu

#tracking #cookies #cookiebanner #eu #web #browser #internet #tracking #stop #privacy #privacymatters

See how /e/OS protects my device from tracking attempts!
Mobile apps trackers are one of the most impactful threats regarding your privacy and your freedom.

#privacy #tracking #AppTracking #apptrackingprotection #eos #surveillancecapitalism

Alt...

Trackers blocked: 100% of all tracking attempts neutralized 21,659 just this week

There are two common misconceptions on Mastodon about Mastodon. The first one is that Mastodon is the only free, non-commercial, non-corporate, decentralised social anything. Once Mastodon users are over this, they still think Mastodon is the best free, non-commercial, non-corporate, decentralised social anything.

I've seen Mastodon being advertised by users as a Fediverse alternative to literally everything, including Reddit (because, like, you can communicate, right?) and even YouTube (because, like, you can upload videos, right?).

But again, let me be honest: The only thing that Mastodon can hope to be an alternative to is 𝕏. Because it's a Twitter clone. A purist Twitter clone whose developers intentionally reject feature requests because the requested features don't fit into their image of purist, minimalist, old-school, original-gangsta microblogging. They want to keep Mastodon a slightly more glorified SMS than 𝕏.

Mastodon isn't even the only microblogging server application in the Fediverse. It isn't even the best at that. 80-90% of Mastodon's users don't and probably will never realise that Mastodon is an intentionally crippled resource hog. Many believe that Mastodon is the fully-featured be-all, end-all of social networking.

By the way, even the Mastodon developers claim that Mastodon is fully featured. I've had a Mastodon dev try hard to convince me that Mastodon is fully featured although I've told him that I'm on Hubzilla. He essentially tried to tell me that Mastodon has every last feature that Hubzilla has plus even more on top.

In reality, Mastodon isn't the fully-featured be-all, end-all of social networking. It isn't even a social network. It's social media, just like 𝕏 is social media. It's designed for pumping out content and being followed because it's designed as a Twitter-like microblogging application. And it isn't even the best at microblogging.

Almost everyone on Mastodon is fully convinced that Mastodon has to be the best. After all, it's the biggest. It's what everyone chose.

No.

Mastodon is the biggest because everyone who wants to leave 𝕏 or Threads or Bluesky is railroaded to Mastodon. It's the biggest because all the newbies are only told about Mastodon. It's the biggest because none of the newbies even learn upon on-boarding that other 𝕏 alternatives exist in the Fediverse, that anything else exists in the Fediverse other than Mastodon. It's the biggest because mainstream media, tech media and even Fediverse activists only ever talk about Mastodon, Mastodon, Mastodon. (Granted, it's also the biggest because it's the only one with an official phone app in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Even though that app sucks.)

All these Mastodon users who claim that Mastodon is the best choice don't realise that they themselves did, in fact, not choose Mastodon. They didn't know they had a choice. All they were told about was Mastodon. Seriously, if they'd had a choice, they'd probably be on Sharkey now and not on Mastodon.

I've read what people had to say who moved from Friendica to Misskey. Or to now defunct Calckey/Firefish. Or to Sharkey. Or to Akkoma. All these are microblogging server applications in the Fediverse. But none of them are intentionally crippled to stay close to Twitter, at least not to such a degree as Mastodon.

It was nothing short of eye-opening to them. Only by daily-driving something else than Mastodon did they realise what the non-Mastodon Fediverse can be like. And how crippled Mastodon actually is. That Mastodon is far from being the absolute pinnacle in decentralised social media.

They no longer had only 500 characters. They had thousands of characters. They would have had thousands of characters on every server running that software without having to ask around which one has more than 500 characters. It felt like a restraint being removed which they had never considered a restraint, at least not that much of it.

They saw text formatting which they considered technologically absolutely impossible in the Fediverse when they were on Mastodon. In fact, they had considered text formatting entirely impossible while on Mastodon until they had come across the first message from outside with text formatting. Actual text formatting, not Unicode trickery. Now they suddenly saw a lot of the stuff that Mastodon's HTML sanitiser removes. And they themselves could use it!

If they were on one of the *keys, they no longer had a timeline of single-message piecemeal. For the first time ever, they experienced what it's like to have something else than single-message piecemeal. Namely entire conversations right in front of them, right away. Without having to dig for them first.

They had features which they had always wished the Fediverse may introduce. They never knew that the Fediverse does have these features, only Mastodon doesn't. They had features that were completely unimagiable to them in the Fediverse.

There are users who have moved from Mastodon to something "minimalist" and lightweight like snac or GoToSocial, often on self-hosted, single-user, private servers. Even they suddenly had features they didn't have on Mastodon. Mind you, while not missing a single Mastodon feature (except maybe for a built-in Web UI).

And that's just the microblogging side of the Fediverse. None of this is actual social networking. You know, what Facebook does.

First of all, if it's about following and being followed, it's social media. A social network doesn't have followers. In case you don't know, Facebook doesn't have followers. It has "friends". Bidirectional connections. Not 𝕏/Mastodon-like mutuals which are two connections, one in each direction, but one connection that goes both ways.

Besides, there are even more important social networking features missing from the microblogging side of the Fediverse.

Where are the contact suggestions? Where does Mastodon suggest new contacts based on how many contacts you have in common with them? Where does Mastodon suggest new contacts based on what profile information you have in common with them?

Oh, right, the latter is impossible because Mastodon doesn't have profile fields with defined purposes. In fact, where are these? Every good social network has them! But Mastodon only gives you four all-purpose profile fields (just like Mastodon only gives you four of everything, four file attachments, four options in polls...).

Where is the list of unread posts, unread comments and other unnoticed actions? How are you to make sure you really catch everything your friends do? Because you can't do that if all you have is a timeline to scroll through until you no longer see new stuff. If you manage to scroll down that far. And only absolute newbies can do that on Mastodon because they hardly follow anyone.

Where are groups? Seriously, I've lost count of how many times Mastodon users said "the Fediverse" must introduce something like Facebook Groups. The huge majority of Mastodon users is fully convinced that the Fediverse does not have groups in any shape or form because Mastodon doesn't have them.

Where are all these things? In the Fediverse, no less? Where are they?

I'll tell you where they are.

Friendica. Hubzilla. (streams). Forte.

The actual social networking side of the Fediverse (although Hubzilla is more like a social CMS or a "social Swiss army knife" that you can also use as a Facebook-like social networking application). I mean, I've already explained that Friendica was created in 2010 as a Facebook alternative. Not a faithful Facebook clone, though, but better than Facebook.

Mike Macgirvin took over from Facebook what social networks really need. And Farmville isn't that, and spying on your users and passing that data on to the NSA and selling it to the highest bidder isn't that, so he didn't take over that. He didn't want to build a clone that also adopts the bad sides just to be as close to the original as possible.

He took over the detailed profiles with profile fields with dedicated purposes. He took over profile privacy settings. In general, he took over a lot of privacy features. He took over advanced user discovery and connection suggestions. He took over bidirectional connections, only without that silly name "friends". He took over groups with moderation, only that a group on Friendica is just another account with a special automated reposter. He took over enclosed threaded conversations with one post at the top and otherwise only comments. He took over a "timeline" of full conversations as the default. He took over the event calendar. And so forth.

Instead, he added useful stuff on top. He gave Friendica all the posting features to make it fully capable of long-form blogging with all bells and whistles. No character limit (except for in the database, but I think that was over 65,000 back in the day already). All HTML text formatting features (only that Friendica only used BBcode back then; now it can optionally also use Markdown). A post/thread title. Summaries. Embedded images and other media with no limit in number. He even added a spoiler tag like in forums that can hide parts of a message.

He took care of privacy beyond what Facebook had to offer. He introduced a permissions system. Friendica got multiple profile per account, only one of which is public, so that you can show different sides of yourself to different connections.

Now, if you want to embed images or other media in your messages, you have to store them somewhere. And not everyone could be expected to set up a little file space somewhere. So he built a file space into Friendica, one that can even be used as a Dropbox alternative, all the way to restricted access to certain directories.

Mike also added a content warning system that automatically generates content warnings on the reader's side, based on a keyword list. If you need something behind content warnings, add the keywords to the list, and you'll have the respective content warnings, but the next user receiving the self-same post or comment does not have these content warnings if they don't need them.

One important part of what makes Friendica Friendica is being able to connect to a whole lot of stuff. For example, Friendica could federate with StatusNet via the OStatus protocol from the get-go; this is also how it immediately federated with Mastodon when the latter was launched. Mastodon generates an RSS feed, something that many users don't know. Friendica not only generates an Atom feed, but it can subscribe to feeds. Friendica can "federate" with e-mail. Over time, more and more connection features were added, including Tumblr, Twitter (!), Facebook (only for a few years before Facebook crippled it) and a WordPress cross-poster.

Lastly, he made it possible for third parties to add extra features by implementing an add-on system.

I dare those who are fully convinced that Mastodon is the best Facebook alternative possible to use Friendica for a year. Not only dip one toe in to the water, but use it as their one and only daily driver for everything they've used Mastodon for. Not scratching the surface and using it like Twitter while ignoring any and all features the Twitter they remember didn't have, but going all in. In fact, I dare those who are fully convinced that Mastodon is perfect and fully-featured to do the same.

And then there's Hubzilla. It came to exist by Mike forking Friendica in 2011, then forking that fork the same year, then rewriting that fork of a fork in 2012, then repurposing, rebranding, repositioning and greatly expanding it in 2015. Long story.

Hubzilla adds even more stuff on top. Most importantly, it introduced nomadic identity (https://joinfediverse.wiki/Nomadic_identity) in 2012.

Hubzilla, or its 2012 prototype form named Red, became the first decentralised social software that uncoupled the identity from the login. This was necessary for nomadic identity, but it also introduced the option to have multiple independent identities, basically what's an account elsewhere, on the same account, the same login. This makes sense, given the many different roles and purposes a Hubzilla channel can have. The big advantage over having multiple separate accounts is that you can switch between the channels on your account without logging out and back in.

Hubzilla, or its 2012 prototype form named Red, got an even more advanced and fine-grained permissions system. Hubzilla has 17 individual permissions on three levels, channel level, contact level, content level. At channel level, each one has seven or eight permission options to choose from, depending on whether or not it makes sense to give a permission to everyone on the Internet.

Mike added optional features to Hubzilla that were previously unseen on social anything, features that you'd rather expect from a CMS and maybe not even from that. Non-federating long-form articles. Planning cards that are based on these articles. Wikis that can be formatted with BBcode or Markdown. Webpages that can be formatted with BBcode, Markdown or HTML, that can include dynamic content from elsewhere on the channel, and that can add extra content to the channel pages.

Hubzilla can even act as groupware. It has a CalDAV calendar server; the event calendar can double as a crude UI for the CalDAV calendars. It has an optional CardDAV addressbook server. Its built-in file storage can be accessed via WebDAV, so you theoretically even have some cloud file space you can mount as a network drive. Rather recently, there was even a way found to tie Collabora Office into Hubzilla.

If you should ever read about Bonfire: Bonfire is Hubzilla ordered from Wish.com. Whatever Bonfire promises to have or to introduce has been available as a rock-solid stable feature on Hubzilla for over a decade. Bonfire only gets away with what it's trying to do because nobody knows Hubzilla.

I think it's safe to say that those who "chose" Mastodon didn't choose it over the rest of the Fediverse because it's better. They "chose" it because they didn't even know they have a choice.

As for your post, the technology for redeveloping socialising is there. And it certainly isn't Mastodon, and it never will be Mastodon. Mastodon can't be that due to its design philosophy, due to it being a Twitter clone, due to its own developers intentionally crippling it.

If you want to move on from 1-way interaction, you have to move on from 1-way connections. Move on from Twitter followers to Facebook friends.

You have to offer better options for the users than shouting into the void, attaching a bunch of hashtags and hoping that some of their followers or someone who is following one of the hashtags happens to be bothered to scroll down their timeline far enough.

You have to make sure that people don't miss content due to basic design and philosophy decisions. You have to make sure that people don't miss content because they simply never know that this content is there in the first place, because they can't scroll down far enough their timelines until they reach that content. You need something else than a timeline of single messages to scroll down with the user not having an idea just how far down that timeline goes. You have to tell the user how much unread content there is, what it is, where it is, and take the user directly to that unread content.

You have to stop presenting content to users as a long list of single posts and more single posts with only tiny details telling them that these posts are, in fact, part of a longer conversation which they don't see. Where they have to click or tap themselves through various UI pages to see that post in its context. Users must see the whole conversation Right. Off. The bat.

You need groups. Not kluged onto something that had no group support whatsoever two seconds earlier, not intentionally crippled, not crippled by the technology they're built upon, not intentionally re-invented to be incompatible with whatever already exists (and this is how Mastodon would do them). But fully functional, on an appropriate base, interoperable, user-moderated, optionally private, optionally hiding from directories.

If you want to go "social", you really have to go social. You have to go Facebook, not Twitter.

Users must find other users based on common interests. Or users living close to them. Or users with lots of contacts in common with them. Not by being on the same local/regional server of the same server about a certain topic. Not by searching for hashtags in the main profile text. But by examining specialised profile fields and the contacts.

Users must have such users suggested to them as new connections. Users must have such users at the top of their directory. This is how Facebook does it. And this is one thing that Facebook has always done right.

Again, Mastodon will never offer any of this. But that doesn't mean that you'll have to compromise and lower your expectations. Because you don't have to. There are server applications in the Fediverse, fully federated with Mastodon, that offer literally all of that. They exist right now. And some of them have existed for longer than Mastodon.

If you need something better than today's Mastodon, stop wishing for a better Mastodon. Instead, use something that's better and more appropriate for the job than Mastodon right now. For it exists right now.

#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #CharacterLimit #CharacterLimits #CharacterLimitMeta #CWCharacterLimitMeta #500Characters #CW #CWs #CWMeta #ContentWarning #ContentWarnings #ContentWarningMeta #Fediverse #Mastodon #MastodonFediverse #NotOnlyMastodon #FediverseIsNotMastodon #MastodonIsNotTheFediverse #Friendica #Hubzilla #Streams #(streams) #Forte #Privacy #Permission #Permissions #Groups #FediverseGroups #FediGroups #NomadicIdentity #MastodonCentricity #MastodonNormativity

Un browser, un centro multimediale e una suite audio nello stesso programma. ArDali WebMedia punta tutto su privacy e produttività. #Linux #OpenSource #Chromium #Audio #Privacy

https://www.linuxeasy.org/ardali-webmedia-riunisce-browser-chromium-audio-professionale-e-strumenti-multimediali/

BREAKING:
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CAUSES ORGANIC HYSTERIA 💎

AI presses several #old human fear buttons at once.

It threatens work, status, expertise, authorship, privacy, and the comforting #belief that intelligence belongs especially to human beings.

AI also arrives through enormous companies people already distrust, so the fears are not entirely irrational.

Then there is the fear of losing #control

Most people understand a hammer.

AI is also a #tool, but it is harder to see into. It changes quickly, sometimes gets things wrong with amazing confidence, and can sound far more capable than it really is.

That uncertainty invites #projection

But AI also exposes something uncomfortable.

Much of human #activity was already formulaic.

#writing

#administration

#advertising

#opinion

Even parts of #journalism and professional #commentary .

When a machine can imitate these things, people are forced to ask how original they were in the first place.

The sensible position is neither to worship AI nor panic about it.

AI is a powerful human-made tool operating inside imperfect systems.

It can help.

It can deceive.

It can save time.

It can waste resources.

It can widen access.

It can concentrate power.

It can produce brilliance and slop, often in the same hour.

The question is not whether it is pure.

Nothing in this world is.

The question is whether it can be used consciously, critically, and without surrendering human judgement.

A tool becomes dangerous when it is mistaken for an authority.

It also becomes dangerous when fear prevents us from understanding it properly.

#human #ORGANIC #HYSTERIA #fear #hammer #privacy #resources #machine #fasting #acim #acourseinmiracles #newthought #eckharttolle #buddhism #breathwork #connection #healing #pridemonth #Karma #TrueNature #Awakening #Meditation #Mindfulness #Spirituality #intermittentfasting #nonduality #reality #life #quantum #kitchen #cooking #AI

Internet-connected kitchen appliances that offer recipe and grocery features collect meal preparation habits and dietary patterns retained on vendor servers.

#privacy #IoT #tracking #indigoprivacy

#Google will now let you sign in to your account with a #selfie video

https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/23/google-will-now-let-you-sign-in-to-your-account-with-a-selfie-video/

#privacy

Leaked Document Shows the #Surveillance Tech at #ICE’s Fingertips

https://www.404media.co/leaked-document-shows-the-surveillance-tech-at-ices-fingertips/

#privacy #politics

#Encryption and Globalization 15 Years Later: End-to-End Encryption and the Third Round of the "#GoingDark" Debate

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6959699

#privacy #cybersecurity

This week in privacy:

- A US appeals court said border agents can search your phone with no warrant.
- A researcher found Shark robot vacuums can be turned into spy cameras (still unpatched).
- Google rolled out face-video sign-in - new biometric data to store.
- The EFF found most health wearables lack basic privacy protections.

The bright spot: California launched DROP, a free tool to bulk-delete you from data brokers.

#privacy #indigoprivacy

#Tails 7.10

https://tails.net/news/version_7.10/

#privacy #anonymity #cybersecurity #FOSS #Linux

Need a password manager for your team?

TeamPass is a free, open-source password manager built for teams and organizations. Securely share credentials, manage role-based permissions, integrate with LDAP/Active Directory, and self-host everything on your own infrastructure.

More details: https://digitalescapetools.com/tools/tool.html?id=teampass

#OpenSource #PasswordManager #SelfHosting #CyberSecurity #Privacy #DevOps #FOSS

Alt...

Screenshot of the TeamPass 3 project page describing it as an on-premise collaborative password manager. The page highlights GitHub badges showing approximately 1.8k stars, GPL-3.0 license, 1.9 million Docker pulls, the latest release, a passing build status, and code intelligence support.

Is Windows tracking you? 😳 Proton's diving deep into Microsoft's data practices and a sneaky identifier they're using. VPNs aren't a full privacy fix either – find out more in this new video! Check it out. #Windows #Spyware #Privacy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASE94IrEkv8

Alt...

🔴 LIVE

A US appeals court (the Fourth Circuit) ruled border agents can manually search travelers' phones with no warrant and no individualized suspicion, treating it as 'routine' like inspecting luggage. The EFF argues a manual scroll reveals 'the sum of an individual's private life' just like a forensic search and should require a warrant. Entering the US? Reduce what's on your device and power it off first. #privacy #EFF #borders #indigoprivacy

The Fourth Circuit Says #Border Agents Can Search Your Phone By Hand, No Suspicion Required

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/07/fourth-circuit-says-border-agents-can-search-your-phone-hand-no-suspicion-required

#privacy #law

I got a notice I could get 2 years of identity monitoring from Kroll due to a breach with U of MN. I see that Kroll is a pretty large firm, but I also found a lot of people online with negative comments about Kroll and saying just locking/freezing your credit monitoring is the best thing you can do. I've already done that a long time ago. Any thoughts on Kroll or the usefulness of giving them identifying data about myself through their online enrollment form? I'm leaning against it. #privacy #infosec

Meta and Google are testing selfie video verification.

Both companies are rolling out video-based identity checks to verify users and help with account recovery. While they promise stronger security, they also raise new questions about biometric privacy and how facial data is stored and used.

Read more: https://digitalescapetools.com/2026/07/meta-google-selfie-video-verification-privacy.html

#Privacy #Biometrics #Google #Meta #CyberSecurity #DigitalRights #TechNews

Every Monday: what happened in privacy this week, why it matters, and what to do about it.

#privacy #news #indigoprivacy

#SocialMedia addiction lawsuit against #Meta is dropped

https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/22/social-media-addiction-lawsuit-against-meta-is-dropped/

#Facebook #Instagram #privacy

#SouthKorea discloses #DataBreach impacting diplomats worldwide

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/south-korea-discloses-data-breach-impacting-diplomats-worldwide/

#privacy #cybersecurity #politics

How #OpenAI’s human mistake led to the #AI-powered hack on #HuggingFace

https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/22/how-an-openais-human-mistake-led-to-the-ai-powered-hack-on-hugging-face/

#cybersecurity #DataBreach #privacy

Thanks a lot to our dears users that leave such lovely words in Google Play reviews.

You give us that magic energy and motivation to keep going!
💜✨🤗

Are you installing the app from Google Play but have not given a review yet??? it would help us a lot to gain more visibility and relevance between so many apps in the Google Play store, so please, if you can, leave us a review here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.arcanechat

#android #arcanechat #OpenSource #europe #european #privacy #security #family

Google now support account recovery with AI and your face. What could possibly go wrong? Google having my face is not just bad enough but chances are high that selfie video may not work in edge cases or network down etc.

https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/safety-security/selfie-video-sign-in/

#privacy #security #DoNotwant

Alt...

The tweet from Google offical account reads: Forgot your password? Lost your phone? Can’t get into your account? You can now use a selfie video to log into your Google Account. The new feature is easy to use and lets you sign in — even if you forget your password or don’t have your usual phone or laptop — with a quick selfie. There is a short video showing how to use a selfie video to log into your Google Account and link to https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/safety-security/selfie-video-sign-in/

@elsua54 I see you have good thoughts but also it's for the developers to share their troubles and considerations a bit more to literally share the burden out to people (both as physical work & solutions and also using the mass for thoughts and then team-focus on it when a genuis idea / offer come from the suggestions).

e.g. #GrapheneOS replies seem a bit more personal while updating technically (they are invested and all-out into personal #privacy #anonymity to protect from corps).
@GrapheneOS

Vendor management systems retain contractor and gig worker identity and performance data that is shared across client companies in the same industry.

#privacy #databrokers #employment #indigoprivacy

"They monitor your actions from your very own electronics."

source: ITS TIME FOR THE WORDS WRITTEN IN THE LITTLE BOOK TO BE REVEALED - Godshealer7/YouTube

@JulianOliver
@k0a1a

#privacy #conspiracy #prophecy #Jesus

Great new feature in the latest Signal app. If you enable disappearing messages the meta data of calls and missed calls gets deleted as well.

I know this was a long standing goal for them, but the engineering behind it took time.
#Privacy @signalapp

What Happened When #Flock Came to My Town

https://www.404media.co/what-happened-when-flock-came-to-my-town/

#privacy #surveillance #ALPR

#SimpleX Public Names — a Name Nobody Can Take From You

https://simplex.chat/blog/20260722-simplex-public-names.html

#privacy #cybersecurity

🚨 U.S. folks. There is one day left to comment on the FCC proposed rule to eradicate anonymity on all phone lines!

If they pass this rule government ID, physical address, and alternative phone number will be required for every new phone line. Anonymous phone lines and burner phones will cease to exist. That means no connected privacy via cellular at protests.

** Please add your comment! **

For the first field (proceedings) use these two:

17-59 and 02-278

https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings/express

#Privacy #InfoSec #OpSec #FCC #Anonymity #Phones #Protest