In today's episode of I Told You So:

May 2025 ⚠️
"Daily occurrences of data breach incidents have taught us we cannot trust these services to safeguard our data. Data breaches for this sensitive information are only a matter of time.

The concentration of such valuable data will likely be monetized and resold either by the platforms themselves, by the for-profit third-party "age assurance" providers they use, or eventually by the criminals who stole it from them."

Source: Privacy Guides

October 2025
"A hack impacting Discord’s age verification process shows in stark terms the risk of tech companies collecting users’ ID documents. Now the hackers are posting peoples’ IDs and other sensitive information online."

Source: 404 Media

#AgeVerification #Privacy #Discord

“Mass surveillance is not the solution to child abuse,” warn critics like encryption expert Bart Preneel in Gazet van Antwerpen: https://www.gva.be/politiek/belgie-en-duitsland-liggen-dwars-en-dus-verdwijnt-omstreden-chat-control-van-de-europese-agenda/96162447.html
#chatcontrol #privacy

“Mass surveillance is not the solution to child abuse,” warn critics like encryption expert Bart Preneel: https://www.nieuwsblad.be/politiek/belgie-en-duitsland-liggen-dwars-en-dus-verdwijnt-omstreden-chat-control-van-de-europese-agenda/96042972.html
#chatcontrol #privacy

EU plans to scan every photo sent via WhatsApp/Signal for child abuse images. Bart Preneel warns in HLN: allowing the government to check all our messages could lead to major personal drama.
#ChatControl #Privacy https://www.hln.be/binnenland/moet-de-overheid-alle-fotos-die-we-versturen-kunnen-nakijken-op-kindermisbruik~a1873a77/

There's no route to the protest site in our town without getting your license plate automatically read and logged at least once as entering the zone. Your only saving grace: it's a lot of people going into the zone to the mall... but if a Federal agency wanted to dragnet EVERY car that went near or past that protest site... guess what? They got you. Maybe not even a subpoena required in most states, just $$$ paid to Flock. #privacy

"Australia’s privacy commissioner has warned tech companies that they will be breaking the law if they act like they have a “blank cheque” to collect personal or sensitive information to check users’ ages while trying to comply with the teen social media ban."

#Privacy #SocialMedia #AusPol
https://www.crikey.com.au/2025/10/09/excessive-data-collection-teen-social-media-ban/

Citizen Protest Halts Chat Control https://lobste.rs/s/jljxt2 #cryptography #law #privacy
https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/citizen-protest-halts-chat-control-breyer-celebrates-major-victory-for-digital-privacy/

🔐 Tor Browser 14.5.8 released — now available for all platforms

This update includes key security patches from Firefox, updated Tor (0.4.8.19), and OpenSSL (3.5.4). 🔧
Fixes include Safest mode search issues, HTTPS exception bugs, and Snowflake bridge updates. 🛠️

YEC 2025 UI changes also implemented across desktop and Android. 📱💻

🔗 https://blog.torproject.org/new-release-tor-browser-1458/

#Tor #Privacy #CyberSecurity #Firefox #OpenSource #TorBrowser #Linux #Android #iOS #TechNews #Encryption #SecurityUpdate #OpenSSL #Snowflake

@quincy may the cyberfascists realize that they'd be the ones firing the first shots if they chose that shite and that they shall not cross that line!

#sarcasm #comment #EUpol #ChatControl #Cyberfascism #SurveillanceState #PoliceState #Fascism #InfoSec #ComSec #Privacy #HumanRights #CivilRights

Personal data storage is an idea whose time has come https://lobste.rs/s/tu789k #browsers #privacy #web
https://blog.muni.town/personal-data-storage-idea/

Early on, I got a Bluesky account and it is just sitting there, pointing to my self-hosted Mastodon server for any old Twitter followers that want to find me.

Today, Ohio started age verification for any website "primarily centered on explicit content and makes a significant amount of money on said content."

Bluesky doesn't meet that threshold yet they want age verification. Sorry, Bluesky. I'm out.

#AgeVerification #Ohio #privacy #bluesky

The law: "An Act, Am. Sub. H. B. No. 96" (pdf). Starts on page 655 https://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/api/v2/general_assembly_136/legislation/hb96/07_EN/pdf

On June 30, 2025, Ohio enacted HB 96, the bill for the fiscal years of 2026–2027. The bill contained the Ohio Innocence Act, which requires websites to verify user ages to prevent minors from viewing harmful content.

The law targets porn and other unnamed harmful sites that is primarily centered on explicit content and makes a significant amount of money on said content.

The new law requires pornography websites to use a commercial service, or third-party or government database, that uses photo IDs or transactional records, such as mortgage or employment data, to confirm the user is at least 18 years old. The data would be deleted once age verification is completed.

Age verification takes effect on September 30, 2025.

Alt...

Age Assurance The laws in your location require you to verify you're an adult before accessing certain features on Bluesky, like adult content and direct messaging.

Fighting for privacy rights is fighting against fascism. In case there were any doubts that mass surveillance is a fascist's tool.

Privacy isn't some secondary luxury, it's fundamental to democracy and civil liberties.

#Privacy #Democracy #Fascism

First, they'll ask for your official IDs to confirm your age and identity.

This will create a large treasure trove
of sensitive data, which will attract criminals, and will inevitably leak from either negligence or malice, sooner than later.

Then, they'll claim your official ID is
unreliable, because it was stolen so many times, and demand you share your biometric data.

They will collect your face scan,
your palm scan, and even your iris scan (no exaggeration, these are all already being collected by some companies for identification). They will claim it's super safe.

This will create a large treasure trove
of sensitive biometric data, which will attract criminals, and will inevitably leak from either negligence or malice, sooner than later.

Then what? Rinse and escalate.

You will have lost control of not just your corporate social media accounts by participating to this, but to any data capable of validating your identity, to your privacy rights, to the protections you could use online to stay safe.

We don't have to wait that it escalates.

We can, and must, push back and say No now. Start to say No now.

#Privacy #Biometrics #DataMinimization #AgeVerification

In case you are falsely feeling protected outside of Europe:

Chat Control doesn't just concern Europeans. It concerns all of us.

These kind of regulations will come for all of us, everywhere, if we do not ALL push against it everywhere.

If you do not understand how this is all intertwined, I invite you to read more privacy news and in-depth analysis. Because we must all support each other's privacy fights.

Privacy is a human right 💚

Fight for a better world, together ✊🌍

#ChatControl #AgeVerification #DataMinimization #HumanRights #DigitalRights #Privacy #Encryption #E2EE #RootForE2EE 🎉

Chat Control is one of the most important issue for human rights and democracy in the West right now.

There is little time left to fight back!🚨

❓If you don't know what it is: read this article

🇪🇺 If you are in the EU: Contact your MEPs NOW

🇪🇺 If you already contacted your MEPs: Contact your local media TODAY to ask them to report and inform on the dangers of Chat Control.

🌎 If you are not European: Spread the word! Talk about it on social media. Contact your local media. Contact your representatives to share your concerns about similar proposals and the loss of privacy rights. This would affect you too!

This is an urgent matter. We cannot let the West slip in this authoritarian dystopia.
We must stop Chat Control ✊🛑

#ChatControl #Privacy #HumanRights #Democracy #DigitalRights #EUpol #UKpol #USpol #CanPoli

If everyone was refusing to provide official IDs to verify their identity and age on social platforms, and just let their account rot there unused instead, we would soon see platforms themselves starting to advocate against these invasive laws to recover their users.

Just saying.
They need you more than you need them.
Stop complying with invasive requests.

#Privacy #AgeVerification

@adisonverlice Which reminds me that #Schools in #Germany routinely violate #BDSG if they ever use any #GAFAM|s #SaaS or #Cloud services because parent's can't sign away their children's #privacy at all.

GrapheneOS version 2025100300 released:

https://grapheneos.org/releases#2025100300

See the linked release notes for a summary of the improvements over the previous release.

Forum discussion thread:

https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/27029-grapheneos-version-2025100300-released

#GrapheneOS #privacy #security

Proton Mail's new mobile apps look clean.

https://news.itsfoss.com/proton-mail-android-ios-app-revamp/

#privacy #proton

Wheee

EFF: That Drone in the Sky Could Be Tracking Your Car

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/09/drone-sky-could-be-tracking-your-car

#privacy #fascism

# What if I don't want videos of my hobby time available to the entire world?

A new blogpost, pondering on something which has bugged me a bit recently.

Not enough for me to make a fuss, but enough to be on my mind.

https://neilzone.co.uk/2025/09/what-if-i-dont-want-videos-of-my-hobby-time-available-to-the-entire-world/

#privacy #GDPR #hobby #blog

# Using Ray-Ban Meta Glasses

I think that I saw my first pair of these glasses this weekend, but honestly not sure.

This blogpost about them, by @tink, is well worth reading.

https://tink.uk/using-ray-ban-meta-glasses/

#RayBan #Meta #privacy #inclusion #accessibility

People claiming: "It's legal! I can record people without consent" forget that:

1. One-party consent rules do not absolve you from having to respect privacy laws.

2. Recording people without consent can still be considered criminal harassment, voyeurism, stalking, or doxxing depending on context.

3. If you do not properly disclose data collection prior to collection it is likely the tool you use has a special close saying you are legally responsible for doing so in their Terms of Service (always read them fully).

4. And finally, even when something is legal (or not illegal yet), this doesn't mean it is ethical. You should always be more concerned about ethics.

#Privacy #Consent

Testing "exotic" p2p VPN https://lobste.rs/s/nn17bl #distributed #networking #privacy
https://blog.nommy.moe/blog/exotic-mesh-vpn/

I see so many people (mostly men, this isn't random) talking about how Meta's Ray-Ban glasses are "incredible" or "still not ready" yet, I don't see anyone calling it what it is: Voyeurism.

This technology will increase voyeurism and stalking aggressions in unacceptable ways. These glasses are a voyeur's dream weapon. Also a doxxer's and stalker's dream weapon.

Why are our laws and cultures not protecting us against this?

#Privacy #Safety #Meta #RayBan #Consent

If you even just think about buying Meta's Ray-Ban Glasses that record everyone around you without consent,
I will judge you as a creep, and avoid and report you like I do with other creeps.

Don't. Record. People. Without. Consent.

#Privacy #Consent #Meta #RayBan

Offline translator for Android https://lobste.rs/s/m9rmop #android #privacy
https://github.com/DavidVentura/firefox-translator

Go #Massachusetts!

On Thursday, September 25, the Massachusetts Senate unanimously (40-0) passed a comprehensive data privacy bill known as the Massachusetts Data Privacy Act. It had complete bipartisan support.

The bill is considered one of the strongest in the nation.

* Data Minimization: Limits the amount of personal data that companies can collect to only what is reasonably necessary to provide a product or service.

* Protection for Minors: Includes enhanced protections for children's data, prohibiting the sale of their personal information and its use for targeted advertising.

* Prohibition on Sensitive Data Sales: Bans the sale of sensitive data, such as location data, health information, and biometric data.

* Consumer Rights: It gives residents the right to access, correct, delete, and opt out of having their data sold or used for targeted advertising.

The bill now moves to the Massachusetts House of Representatives for further consideration.

#Privacy #OnelineRights

City sends cease-and-desist after Flock reinstalls license plate cameras

The city sent a cease-and-desist to the company Tuesday and said ‘Flock reinstalled the cameras without the city’s permission’

September 24th, 2025

https://evanstonroundtable.com/2025/09/24/flock-safety-reinstalls-evanston-cameras/

#privacy #surveillance #bigbrother #fascism #alpr #flock

There is a long battle
ahead of us. It will be essential to regroup, to support each other, and to protect each other.

This will affect many aspects of our lives, including data privacy.

When authoritarians want
control over their population, they seek data and they seek to kill privacy.

Because privacy means democracy,
because privacy means freedom, and
because privacy becomes a tool for popular resistance.

Be ready to fight for
your privacy rights.

This is vital.

#Privacy #PrivacyIsAHumanRight
#USpol

🔥 We're proud to announce our partnership with @triplebit on @privacysafe infrastructure!

We're excited to be including alongside projects like @privacyguides , @emeraldonion ,
, @kiwix , @torproject
, @unredacted

💪 Let's build better #privacy & resilience together

Alt...

Triplebit <> Ivy Cyber

@maxeddy ohmyg-DDDDDDDD

> A viral app called Neon, which offers to record your phone calls and pay you for the audio so it can sell that data to AI companies
*snip*

> The app already has thousands of users and was downloaded 75,000 times yesterday alone, *snip*

> But Neon has gone offline, at least for now, after a security flaw allowed anyone to access the phone numbers, call recordings, and transcripts of any other user *snip*

wow that's some spectacular fscking up. category 5. #privacy

@i47i

#UKpol #UK #Security

👉#Starmer plans the end of #Privacy in #Britain👈

https://hachyderm.io/@i47i/115267220284263325

Seriously, this will harm #FLOSS & #Privacy of #users and #developers and given the details WILL BE USED to enforce a #ban on #Tor and #VPN|s because there's no valid reason to expect otherwise!!!

Cc: @monocles @duckduckgo @mozilla_support @torproject @signalapp @thunderbird

Folks in Massachusetts! You have 2 days to let your lawmakers know you want data privacy! They vote on Thursday.

Prevent companies from collecting more personal information than necessary to provide the product or service you asked for.

Ban the sale of sensitive information, including your cellphone location information, health data, religious beliefs and practices, sexual orientation, immigration status, gender, and children’s data.

Ban targeted advertising to children, preventing online platforms from monetizing kids’ data for marketing.

https://act.consumerreports.org/pyxlGGl

#MA #massachussetts #Privacy #PrivacyLaw

Privacy rights aren't a luxury, they are fundamental to democracy, to safety, and to so many other human rights.

When they attack your privacy rights,
they attack all of this, they attack your humanity.

Do not let them.
Fight back for your human rights.

#Privacy #Democracy #HumanRights

I know there's a general "cause fatigue" with the current state of the world, and I feel it too.

But in my years working in privacy,
I don't think I've seen anything as terrifying as this European Chat Control proposal. And I'm not even European.

Everyone needs to pay
much more attention and be much more worried and outraged about this.

This proposal is the most dystopian glimpse into a horrible authoritarian future I have seen so far in the West.

It looks dismal, but we can still stop it
if we all work TOGETHER NOW ✊

There isn't much time left though,
so don't put it to next week.

Democracy dies in silence.

• Everyone: Learn more here
• Everyone: Spread the word on social media
• Europeans: Contact your local media NOW
• Europeans: Contact your MEPs NOW

The final vote in on October 14th,
but media and representatives need to receive your messages NOW, so they have enough time to act on it.

#ChatControl #Privacy #Democracy #HumanRights #MassSurveillance #StopScanningMe #EUpol #UKpol #USpol #CanPoli

LA Times: Predator drones shift from border patrol to protest surveillance

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-09-22/predator-drones-shift-from-border-patrol-to-protest-surveillance

#fascism #ice #privacy