Interview in PC Magazine. I had a nice chat with Chris Hoffman about some of the choices we make at @Vivaldi, not least when it comes to AI, Crypto and data collection.

#Vivaldi #Linux #Windows #Macos #Android #ios #ai #BigTech #Crypto #Technology

https://www.pcmag.com/news/vivaldis-leader-has-a-bold-pledge-no-ai-in-your-web-browser

“META LEFT POTENTIALLY sensitive information collected from employee laptops accessible to anyone inside the company, according to an internal security notice seen by WIRED and three current employees familiar with the issue.

The data, which was collected as part of a divisive initiative to train artificial intelligence models, is believed to include keystrokes, mouseclicks, and content displayed on the computer screens of Meta’s US employees.

Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton initially confirmed to WIRED that the company is investigating the security issue. As this story was being published, he added that Meta is pausing the data collection program indefinitely. "We have carefully designed this program with privacy safeguards and while we have no indication at this time that any data was improperly accessed by Meta employees, we're pausing it while we investigate," Clayton says.

The security notice sent out Monday indicated that “employee data across 45,000 hive tables,” had been exposed. Those tables included employee activity such as “full prompts and transcriptions, private conversations, people and performance data,” according to documents viewed by WIRED.“

https://www.wired.com/story/meta-accidentally-let-employees-access-each-others-keystroke-data/

#Meta #DataProtection #AI #Privacy #BigTech

Valve dropped Steam Machine pricing and the internet lost its mind at the wrong target. Yes it's $1049. No that's not Valve being greedy. That's RAMageddon, AI datacenters eating the memory market alive, and a world where Tim Cook just called iPhone price hikes "unavoidable." That's just the reality we find ourselves in.

https://blog.ppb1701.com/valve-announced-steam-machine-pricing-and-everyones-mad-at-the-wrong-people

#steam #steammachine #valve #linux #steamos #gaming #pcgaming #proton #amd #ramageddon #gamingpc #insertcoin #bigtech #blog

"While #Musk was looking to the stars, the people of Belfast were still reeling from several days of racist violence. The Belfast pogrom drew strength from the #farRight ecosystem that Musk has nurtured with the money from #SpaceX, #Tesla and other companies."

Long Reads talks w/ #BenTarnoff and #QuinnSlobodian, authors of #Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed

Pt 1 of 2
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/long-reads-trillion-dollar-baby-w-quinn-slobodian-and/id791564318?i=1000773249464

#ElonMusk #tech #BigTech #techCriticism #techOligarchs #SiliconValleyRight #books @bookstodon

👓 Smart Glasses: #bigtech’s hottest new product 📹 DW News spoke with noyb's data privacy expert Kleanthi Sardeli about the safety risks 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2jlRzBfzq8

This Saturday (June 27th) at 1pm come join our protest march from the Vancouver Art Gallery to City Hall, and let our government know what we think about short-sighted tech developments.

This earth is worth infinitely more than a few dollars in the pockets of corporations

#vanpoli #vancouver #cdnpoli #bcpoli #NoAI #DataCentres #BigTech

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A poster of three people with their fists raised and displeased expressions, in a cartoon style, standing on a small planet-like circle. The poster text reads "No AI Data Centers In Vancouver. Protect our land / Protect our future. Saturday June 27, Protest March, 1:00 PM, Vancouver Art Gallery to City Hall, 750 Hornby Street. Can't make it? Donate! no.ai.vancouver@gmail.com, Sign The Petition" and a QR code.

Jagd auf alte Bücher -
KI-Firmen kaufen Antiquariate leer – und vernichten die Bücher

https://www.srf.ch/kultur/gesellschaft-religion/jagd-auf-alte-buecher-ki-firmen-kaufen-antiquariate-leer-und-vernichten-die-buecher

Schöne neue Welt! 🙃

#KI #Literatur #Bücher #Books #Geschichte #BigTech

next #deltachat #ios version is coming with #liquidglass 🥛 thanks Amzd for the work. though frustrating being forced by #bigtech to do things that may not be loved and feel superfluous, it's wanted by many meanwhile.

there are still some things to tweak, we created an issue at https://github.com/deltachat/deltachat-ios/issues/3157 . on-point help is welcome - and already ongoing thanks to some new contributors ❤️

Canada passes Bill C-22, expanding lawful access powers for law enforcement to obtain digital information under judicial warrants. 📜
The law enables secret metadata retention orders and system access requirements for providers, raising ongoing encryption and oversight concerns. 🔐

🔗 https://globalnews.ca/news/11911957/lawful-access-bill-passes-privacy-liberals-tinfoil-hat/

#TechNews #Canada #Privacy #Surveillance #LawfulAccess #Law #CyberSecurity #Encryption #DataProtection #DigitalRights #Policy #CivilLiberties #BigTech

Meta is testing face-recognition software for its smart glasses app, built with Rank One, a surveillance-tech supplier tied to Pentagon use. 🤖
It is developed for internal use in Meta’s smart glasses app and uses biometric data stored on users’ phones while drawing on Rank One’s surveillance tools. 📱

🔗 https://www.wired.com/story/meta-rank-one-computing-face-recognition-smart-glasses/

#TechNews #Meta #FaceRecognition #Surveillance #SmartGlasses #Privacy #AI #MachineLearning #CyberSecurity #Biometrics #DataProtection #BigTech #FOSS #OpenSource

I used a Norwegian open-source tool to analyze my old Spotify data as a customer.

I don't use Spotify anymore, but I can announce that of all the money I ever paid them, approx. 5% went to the artists I listened to.

That is a pretty insane transfer of wealth from the bottom / middle to the top if you ask me.

I already knew Spotify is a big scam for those not at the top, but seeing the numbers still gives me a bodily reaction. 😢

#spotify #bigtech #music

RE: https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/116770333053823108

Inutile de dire qu'il ne faut pas s'inscrire sur W ni leur communiquer votre identité, même s'ils finissent par rendre le processus facile

Voilà. Ce n'est pas la peine

Vous êtes déjà dans 1 espace bien + évolué, fédéré, non-commercial

Ne vous inscrivez pas sur #W. Mettez en garde vos amis

Pour arrêter ça, c'est maintenant ou jamais. S'ils arrivent à créer 1 effet de réseau, il sera tt aussi impossible de les arrêter que d'arrêter X

Oui, ce n'est qu'1 nouvelle entreprise capitaliste de surveillance basée sur le capital risque, qui exploite les gens, et 1 repaire de Nazis. Simplement, ils sont en Europe (normal)

#WSocial #NoWNoX #surveillance #BigTech

Blender Dumbass ( J.Y.Amihud ) boosted

Aral Balkan » 🌐 2026-06-18 / 2026-06-18
@aral@mastodon.ar.al

Needless to say, do not sign up for W or give them your ID information no matter how simple they eventually manage to make it.

You simply don’t need to.

You’re already in a far superior – non-corporate, federated – space.

Do not sign up for W. And warn your friends.

The only time you have any power to stop this is now. If they succeed in gaining network effects, you will be as powerless to stop them as you are with X.

And yes, they’re just another venture capital funded surveillance capitalist, people farmer, and burgeoning Nazi Bar. They just happen to be based in the EU. (As Nazi Bars traditionally have been.)

#WSocial #NoWNoX #surveillance #capitalism #BigTech #VC @_elena https://mastodon.social/@_elena/116770291207686239

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Ursula von der Leyen’z post wishing a “warm welcome to all folllwers on W” and calling it user friendly, open source, privacy preserving and “humans only/no bots”. Oh and “European” (unlike Mastodon, which I guess was made on Mars).

#WSocial: "We want to promote European digital sovereignty. We're made in Europe, for the world!"

@EUCommission: "A strong Europe needs independent digital spaces. Today, we’re expanding our presence to W."

W Social: "You need to verify your identity. Please download our #WIdentity app from Apple's App Store or Google's Play Store"

No further comment necessary.

Check for yourselves (04:30): https://inv.nadeko.net/Vcq4MiabpEQ

#BigTech #OpenWashing #EuropeWashing #SovereigntyWashing

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a screenshot from W Social's onboarding process showing a screen that says: "Verify yourself with W Identity. Verify anonymously or with your real name. W Identity is fully decentralized, ensuring your data stays on your device. Have your passport or ID ready. Donwload on Apple's App Store / Get it on Google Play"

I have no intention of signing up for W currently, but I might consider it if we can get it to replace LinkedIn.

Either way I am planning to stay here..
https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/116770333053823108
aral@mastodon.ar.al - Needless to say, do not sign up for W or give them your ID information no matter how simple they eventually manage to make it.

You simply don’t need to.

You’re already in a far superior – non-corporate, federated – space.

Do not sign up for W. And warn your friends.

The only time you have any power to stop this is now. If they succeed in gaining network effects, you will be as powerless to stop them as you are with X.

And yes, they’re just another venture capital funded surveillance capitalist, people farmer, and burgeoning Nazi Bar. They just happen to be based in the EU. (As Nazi Bars traditionally have been.)

#WSocial #NoWNoX #surveillance #capitalism #BigTech #VC @_elena https://mastodon.social/@_elena/116770291207686239

shared from masto:

Needless to say, do not sign up for W or give them your ID information no matter how simple they eventually manage to make it.

You simply don’t need to.

You’re already in a far superior – non-corporate, federated – space.

Do not sign up for W. And warn your friends.

The only time you have any power to stop this is now. If they succeed in gaining network effects, you will be as powerless to stop them as you are with X.

And yes, they’re just another venture capital funded surveillance capitalist, people farmer, and burgeoning Nazi Bar. They just happen to be based in the EU. (As Nazi Bars traditionally have been.)

#WSocial #NoWNoX #surveillance #capitalism #BigTech #VC @_elena https://mastodon.social/@_elena/116770291207686239

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@adfichter/116770888587834354

Meta running ad campaigns in Switzerland pushing for centralized age verification is highly concerning:

#ageverification #passportcontrol #bigtech #surveillancecapitalism

RE: https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/116770333053823108

W is for Warning.

⚠️

#WWarning #WSocial #fediverse #mastodon #BigTech #surveillance #capitalism #peopleFarming

Blender Dumbass ( J.Y.Amihud ) boosted

Aral Balkan » 🌐 2026-06-18 / 2026-06-18
@aral@mastodon.ar.al

Needless to say, do not sign up for W or give them your ID information no matter how simple they eventually manage to make it.

You simply don’t need to.

You’re already in a far superior – non-corporate, federated – space.

Do not sign up for W. And warn your friends.

The only time you have any power to stop this is now. If they succeed in gaining network effects, you will be as powerless to stop them as you are with X.

And yes, they’re just another venture capital funded surveillance capitalist, people farmer, and burgeoning Nazi Bar. They just happen to be based in the EU. (As Nazi Bars traditionally have been.)

#WSocial #NoWNoX #surveillance #capitalism #BigTech #VC @_elena https://mastodon.social/@_elena/116770291207686239

Alt...

Ursula von der Leyen’z post wishing a “warm welcome to all folllwers on W” and calling it user friendly, open source, privacy preserving and “humans only/no bots”. Oh and “European” (unlike Mastodon, which I guess was made on Mars).

Needless to say, do not sign up for W or give them your ID information no matter how simple they eventually manage to make it.

You simply don’t need to.

You’re already in a far superior – non-corporate, federated – space.

Do not sign up for W. And warn your friends.

The only time you have any power to stop this is now. If they succeed in gaining network effects, you will be as powerless to stop them as you are with X.

And yes, they’re just another venture capital funded surveillance capitalist, people farmer, and burgeoning Nazi Bar. They just happen to be based in the EU. (As Nazi Bars traditionally have been.)

#WSocial #NoWNoX #surveillance #capitalism #BigTech #VC @_elena https://mastodon.social/@_elena/116770291207686239

Alt...

Ursula von der Leyen’z post wishing a “warm welcome to all folllwers on W” and calling it user friendly, open source, privacy preserving and “humans only/no bots”. Oh and “European” (unlike Mastodon, which I guess was made on Mars).

Google swapped “Don’t be evil” with “Do the right thing”. Evil was a low bar anyway. But mottos are just words if your ethics score is lowest in the industry.

Do the right thing.

Mojeek live and breathe “Do the right thing”. The right choice for people and the planet is rarely the easy one. But the highest ethical score matters to us.

Scores based on Ethical Consumer research published June 2026

https://www.mojeek.com

#mojeek #search #searchengine #bigtech #alternatives #ethics

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Do the right thing

Many distrust AI as such. But I suspect that for many, the deeper issue is Big Tech control. I do see the positive potential of AI — but only with proper control, based on European values: security, openness, privacy and accountability.

The Anthropic case shows why this matters: critical AI access can become a foreign policy decision. We need European AI solutions developed and operated under democratic oversight.

https://www.anthropic.com/news/fable-mythos-access

#ai #digitalsovereignty #bigtech #europeanalternatives

Ireland has the SECOND HIGHEST energy costs in the world! Households pay €0.35/kwh while data centres pay €0.19/kwh. How is that fair?

"Ireland's data centre energy drain
How Big Tech added €1.4bn to household electricity bills

New research by Friends of the Earth has found that soaring demand for data centres in Ireland has driven up energy prices, with Irish households paying the hidden cost."

https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/data-centres-and-climate-7052694-May2026/

#DataCentres #mastodaoine #electricity #utilities #CostOdLiving #BigTech

Clueless or corrupt, you decide.

CC @EUCommission

#EU #UrsulaVonDerLeyen #WSocial #EuropeWashing #BigTech https://mastodon.social/@_elena/116764738020685078

“My fear is that W Social is just another for-profit Big Tech startup that happens to be based in the EU. We don’t need that. We don’t need more European surveillance capitalists and people farmers. We need ethical alternatives working for the common good.”

– Yours truly, in @_elena’s excellent exposé on W Social.

https://blog.elenarossini.com/w-social-public-institutions-and-the-theater-of-european-digital-sovereignty/

Do read the article to the end, especially noting the bit about the composition of their board of advisors, which includes an ex-Google AI lead and an ex-Paypal Chief [Violate Your] Privacy Officer who now works at Tools for Humanity (Sam Altman’s “Sci-fi dystopia? Hold my beer…” identity farming startup that wants to scan your eyeballs).

#WSocial #EuropeWashing #PrivacyWashing #BigTech #peopleFarming #surveillance #capitalism #EU #ATProto #fediverse

#WSocial will open up their beta program today… and I have a SCOOP for you: it appears that they have quietly gone closed-source!

This is ironic, considering that the @EUCommission just unveiled their Tech Sovereignty Package, emphasizing the importance of #OpenSource. And yet they have migrated their main ATproto accounts to W Social - whose code can no longer be inspected!

My full article - with a great analysis by @aral:

🔗: https://blog.elenarossini.com/w-social-public-institutions-and-the-theater-of-european-digital-sovereignty/

#FOSS #DigitalSovereignty #BigTech

"There's a (false) story that's told about people who championed the early internet: that we were blithely certain that technology could only be a force for good, and negligently disinterested in the possibility that technology could control, extract and harm. That's demonstrably untrue: recall cyberpunk's dualism of "the street finds its own use for things" and "cyberpunk is a warning, not a suggestion."

More true is to say that early internet champions were alive to the importance of the internet, and therefore both excited about the possibilities of the internet to deliver a world of connection, idiosyncrasy, love and solidarity; and about the danger of the internet as a dystopian system of surveillance and manipulation:
(...)
History isn't finished. Long after the AI bubble pops, there will be local models and people vibe coding homemade software that respond directly to their needs. The stuff we make on our own computers, for ourselves, is deplatformed from its inception. It's part of the life we can build in technology's "shadowy corners" that we used to just call "technology." The fact that this stuff is utterly unsuited to be production code makes it inherently unmonetizable. It's how the street finds its own use for things:"

https://pluralistic.net/2026/06/15/vernacular/

#AI #LLMs #BigTech #LocalLlamas #GenerativeAI #AIBubble #AIHype #OpenSource #FLOSS #OpenWeights #Amateurism

Mojeek was awarded the highest ethical score by @ethicalconsumer when compared to other search engines across a range of categories.

From climate responsibility and privacy protections to online safety and tax conduct, we're the leading ethical search engine with the top score.

This matters to us. Our founding mission to “do the right thing” is our commitment to put people and the planet before profits.

https://www.mojeek.com

#mojeek #search #searchengine #bigtech #alternatives #ethics

Alt...

The Most Ethical Search Engine in the World

What a good read!

> A growing economy used to be a rising tide that lifted all boats. Post-AI, it may only lift a handful of yachts.

It's really long, but very well worth it. Puts some real substance and lessons from history against arguments, to try and paint an extrapolated picture of what #BigAI will likely do to us and our society.

**A true risk that #AI poses to liberal democracies.**

https://matthewbutterick.com/extinction-level-capitalism.html

#GenAI #LLM #BigTech

""Every failed attempt to make children safer online is followed by more surveillance and censorship," he said. "Children have rights too and these policies will harm their free expression and privacy rights, and push them into less regulated spaces. Meanwhile the business models driving harms are untouched."

Others questioned whether the measures can realistically be enforced. Mark Jones, an online harms specialist and partner at law firm Payne Hicks Beach, noted that the consultation closed only weeks ago and warned that determined teenagers have a habit of finding ways around restrictions.

"A social media ban only helps if it is genuinely enforceable," Jones said. "If large numbers of young people simply circumvent the restrictions, parents will just lose visibility into where their children are actually spending time online rather than reclaiming any control."

The political case for the crackdown appears relatively straightforward, but the practical one is less so. The government now has to persuade social media companies to enforce the rules and teenagers not to find ways around them."

https://www.theregister.com/personal-tech/2026/06/15/britain-plots-digital-bedtime-after-kicking-under-16s-off-social-media/5255341

#UK #AgeVerification #NannyState #Surveillance #Oligopolies #Censorship #BigBrother #BigTech #Privacy #Anonymity

Meta plans to add facial recognition to its smart glasses, report claims

“We will launch during a dynamic political environment where many civil society groups that we would expect to attack us would have their resources focused on other concerns,” the document reads.

#Meta considered adding facial recognition #technology to the first version of its Ray-Ban smart glasses back in 2021, but dropped the plans over technical challenges and ethical concerns. The NYT reports that the company has revived its plans as the #Trump administration has grown closer to Big Tech, and following the unexpected success of its smart glasses."

https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/13/meta-plans-to-add-facial-recognition-to-its-smart-glasses-report-claims/

#BigTech #SmartGlasses #Surveillance #FaceID

Public money should be spent on public code that benefits us all.

We call for Digital Sovereignty with open source tech, so we can switch providers without changing systems.

End the #BigTechRipOff that keeps us dependent and out of pocket.

Tell your MP to back an amendment to the Cybersecurity Bill by 16 June ➡️ https://action.openrightsgroup.org/tell-your-mp-end-big-tech-rip/?mtm_campaign=big-tech-rip-off&mtm_source=mastodon

#digitalsovereignty #techsovereignty #bigtech #opensource #palantir #ukpolitics #ukpol

Alt...

We need public code for public money. What is open source? Open source products use code that is made public and can be used, modified and shared by others. We’re not locked in to the proprietary systems of a small number of US tech firms, so we don’t have to start from scratch if we change vendor. Why this is needed – Making Digital Sovereignty a central strategic goal of UK digital policy will drive competition and innovation with effective regulation to create a more level playing field for UK businesses.

I'm officially one of you. Whenever I see graphics about digital sovereignty and moving away from Big Tech, I go: "well, actually" - especially when I see Signal suggested as an alternative to WhatsApp.

My first thought: Signal is pretty centralized, #DeltaChat would be a far superior alternative 🙈​🙉​🙊​

Disclaimer: I use both (Signal and DeltaChat) but I really wish I could move all my convos to @Delta@chaos.social. Slowly convincing one person at a time...

#MySoCalledSudoLife #BigTech

Impressed by how well DeltaChat works nowadays!

https://delta.chat/en/

I could easily create an account without sharing any details. Connect with a friend's Android based phone & an iPhone. We could videocall & send small apps like a game or a shared list.

Apparently I can host my own chat relay & don't need to use someone else's infrastructure, but I haven't tested that yet.

This might be my Signal replacement. Well done @delta

#Signal #DeltaChat #DigitalAutonomy #DIY #DoeiDag #BigTech

RE: https://mastodon.social/@Pettet8/116742131579090788

“Google was a different company 9 years ago.”

Hmm… was it, though? 🤔

https://ar.al/talks/#free-is-a-lie

#google #BigTech #peopleFarming #SiliconValley #surveillance #capitalism #meaCulpa

Google + Samsung + Palantir: The AI revolution isn't about code anymore, it's about forcing yield in failing fabs using military-grade surveillance tech. Big Tech is desperate, and the industry is moving toward total industrial control just to keep the lights on. #AI #BigTech #semiconductors

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The Samsung-Palantir alliance marks the end of free innovation: chip production is now a system of total industrial surveillance. Google is relying on them not for progress, but to secure failing production yields. Control has replaced engineering

#tech #technology #BigTech #data #security #privacy #safety #InfoSec #IT #surveillance #computing #digital #online #internet #web #cloud #meme

Alt...

Meme, showing a continuous circle of data breach messages from corporations… Ahaha you're not gonna believe this but we had a bit of a data breach. Your data is probably for sale online now. That means someone could easily impersonate you. Going forward we're gonna need more of your data to make sure its you.

ATT limited some tracking. Meta Pixel was a workaround. Fingerprinting is another one — and it doesn't need any permissions at all. While this isn't limited to just iOS — Android can be mined as well, Loupe is an open source iOS app that shows you the raw data your phone hands out by default. The third tier of signals is genuinely creepy.

https://blog.ppb1701.com/what-your-phone-is-handing-out-before-youve-said-a-word

#privacy #fingerprinting #adtech #apple #android #bigtech #ios #tracking #userhostile #infosec #metapixel #blog