soc.octade.net is a Fediverse instance that uses the ActivityPub protocol. In other words, users at this host can communicate with people that use software like Mastodon, Pleroma, Friendica, etc. all around the world.
This server runs the snac software and there is no automatic sign-up process.
Centralized platforms will never be the solution, it's crazy but all that multi-million-dollar backed apps can't bring you as far in terms of #autonomy, #resilience and #freedom as #ArcaneChat does
#decentralization #digitalindependence #european #europe #openSource #privacy
Proton: We asked #Flock’s CEO about surveillance abuse. Here’s what he said.
I need to go out and stare at moss in the forest before getting back to your message
#ArcaneChat #privacy #security #encryption #anonymity #family #digitalindependence #Europe #European #android #openSource
Convenience and privacy are not opposites, even though it can feel that way. Most of the time you can keep both. One setting change, one private alternative that works the same, and you lose nothing but the tracking.
"Age verification (laws and regulations requiring platforms and websites to assure or estimate that a user seeking to use an online service is of a certain age) is everywhere. At the time of writing, about half the states in the US have some internet age verification law in place, and dangerous proposals, from the KIDS Act to the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), have been advancing at the federal level. European Union member states are moving toward having age verification in a centralized app by the end of this year. Australia famously now has one extremely broad restriction in place.
Most age verification laws tend to fail at their primary goal of barring kids from being online or from entering only specially designated zones, not to mention they pose a significant threat to everyone’s privacy. Some proponents of these age-based internet restrictions think they've found the silver bullet: Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs). We wrote about ZKP’s when they were first rolled out in the age verification context last year. However, more recent examples show our concerns weren’t just conjecture; ZKP-focused AV schemes are gameable, hackable, and not the cure-all some may claim."
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/08/zkps-arent-age-verification-silver-bullets
#AgeVerification #USA #Privacy #Surveillance #ZKP #EU #SocialMedia #PoliceState #Censorship
https://www.404media.co/darth-vader-spoke-in-support-of-flock-at-san-diego-city-council-meeting/
🧐 Headlines in #privacy from @thenewoil
“Can ⌗AI Coexist With ⌗Privacy? ⌗Proton ’s Andy Yen Says It Will Have To wired․com/story/the-big-interview-podcast-andy-yen-proton/ ⌗Lumo”
https://mastodon.thenewoil.org/@thenewoil/117123475206402838
🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.
#Edge is phasing out the extension platform ad blockers relied on. What happens next?
https://adguard.com/en/blog/edge-phasing-out-mv2-ad-blockers.html
Zero Knowledge Proofs Aren’t #AgeVerification Silver Bullets
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/08/zkps-arent-age-verification-silver-bullets
Reverse-Lookup Service Exposed Millions of Photos of People’s Faces
https://www.wired.com/story/reverse-lookup-service-exposed-millions-of-photos-of-peoples-faces/
ImmiBridge is an open-source macOS app for backing up your Apple Photos library to local folders or a self-hosted Immich server.
It supports incremental, full, and mirror backups, Live Photos, iCloud downloads, scheduled backups, and album/date filtering.
A useful option for Apple users who want more control over their photo backups and less reliance on Apple's ecosystem.
More details: https://digitalescapetools.com/tools/tool.html?id=immibridge
#Flock Has a Powerful New #AI Tool for #Police. We Got Its Code
#Google is buying all of #Spirit Airlines’ data to feed its #AI models
https://www.cnn.com/2026/08/18/business/google-spirit-airlines-data
Your conversations with AI chatbots are not private. Researchers have tested 13 large language models to find which ones are the most trustworthy or perhaps...the least untrustworthy.
The two-dozen-page report by Incogni points out which LLMs have an off-switch to prevent chats from being used for training and offers techniques to minimize your privacy risk.
are you the writer type or do you do mainly calls and/or voice messages?
#ArcaneChat #European #Europe #Android #privacy #family #OpenSource
Zerion is coming to the desktop. Linux (Flatpak) and Windows builds are done and in final testing right now.
If testing goes well, Zerion Desktop lands very soon. Same app, same serverless design over Tor, now off the phone.
We’ll announce the moment it’s live and in the repo, so you can check it yourself.
zerion.chat
The #NationalParkService Is Using #Flock. #Rangers Are Pissed
The National Park Service (NPS), the agency tasked with managing the U.S. national parks and monuments, has purchased Flock cameras and had them installed at parks including in #Yosemite.
Current and former #NPS rangers are not happy about it.
“Flock protects property, not people or parks. People should be free to recreate in ways that are respectful to the ecosystem — but the #surveillance is a disrespectful invasion of #privacy ,” a current NPS ranger told 404 Media. 404 Media granted the ranger and others #anonymity because they weren’t permitted to speak to the press.
#alpr
https://www.404media.co/the-national-park-service-is-using-flock-rangers-are-pissed/
Internet of medical things devices including wireless infusion pumps and remote patient monitors transmit patient data to hospital networks with variable encryption.
Not just a year ago, you could find a lot of news articles promoting the idea that proprietary AI had higher privacy, better data protection, and enhanced cybersecurity. Now, businesses are switching to Open Source AI for exactly these 3 reasons. I guess reality has caught up with the hype.
#cybersecurity #privacy #opensource #AI
https://www.marketscale.com/industries/software-and-technology/enterprises-are-ditching-frontier-ai-models-for-open-source-alternatives-to-protect-proprietary-data
A billion searches a year, now built in: #Startpage comes to #Firefox
Inside Flock: The Surveillance System Watching America
#news #technology #flock #surveillance #proton #privacy
Geez, this keeps happening.
WSB TV Florida: Affidavit: Police officer used Flock cameras to track estranged wife 717 times
21 Alive: Flock alters system tracking transparency while shadow of alleged misuse cases expands
"...But Sklar said he also believes his unabashed opinion-sharing led to unwanted extra attention from local law enforcement.
North Manchester, Indiana may be a small town, but he said over time, he noticed it felt like a police officer began showing up wherever he went.
“I would come into town and all of a sudden he would be there,” Sklar said of one officer with whom he’s filmed several interactions...."
h/t @KrissyKat
The National Park Service Is Using #Flock. Rangers Are Pissed
https://www.404media.co/the-national-park-service-is-using-flock-rangers-are-pissed/
This week in privacy:
• Flock cut default plate-reader retention to 7 days; its CEO now agrees police should need a case number. EFF: mostly cosmetic.
• A Ninth Circuit ruling makes small platforms fight costly suits before Section 230 shields them.
• Cl0p claims data theft from ~50 firms (Shell, Philips, GE, Fiserv) via one zero-day.
• France's top court blocked its under-15 social media ban.
So what: companies and courts keep moving your privacy line. Don't wait.
#Fairphone is launching its latest repairable phone in the US too
https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/18/fairphone-is-launching-its-latest-repairable-phone-in-the-us-too/
Can #AI Coexist With #Privacy? #Proton’s Andy Yen Says It Will Have To
https://www.wired.com/story/the-big-interview-podcast-andy-yen-proton/
If You Thought Pervert Glasses Were Bad, Wait Till You See Apple’s Leaked AirPods - “…the upcoming AirPods will raise huge privacy concerns once their existence becomes more publicly known. The controversy around Meta’s AI-powered smart glasses — or “pervert” glasses, as some call them — has all but ensured that camera-equipped wearables will be a cultural issue going forward.” https://futurism.com/future-society/apple-leaked-airpods-privacy #privacy #Apple #Surveillance #AirPods
how many of you feel seen?
#ArcaneChat #europe #european #android #privacy #encryption #decentralization #OpenSource
"....The code describes 45 tools at the AI’s disposal, giving it access to plate scans and camera metadata, arrest records, case files, dispatch logs, ballistics results, and commercial databases that contain Social Security numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, relatives and associates...."
Wired: Flock Has a Powerful New AI Tool for Police. We Got Its Code
Flock’s surveillance cameras have already sparked outrage. WIRED reconstructed its next-generation AI system, already in use by some police, to confirm it goes much further than tracking license plates.
"...Vehicle surveillance giant Flock Safety has told the public for years that its technology “cannot recognize, identify, or track individuals.” It has now built a system that does both, an artificial intelligence tool for police that can identify drivers and track vehicles by their patterns of movement alone, WIRED has learned.
...Because the system also reaches police case files, 911 dispatch logs, and commercial identity records, those plates can be turned into names, home addresses, and relatives. It can search for people in an area drawn on a map based on nothing more than a physical description...."
James House-Lantto (He/Him) [(He/Him)] » 🌐
@Theeo123@mastodon.social
https://www.wired.com/story/flock-safety-os-investigate/
Flock has said for years that its technology “cannot recognize, identify, or track individuals.” It has now built a system that does both, an AI tool for police that can identify drivers and track vehicles by their patterns of movement alone, and it's already in use in some locations. Wired has the proof
#AppleWallet Driver's License Feature to Launch in Four More U.S. States
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/17/apple-wallet-ids-expanding-to-four-more-states/
Comcast gives its Wi-Fi motion detector a security makeover
Has anyone asked for this feature? I cant see how this is a good idea from a consumer or privacy standpoint.
I am sure it will not be abused in anyway. /sarcasm
Hacker claims 3.6 million #Azure account records stolen from major companies
#cybersecurity #privacy #DataBreach #McDonalds #TheGap #Vodafone #Tata #HCL #IHG #Kyndryl
A guide to red flags 🟥
if an app takes all your chats and data captive and force you to update
🚨 maybe you are in the wrong place ❗
with #ArcaneChat your data is always with you, in your pocket 💜
#digitalindependence #decentralization #privacy #autonomy #whatsApp
Zerion 3.0.2 is out, more stability fixes and refinements based on your feedback. Thanks to everyone who reported issues.
What’s next: we’re now working on expanding beyond Android. iOS is in development, and desktop builds for Linux (Flatpak) and Windows are on the way. Multi-device sync is coming too, one of the most requested features.
Still serverless, still over Tor, still open source. More as it lands.
zerion.chat
🛂 Meta Files Patent for Facial Recognition, Automatic Recording of People
WIRED - The Latest in Technology, Science, Culture and Business [Unofficial] » 🌐
@wired.com@web.brid.gy
Flock’s surveillance cameras have already sparked outrage. WIRED reconstructed its next-generation AI system, already in use by some police, to confirm it goes much further than tracking license plates.
when you reply to someone from the notifications while being on a video call in ArcaneChat
#ArcaneChat #europe #european #humor #joke #android #privacy #opensource #encryption #family
Your name, address, and phone number are on dozens of sites right now. The guides show you how to remove them, one at a time, for free.
Privacy focused client side password generator
https://password-generator.aaqa.dev/
Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49357881
#HackerNews #privacy #passwordgenerator #cybersecurity #technews #clientside
🛂 Google pays $10M for Spirit Airlines emails, chats, documents
"Google is acquiring Spirit Airlines' emails, calendar info, chats, documents, spreadsheets and other business data, according to a bankruptcy court filing.
It will use the data to improve its products and AI models"
https://www.axios.com/2026/08/17/google-spirit-airlines-bankruptcy
I'd been wondering what's happening these days with #AdversarialFashion. Also in the context of adding 'defencive' designs to your cars to defeat them from automated licence plat readers and e.g. wholesale surveillance via #Flock cameras (in the US, but likely to come all over the place to our shores as well).
An example of adversarial fashion garments:
https://www.katebertash.com/adversarial-fashion
I could imagine the idea of stickers/decals growing on me to be placed on my car's body defeating ALPRs (automatic licence plate readers), as long as they would not cause legal repercussions.
Going to these extents as here (full car body cover design) seems a bit far, but the learnings from it are far from uninteresting:
boosted#Tor - Funding internet freedom together: results from our first participatory funding round
https://blog.torproject.org/funding-internet-freedom-together/
SIM-swapping attacks that redirect phone numbers to criminal-controlled SIMs have been used to bypass two-factor authentication and steal cryptocurrency.
Mashable: Have you been Flocked? This website lets you find out. “A website called Have I Been Flocked? lets you enter your license plate number and check whether it appears in publicly released records of searches conducted through Flock Safety’s system. As of Aug. 17, the website had compiled nearly 242 million searches involving more than 4.6 million plates.”
https://rbfirehose.com/2026/08/18/mashable-have-you-been-flocked-this-website-lets-you-find-out/Magnitude is an open-source AI coding agent with local models.
Run it on your own hardware, even completely offline, with no API keys, subscriptions, token costs, or rate limits.
It supports hardware-based model recommendations and skills for documents and browser automation.
Apache 2.0 licensed. Available on macOS, Linux, and Windows via WSL.
More details: https://digitalescapetools.com/tools/tool.html?id=magnitude
https://www.engadget.com/2238891/apple-appears-to-have-leaked-its-camera-equipped-airpods/
James House-Lantto (He/Him) [(He/Him)] » 🌐
@Theeo123@mastodon.social
https://www.theverge.com/news/981381/comcast-xfinity-shield-wifi-motion-sensing
Comcast is bringing Wi-Fi motion sensing to millions of routers already in customers’ homes, turning the devices into activity monitors. Arriving today, August 18th.
Announced as part of its "Xfinity Shield" service, WiFi Motion can monitor activity in your home and send you notifications, similar to a standalone motion sensor
The privacy implications of this should be glaringly obvious and alarming.
Yay, your ISP is monitoring whether or not you're home based on Wi-Fi signals. That info won't leak, no siree! We can't abuse that in ANY way....
"...WiFi Motion can monitor activity in your home and send you notifications, similar to a standalone motion sensor. It works by detecting disruptions in the Wi-Fi signal between the Xfinity gateway and any Wi-Fi-connected device, giving you some insight into what’s happening in your home without buying additional hardware...."
https://www.theverge.com/news/981381/comcast-xfinity-shield-wifi-motion-sensing
𝗖𝗿𝘆𝗽𝘁𝗣𝗮𝗱:
#Privacy #Encryption #Drive #Data #CryptPad
https://thewhale.cc/posts/cryptpad
CryptPad is a private-by-design alternative to popular office tools and cloud services. All the content stored on CryptPad is encrypted before being sent, nobody can access your data unless you give them the keys.
Endurain is an open-source, self-hosted fitness tracking service that gives you more control over your activity data.
It supports GPX, TCX and FIT imports, with integrations for Strava and Garmin Connect. Deploy it with Docker and keep your fitness data on your own server.
The project is currently in a temporary feature freeze while developers focus on improving its foundation and stability.
More details: https://digitalescapetools.com/tools/tool.html?id=endurain
Ordinary #WiFi can now identify you with near-perfect accuracy
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/08/260811052857.htm
Meta Files Patent for Facial Recognition, Automatic Recording of People
Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49344654
#HackerNews #Meta #FacialRecognition #Privacy #Technology #Patent #News
We’re back at work today. After a difficult pause, development on Zerion continues.
3.0.2 is on the way, focused on stability and on the feedback you’ve been sending us. A lot of the fixes and refinements came directly from what users reported, so thank you for that. It genuinely shapes what we prioritize.
More soon. Building in the open, at a steady pace.
zerion.chat
WIRED - The Latest in Technology, Science, Culture and Business [Unofficial] » 🌐
@wired.com@web.brid.gy
After Noel Pichardo called out his city's embrace of Flock surveillance cameras, he was subjected to five internal affairs investigations in less than two years.
Meet #PixelSocial: a private social network you can host without any server just in your chats! for example in the family chat to have a private social network that only the family can access to! or for a group of friends
if you want to test it, there is also a public anonymous instance where you can actually interact with strangers thanks to a bot that works as bridge:
#ArcaneChat #DeltaChat #chatmail #webxdc #bot #socialmedia #socialnetwork #miniapp #europe #european #privacy #anonymity #autonomy #digitalindependence #sovereignty
Meet #ArcaneChat
No phone numbers required for registration.
No strangers discovering and contacting your family members.
All your conversations end-to-end encrypted.
it is magic! ✨
#privacy #security #family #encryption #autonomy #europe #european #android