@draken @arstechnica #FDroid won't bow to #Google contracts. That's not how freedom works.

@liaizon #FDroid lives by F-Droid rules, not #Google contracts.

Y'all, let's talk about #WAZE. It is blowing up on the socials because someone read the #TOS. This happens every couple of years. The terms everyone is freaking out about is that the app, even though owned by #google, is protected by #Israel's laws, not #US. But only for #Americans. The #EU app doesn't have that provision.

The US provision has been there since 2008. What should be of more concern is that it was founded by members of 8200, and it is possibly the largest continuously updating surveillance database in the world.

Researchers say that it is still possible to identify and track users of the platform via api interception. (I have not verified.)

I wouldn't install it. Your risk acceptance level may be different. But the TOS hasn't changed. They've always been #Israeli crowdsourced #surveillance.

https://undercodetesting.com/wazes-silent-surveillance-how-a-navigation-app-became-the-worlds-largest-crowdsourced-tracking-tool-video/

TOS: https://support.google.com/waze/answer/12373727?hl=en (ctrl F Israel)

#SanFrancisco Demands #Apple and #Google Delete #AI ‘#Nudify’ Apps From App Stores

https://www.wired.com/story/san-francisco-demands-apple-and-google-delete-ai-nudify-apps-from-app-stores/

#privacy #nsfw #deepfake

It’s official: EU will force Google to share search data and open up AI on Android
Google says these changes could endanger user privacy and security.
#google #privacy #eu #ai #technology

https://share.google/dRxYCBqupwRQI8Nr5

From #LouisRossmann, for anyone concerned with #surveillance and #faceRecognition:

The image recognition component of #Google #Gemini insists that multiple contemporary photos of American repair technician and #rightToRepair advocate Steven Rhine are definitely photos of an (obviously long-dead) #Sep11 hijacker.

As is said in the video, “what the #flock!”

(Yes, it’s a different image matching program returning a false positive, but Flock warrants becoming a curse.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JbQhcTF7Uk

#ai #deflock #privacy #uspol #cdnpoli

FYI: Google shifts AI ad labeling liability entirely to advertisers: Neither the automatic setting nor a custom label guarantees legal compliance, Google states, leaving advertisers alone to confirm every ad meets local law. https://ppc.land/google-shifts-ai-ad-labeling-liability-entirely-to-advertisers/ #Google #AI #Advertising #AdTech #DigitalMarketing

Google admits they block emails from getting into your inbox, even those from friends and family that are in your address book.

In my opinion, if the email sender is known and saved in the #Gmail user's address book, their emails should never be blocked, but #Google does not agree. And their technical requirements for an email to get through are past the average user's understanding or ability.

https://support.google.com/mail/answer/81126

#censorship #SelfHosting

"ING moet overeenkomsten met Google aan Consumentenbond laten zien

AMSTERDAM (ANP) - ING moet de Consumentenbond van de rechter inzage geven in overeenkomsten van de bank met Google. De Consumentenbond en Stichting Benadeelden in Actie stapten begin dit jaar naar de rechter om af te dwingen dat ING inzage geeft in de afspraken met Google over het gebruik van klantgegevens. De organisaties maken zich zorgen over de privacy van klanten die betalen via Google Pay.
ING stapte in september 2024 over van de eigen betaalapp naar Google Pay. Daardoor moeten klanten die contactloos willen betalen met een Android-telefoon nu Google Pay gebruiken. Dat vinden de Consumentenbond en de stichting "onwenselijk, omdat daarmee klantgegevens terechtkomen bij een techgigant die bekendstaat als privacyschender", aldus de Consumentenbond.
De rechtbank in Amsterdam ging donderdag deels mee in de eisen van de organisaties. De rechter heeft bepaald dat ING de organisaties inzage moet geven in overeenkomsten met Google over contactloos betalen door ING-klanten met een Android-toestel via Google Pay."

#ING #banken #google #privacy #bigtech #consumentenbond

https://www.welingelichtekringen.nl/economie/ing-moet-overeenkomsten-met-google-aan-consumentenbond-laten-zien

Third-party app stores coming to #GooglePlay next week as #Epic settlement withdrawn

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/third-party-app-stores-coming-to-google-play-next-week-as-epic-settlement-withdrawn/

#Google #Android

#Google #Gemini CLI abused as a hacking agent, #malware #botnet operator

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/google-gemini-cli-abused-as-a-hacking-agent-malware-botnet-operator/

#cybersecurity #AI

A friend asked me, "Why is Google moving away from Kubernetes?"

I realized that I hadn't ever seen anything put together to talk about it. So I looked, and this talks about it, and has some interesting data I hadn't seen previously:

https://aws.plainenglish.io/why-even-google-is-rethinking-kubernetes-internally-a4c457252450

Of course, today, the LLM addiction is doing even more economic harm to companies, but this stuff is still worth knowing.

#kubernetes #google

Ireland: Data centers consume 23 percent of the country's electricity

In 2025, data centers in Ireland consumed around 7663 GWh of electricity – more than all urban households combined. Despite a moratorium in greater Dublin area.

https://www.heise.de/en/news/Ireland-Data-centers-consume-23-percent-of-the-country-s-electricity-11364060.html?wt_mc=sm.red.ho.mastodon.mastodon.md_beitraege.md_beitraege&utm_source=mastodon

#AmazonWebServices #Energie #Google #IT #Klimaschutz #KünstlicheIntelligenz #Microsoft #Netzausbau #news

This is a big deal!

A research scientist at Google DeepMind has broken cover and is calling out Google’s leadership on a deal it has signed with the US govt that could see its AI used for military and surveillance purposes.

#AI #Google #Surveillance

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Andreas Kirsch @BlackHC I work at Google DeepMind. This won't make me popular. But it's all public reporting: 2014: DeepMind reportedly sold to Google on conditions: no military use, independent oversight 2026: a Pentagon contract for "any lawful government purpose” Not one safeguard survived intact

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Andreas Kirsch @BlackHC But today's LLMs are not robust enough to make life-and-death decisions on their own. They hallucinate. They fail in surprising, banal ways. They should not be used for targeting decisions or as part of autonomous weapons. And the bigger problem isn't military use at all. 8:37 AM - Jul 14, 2026 - 4,435 Views

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Andreas Kirsch @BlackHC The reported contract does not exclude mass surveillance, and it keeps paths open that could extend to autonomous policing. These don't defend us against foreign adversaries. They shift power from citizens toward the state, in ways that are very hard to reverse. 8:37 AM - Jul 14, 2026 - 3,995 Views

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Andreas Kirsch @BlackHC An Al system instructed to suppress a protest does not feel the moral weight of that order. It will not hesitate, unless it is appropriately aligned. Soldiers are required by law to refuse manifestly illegal orders. I know of no such requirement for autonomous military Al. 8:37 AM - Jul 14, 2026 - 3,387 Views

ICYMI: Ten European media groups launch ad marketplace against 80% Google grip: Ten founding partners pool inventory and telco data as platforms capture 90% of Europe's ad growth, per the coalition. A September 2026 pilot tests demand. https://ppc.land/ten-european-media-groups-launch-ad-marketplace-against-80-google-grip/ #DigitalMarketing #Advertising #AdTech #Media #Google

Google adds How this ad was made AI labels 24 days before EU deadline: The panel covers Search, YouTube and Discover ads edited with generative AI tools, arriving weeks before EU rules force synthetic content disclosure globally. https://ppc.land/google-adds-how-this-ad-was-made-ai-labels-24-days-before-eu-deadline/ #Google #AI #AdTech #DigitalMarketing #EULaws

Google blocks script bypass that hit GTM container restrictions: Containers loaded through unsupported paths like /gtag/js previously ran unrestricted regardless of the container's actual type. Now only the ID governs it. https://ppc.land/google-blocks-script-bypass-that-hit-gtm-container-restrictions/ #Google #GTM #digitalmarketing #javascript #adtech

#Google hands Open Health Stack to the #Linux Foundation

https://nerds.xyz/2026/07/google-open-health-stack-linux-foundation/

#healthcare #privacy

#Google pays $250K for #Linux vulnerability allowing guest VM escapes

https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/07/high-severity-guest-vm-escape-is-1-of-2-linux-vulnerabilities-to-surface-this-week/

#cybersecurity

#Google will now disclose which ads are made with #AI - https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/09/google-will-now-disclose-which-ads-are-made-with-ai/ #adtech

The topic of my national network radio tech segment this coming Monday will be how Alphabet (Google) Waymo diverted the trip of two misbehaving teenagers to turn them in to the police, and the many issues this raises about what robotaxis see and do and who controls them.

#google #alphabet #waymo

If you use Google, you’re training its AI. Here’s how to opt out.

Consider this a belated PSA: A recent change to Google’s privacy settings is allowing the company to store more of your data, including media such as “images, files, and audio and ...

#ai #google #google-search #psa
https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/06/if-you-use-google-youre-training-its-ai-heres-how-to-opt-out/

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An image pulled automatically from the post for decorative purposes only.

Google's new remote attestation scheme is every bit as terrible as its old remote attestation scheme

#Google owes its existence to the open web, but today, its technological “innovations” have much to do with locking users into a “walled garden.” The latest of these is “reCAPTCHA Mobile Verification,” an experimental initiative that will let companies block users if they are running independent, "de-googled" versions of #Android. These “indie Android” versions are favored by people who want to protect their #privacy and their attention by blocking #trackers and #ads. Worse, this is just the latest in a line of similarly user-hostile measures.
#remoteAttestation #recaptcha #advertising

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/07/googles-new-remote-attestation-scheme-every-bit-terrible-its-old-remote

The man who wrote "Don't be evil" said he chose it specifically so it would be hard to remove. Paul Buchheit, the engineer who later built Gmail, suggested the phrase at a Google corporate values meeting on July 19, 2001.

Then in early 2018, internal documents leaked showing that Google had signed a Pentagon contract to build AI to analyze drone footage. By April, over 3,000 Google employees had signed a letter to Sundar Pichai demanding the contract be cancelled.

The letter specifically cited "Don't be evil" as the standard the company was failing to meet. Dozens of engineers resigned in protest.

Sometime between late April and early May, the slogan disappeared from the code of conduct's preface.

#Google #AI #Tech

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Screenshot of a Wikipedia page: Don't be evil "Don't be evil" was Google's former motto, and a phrase used in Google's corporate code of conduct.[1[21[3][4] In 2018, Google removed the original motto from the preface of its code of conduct, [°]

HORRIFIC: Waymo robotaxi kidnaps and imprisons teenagers

This story is much worse than I realized. Those drinking teenagers who were shooting Orbeez from a Waymo were not just reported to the police, Google/Alphabet literally kidnapped them, locking them helplessly in the vehicle, until police arrived. This is a scenario I predicted years ago, robocars kidnapping passengers and taking them against their will to "authorities". Imagine what Trump's DOJ would do with this power.

Despite the fact that these teens were engaging in low level misbehavior, Google/Alphabet is NOT supposed to be an arresting agent of the government. What if one of those teens had suffered a medical emergency locked in that vehicle? THIS IS HORRIFIC.

https://www.wpxi.com/news/trending/waymo-car-delivers-misbehaving-teens-california-police/UCOGYIJRHJG2LMHYWJQ3PH7VEY/

#waymo #google #alphabet #robotax #kidnapping

TechSpot: Google is testing a webcam CAPTCHA that scans your hand, but it’s already been bypassed using a photo. “Google is working on a new kind of challenge to improve its reCAPTCHA system, using biometric identification to confirm that the user is indeed human. The new method is officially named ‘hand gesture verification’ (HGV), and, according to early testing, is mostly useless.”