@aral Exactly. While #snowden felt forced to reveal how the us government was illegally surveiling its own citizens, but as an aside, it also revealed the depths of its spying on all other countries, including its so called 'allies'.
But no one in the US cared about that then, and no one cares about it now. Settled opinion is that it is their right.

And to think they get angry at us when nations start decoupling #us tech.

#privacy #digitalsovereignty #eu #europe

RTL en WhatsApp in dit bericht. Laadt de foto's in een nieuwe browser tab en je kunt het woord WhatsApp er terug in zien en datum en tijd. De EXIF data is wel verwijderd.

Betekent dit dat RTL niet zoveel om E2EE geeft ?
Of waren deze foto's direct van het kattencafe uit Leiden en dan bijvoorbeeld via email binnen gehaald ?
Dat laatste lijkt me wel wat logisch.

https://www.rtl.nl/nieuws/binnenland/artikel/5572727/kattencafe-voert-leeftijdsgrens-van-12-jaar-te-veel-spanning-bij

#DoucheGedachten #privacy #security

Large-scale online deanonymization with LLMs

"We show that large language models can be used to perform at-scale deanonymization. With full Internet access, our agent can re-identify Hacker News users and Anthropic Interviewer participants at high precision, given pseudonymous online profiles and conversations alone, matching what would take hours for a dedicated human investigator. We then design attacks for the closed-world setting. Given two databases of pseudonymous individuals, each containing unstructured text written by or about that individual, we implement a scalable attack pipeline that uses LLMs to: (1) extract identity-relevant features, (2) search for candidate matches via semantic embeddings, and (3) reason over top candidates to verify matches and reduce false positives. Compared to prior deanonymization work (e.g., on the Netflix prize) that required structured data or manual feature engineering, our approach works directly on raw user content across arbitrary platforms. We construct three datasets with known ground-truth data to evaluate our attacks. The first links Hacker News to LinkedIn profiles, using cross-platform references that appear in the profiles. Our second dataset matches users across Reddit movie discussion communities; and the third splits a single user’s Reddit history in time to create two pseudonymous profiles to be matched. In each setting, LLM-based methods substantially outperform classical baselines, achieving up to 68% recall at 90% precision compared to near 0% for the best non-LLM method. Our results show that the practical obscurity protecting pseudonymous users online no longer holds and that threat models for online privacy need to be reconsidered."

https://arxiv.org/html/2602.16800v1

#AI #GenerativeAI #LLMs #Anonymity #Privacy #Deanonymization

RE: https://mastodon.social/@RonSupportsYou/116148481433206749

Socialists are kinder to corporations than Trump is. The corporation is being punished for not allowing Trump to use its product for mass surveillance.
#CivilLiberties #privacy #freedom

A new California law says all operating systems, including Linux, need to have some form of age verification at account setup

"I wonder how the government of California plans to enforce it?"

https://www.pcgamer.com/software/operating-systems/a-new-california-law-says-all-operating-systems-including-linux-need-to-have-some-form-of-age-verification-at-account-setup/

#AgeVerification #dystopia #privacy #surveillance #software #technology #Linux

ICO fines Imgur owner MediaLab £247,590 for children's privacy failures: UK's ICO fined MediaLab £247,590 for failing to protect children on Imgur, finding no age checks were in place from September 2021 to September 2025. https://ppc.land/ico-fines-imgur-owner-medialab-247-590-for-childrens-privacy-failures/ #Privacy #ChildSafety #DataProtection #ICO #Imgur

“Child safety is vital, but giving ministers sweeping powers to make communication conditional on digital ID is a profound and risky expansion of state control.”

🗣️ ORG’s James Baker on new Henry VIII powers to extend age verification across any part of the Internet without going through the UK Parliament.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2516996-banning-children-from-vpns-and-social-media-will-erode-adults-privacy/

#ageverification #vpn #ukpolitics #ukpol #privacy

Yup. #TikTok is actively surveilling us and remains tangled with a foreign adversary (China). #Anthropic is getting banned by the government for refusing to actively surveil us. That... is disturbing. If you care about #privacy and #freedom, let your favorite politicians know we actually appreciate tech companies that take anti-surveillance stands. #AI #DepartmentOfWar #DoD https://x.com/Scholars_Stage/status/2027529280092074056

California's new age verification law (yes, law, not bill) is suddenly making the rounds in more mainstream circles for some reason. Here's the bill. It's short. Read it.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1043

It was passed unanimously and signed by Newsom. Because politicians don't understand technology, nor do they care about your privacy in the slightest.

#privacy #california #privacymatters #uspol

The madness continues …

#OpenAI reaches deal to deploy #AI models on US Department of #Defense #classified network

#SamAltman said Friday OpenAi reached an agreement with the #DoD.

"In all of our interactions, the DoW displayed a deep respect for safety & a desire to partner to achieve the best possible outcome," Altman posted on X using the #Trump admin’s BS name for the DoD.

#law #tech #surveillance #AutonomousWeapons #privacy #security #InfoSec #military
https://www.reuters.com/business/openai-reaches-deal-deploy-ai-models-us-department-war-classified-network-2026-02-28/?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=notifications&utm_campaign=2025_engagement

Alt...

Altman post: Tonight, we reached an agreement with the Department of War to deploy our models in their classified network. In all of our interactions, the DoW displayed a deep respect for safety and a desire to partner to achieve the best possible outcome. AI safety and wide distribution of benefits are the core of our mission. Two of our most important safety principles are prohibitions on domestic mass surveillance and human responsibility for the use of force, including for autonomous weapon systems. The DoW agrees with these principles, reflects them in law and policy, and we put them into our agreement. We also will build technical safeguards to ensure our models behave as they should, which the DoW also wanted. We will deploy FDEs to help with our models and to ensure their safety, we will deploy on cloud networks only. We are asking the DoW to offer these same terms to all AI companies, which in our opinion we think everyone should be willing to accept. We have expressed our strong desire to see things de-escalate away from legal and governmental actions and towards reasonable agreements. We remain committed to serve all of humanity as best we can. The world is a complicated, messy, and sometimes dangerous place.

…The ultimate winner could now prove to be Elon #Musk’s #xAI [great /s], which #defense ofcls say has already agreed to the #Pentagon’s terms for working on #classified systems. The entrepreneur jumped on Emil Michael’s social media Friday [the DoD’s technology chief] saying “#Anthropic hates Western Civilization.” [ridiculous idiot.]

#Trump #RevengePolitics #law #AI #tech #surveillance #AutonomousWeapons #SupplyChainRisk #privacy #security #InfoSec #military

🚨 "...The audit revealed that even though OPD’s Flock Safety security settings had been set to “California only” access, a vendor-enabled “nationwide query” allowed agencies from outside of California, which also include federal agencies, to query OPD’s data without OPD's knowledge or approval... "

https://www.oxnard.gov/pd-news/news-release-oxnard-police-department-suspends-use-of-flock-safety-automated-license-plate-readers-02-27-26

#privacy #alpr #privacy #flock #oxnard #bigbrother #VenturaCounty

Alt...

The audit revealed that even though OPD’s Flock Safety security settings had been set to “California only” access, a vendor-enabled “nationwide query” allowed agencies from outside of California, which also include federal agencies, to query OPD’s data without OPD's knowledge or approval.

Earlier in the week, Jeff Dean, #Google’s chief #AI scientist, said he was opposed to the #technology being used for #surveillance & repeated his long-standing opposition to #AutonomousWeapons.

#SamAltman, #OpenAI’s chief executive, said Friday that it was important for AI companies to find ways to work with the #Pentagon but that he had concerns similar to those of his rival #Amodei.

#Trump #RevengePolitics #law #Anthropic #tech #SupplyChainRisk #privacy #security #InfoSec #military

From Oxnard PD:

"....When OPD heard about this vendor-related issue that occurred with the Flock Safety platform, it initiated an audit of its Flock Safety ALPR data for calendar year 2025. In 2025, OPD’s Flock system received over 5 million queries.

The audit revealed that even though OPD’s Flock Safety security settings had been set to “California only” access, a vendor-enabled “nationwide query” allowed agencies from outside of California, which also include federal agencies, to query OPD’s data without OPD's knowledge or approval...."

(!!!!)

#ALPR #Flock #BigBrother #Privacy

Oxnard Police Department Suspends Use of Flock Safety Automated License Plate Readers (02/27/26)

The Oxnard Police Department (OPD) has suspended its operation of Flock Safety’s (Flock) fixed-position Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR).
...

California law prohibits sharing of ALPR data with entities outside of California. This includes federal law enforcement agencies. Because of this, OPD’s “National Lookup” feature on the Flock system was turned off at the very beginning of its Flock ALPR deployment, which began in December of 2023.

...Earlier this year, some California agencies across the state discovered that due to a vendor-based issue, their Flock Safety National Lookup feature had inexplicably been turned on during a period of time in February through March of 2025. Flock Safety confirmed that a review of agency audit logs within the Flock platform revealed that during a period in 2025, some California law enforcement agencies’ camera networks became accessible to out-of-state law enforcement agencies. This meant that agencies outside of California, including federal ones, were able to include them in their queries. The issue affected multiple California law enforcement agencies, including within Ventura County.
...

https://www.oxnard.gov/pd-news/news-release-oxnard-police-department-suspends-use-of-flock-safety-automated-license-plate-readers-02-27-26

#alpr #privacy #Oxnard #VenturaCounty

…The #SupplyChainRisk designation issued by #Hegseth late Friday was an extraordinary escalation, ranking a leading #US #AI company alongside the likes of Chinese & Russian firms seen as a danger to the #UnitedStates.

It was unclear how easy it would be for government departments to move away from #Anthropic’s #technology, or for the company’s partners that do business with the #Pentagon to cut ties.

#Trump #RevengePolitics #law #surveillance #AutonomousWeapons #privacy #security #military

The company wrote that, “Designating #Anthropic as a supply chain risk would be an unprecedented action—one historically reserved for US adversaries, never before publicly applied to an American company.” The unsigned blog post added: “We are deeply saddened by these developments.”

#Trump #RevengePolitics #law #AI #tech #surveillance #AutonomousWeapons #privacy #security #InfoSec #military

#Anthropic said it would fight the blacklisting in court. In a blog post late Friday, the company said that it believed the wide-reaching ban #Hegseth described was not permitted by federal #law & that the designation of the company as a #SupplyChainRisk was “legally unsound.” [pretty good bet]

#Trump #RevengePolitics #law #AI #tech #surveillance #AutonomousWeapons #privacy #security #InfoSec #military

Late Friday, #Defense Secy Pete #Hegseth followed #Trump’s unhinged post, saying in his own post that he was declaring #Anthropic a #SupplyChainRisk. “Effective immediately, no contractor, supplier, or partner that does business with the United States military may conduct any commercial activity with Anthropic,” Hegseth wrote.

#RevengePolitics #law #AI #tech #surveillance #AutonomousWeapons #privacy #security #InfoSec #military

So much for holding back. GMAFB.

#Pentagon declares #Anthropic a threat to #NationalSecurity

#Defense Secretary Pete #Hegseth declared Anthropic a “#SupplyChainRisk,” blocking all federal agencies & contractors from doing business with the company.

#Trump #RevengePolitics #law #AI #tech #surveillance #AutonomousWeapons #privacy #security #InfoSec #military
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/02/27/trump-anthropic-claude-drop/

Lawmakers Demand #DHS Define ‘Domestic #Terrorist ’ As It Uses Vast Array of #Surveillance Tools

The move also comes as DHS and its various components purchase and deploy a wide range of surveillance technologies and demand sensitive information from tech companies to unmask people criticizing #ICE.
#privacy #immigration

https://www.404media.co/lawmakers-demand-dhs-define-domestic-terrorist-as-it-uses-vast-array-of-surveillance-tools/

Will this force the US Government to actually reckon with the actual domestic terrorists?

I think not.

Lawmakers Demand DHS Define ‘Domestic Terrorist’ As It Uses Vast Array of Surveillance Tools

https://www.404media.co/lawmakers-demand-dhs-define-domestic-terrorist-as-it-uses-vast-array-of-surveillance-tools/

#Lawmakers #US #DHS #ACAB #DomesticTerrorist #Surveillance #Privacy #Security #Tech

RE: https://mastodon.social/@RonSupportsYou/116145154548175068

James Medlock described this extremist Trump Administration response as "threatening to seize or destroy a company for having minimum standards of decency."

The issue is resistance to the mass surveillance of Americans.
copy: @renewedresistance #privacy #CivilLiberties

Privacy and Surveillance boosted

RonSupportsYou » 🌐 2026-02-27
@RonSupportsYou@mastodon.social

"Anthropic had been looking to put guardrails in place that would prevent the Trump Administration from using its models for the mass surveillance of Americans."

This got Trump so angry that Trump wrote: "I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again!":
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-directs-government-to-cease-using-anthropics-technology-after-pentagon-stand-off-211948140.html
#tech #WhatADictatorWouldDo #privacy #CivilLiberties

"Anthropic had been looking to put guardrails in place that would prevent the Trump Administration from using its models for the mass surveillance of Americans."

This got Trump so angry that Trump wrote: "I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again!":
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-directs-government-to-cease-using-anthropics-technology-after-pentagon-stand-off-211948140.html
#tech #WhatADictatorWouldDo #privacy #CivilLiberties

"...To be meaningful, consent must not be unduly manipulated or coerced. And consent must be informed: people must be able to weigh the costs and benefits of consenting. Unfortunately, most privacy consent falls far short of these goals. In fact, privacy consent could almost be called a complete fiction..."

https://danielsolove.substack.com/p/why-consent-is-broken-for-privacy

#privacy #consent

#Anthropic had sought guarantees that its #AI would not be used for fully #AutonomousWeapons or for mass #domestic #surveillance - applications in which the #Pentagon claimed it had no interest [wink wink nudge nudge].

#law #privacy #security #InfoSec #Trump #fascism

Trump's decision stopped short of #threats issued by #Hegseth & the #Pentagon, including that it could invoke the Defense Production Act to require Anthropic's compliance. The Pentagon had also said it considered designating #Anthropic a #SupplyChain risk, a step previously only used against businesses tied to foreign adversaries.

But #Trump vowed further action if Anthropic did not cooperate with the phaseout.

#law #AI #surveillance #AutonomousWeapons #privacy #security #InfoSec

Just like all #rapists, #Trump really doesn’t like being told no.

Trump says he is directing federal agencies to cease use of #Anthropic #technology in a petty whiny social media post.

#law #AI #surveillance #AutonomousWeapons #privacy #security #InfoSec
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-is-directing-federal-agencies-cease-use-anthropic-technology-2026-02-27/?utm_source=braze&utm_medium=notifications&utm_campaign=2025_engagement

Alt...

Trump post: THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL NEVER ALLOW A RADICAL LEFT, WOKE COMPANY TO DICTATE HOW OUR GREAT MILITARY FIGHTS AND WINS WARS! That decision belongs to YOUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, and the tremendous leaders I appoint to run our Military. The Leftwing nut jobs at Anthropic have made a DISASTROUS MISTAKE trying to STRONG-ARM the Department of War, and force them to obey their Terms of Service instead of our Constitution. Their selfishness is putting AMERICAN LIVES at risk, our Troops in danger, and our National Security in JEOPARDY. Therefore, I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic's technology. We don't need it, we don't want it, and will not do business with them again! There will be a Six Month phase out period for Agencies like the Department of War who are using Anthropic's products, at various levels. Anthropic better get their act together, and be helpful during this phase out period, or I will use the Full Power of the Presidency to make them comply, with major civil and criminal consequences to follow. WE will decide the fate of our Country - NOT some out-of-control, Radical Left Al company run by people who have no idea what the real World is all about. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

Anthropic rejects Pentagon’s revised AI deal, saying terms still risk enabling mass surveillance or autonomous weapons. ⚖️

The $200M contract would make Claude the first AI model in classified defense networks—now stalled over ethical limits and state control. 🧭

🔗 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/02/26/tech/anthropic-rejects-pentagon-offer

#TechNews #AI #Ethics #Privacy #Accountability #Defense #Policy #Anthropic #Security #Transparency #BigTech #Surveillance #Freedom #Governance #Innovation #Pentagon #US #USA #Trump #Weapons #Claude

A new California law says all operating systems need to have age verification

https://www.pcgamer.com/software/operating-systems/a-new-california-law-says-all-operating-systems-including-linux-need-to-have-some-form-of-age-verification-at-account-setup/

#HackerNews #California #Law #Age #Verification #Operating #Systems #Cybersecurity #Privacy

Are you ready to be a privacy activist and fight for your digital rights?

We will need all the help we can get ✊

#Privacy #Activism

To distribute an Android app outside Google Play, starting September 2026, developers will need to register with Google, submit government ID, and pay a $25 fee. Even if they're using F-Droid or the Amazon Appstore, stores Google doesn't own or operate. Privacy groups are pushing back.

https://reclaimthenet.org/open-letter-google-android-developer-verification-policy-criticism-2026

#Google #Android #enshittification #dystopia #software #monopoly #technology #idverification #privacy

Disturbed to have the doctor's office send me a text exactly at the moment I pull into the parking lot, asking me if I have arrived. Bluetooth off, their app not loaded. #privacy #paranoia

DHS accused of using surveillance tech to track legal observers in Maine

multiple plaintiffs said federal immigration officers scanned observers’ faces and license plates, and threatened to appear at their homes and place them on a domestic terrorist database

#Maine #dhs #ice #surveillance #facialrecognition #privacy #technology #tech

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/23/dhs-accused-of-using-surveillance-tech-to-track-legal-observers-in-maine-00792722

@alien8 - Yeah, I figure any statement by Duo will absolutely push the whole "its not enabled by default" and its the client's decision to use it.

Which ignores the core point - the employees (once a client enables it) have no say. By even offering this, they put so many people in the position of "accept this or quit" which is not consent.

Especially in the US where one's job is tied to access to healthcare and where many live paycheck to paycheck and if they quit or get fired, they run the real risk of going hungry or losing their house.

#Duo #Persona #AI #infosec #privacy #discord

People will often ask me (mostly in-person) what my top privacy-related tip is. It's a tough choice because there are so many things that the average person can and should do, but probably doesn't. But I almost always land on "delete old accounts that you no longer use." It's something that literally anyone can do, and although it's time-consuming, it also has a massive impact on your privacy hygiene and your overall online footprint. Data can't be abused if it's not there in the first place.

#privacy

#Border #Surveillance Technology with #BerkeleyCenter for New Media

March 19, 2026 - 5:00pm to 6:30pm PDT
#Berkeley , CA

In pursuing its agenda of #security theater, the U.S. government has turned the border into the main stage for debuting new and invasive surveillance technologies. These technologies are ineffective and wasteful, but borderland communities ultimately pay the highest price with their #civilLiberties and #humanRights
#rights #privacy #cbp

https://www.eff.org/event/virtual-tour-surveillance-technology-us-mexico-border

Inb4 Duo responds and makes the statement:

"These Persona services are opt-in by the client as additional features. We do not integrate them into our core product."

to which the answer to that response is:

"Yeah, the CLIENT opts in, meaning the COMPANY opts in... the employees have no say. The *employees*, all of us, can only opt out by being fired."

(Edit to revert to original post)

#Duo #Persona #Privacy #AI #infosec #Discord

"Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei publicly rejected the Pentagon’s demand that his company allow unrestricted military use of its artificial intelligence system, saying some applications of AI could 'undermine, rather than defend, democratic values.' Amodei (opposed the use of AI for) two uses: mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons" saying “Mass domestic surveillance is incompatible with democratic values”:
https://www.sfchronicle.com/tech/article/anthropic-ceo-rejects-pentagon-21944308.php
#privacy #tech #NationalSecurity #AI