RE: https://fosstodon.org/@AkaSci/116714107266701124

Right when we needed all hands on deck to mitigate the climate crisis, #US oligarchy decided it was time to turn to full surveillance mode and #fascism, and assert its power through "AI".

There is a reason we call this #AI crap #technofascism . Unfortunately, the American taxpayer will soon be called to do an Obama again and bail out #BigTech in their financial fiasco, when the "AI" bubble breaks.

And, no, it's not because of #Trump. A #Democrat #POTUS would happily bail them out, too.

#USpol

#SocialMedia bans on teens risk strengthening #BigTech’s grip on the sector, Bluesky exec warns

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/06/bluesky-teen-social-media-ban-monopolies.html

#SocialMediaBan #privacy #AgeVerification

Goed. De RayBan Meta bril waar Pearl zo trots op is. Van de week onderstaande klacht ingediend:

Ik ben echt bijzonder onaangenaam verrast door jullie samenwerking met Meta. Die AI brillen van ze zijn een grove inbreuk op de privacy. En wat je al had kunnen verwachten gebeurt nu. De brillen worden ook voorzien van face recognition software. Hallo massa surveillance!
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/06/move-fast-surveil-things
Meta legt het regime van Trump geen strobeed in de weg. Plus verpatst hun bijeen gegraaide data ook nog eens aan de hoogste bieder. Ik wil hier absoluut niets mee te maken hebben. Ik kom al decennia lang bij Pearl, maar door deze samenwerking van jullie met Meta zit er voor mij niets anders op dan te stoppen met het gebruik maken van jullie diensten.

Gister kreeg ik de reactie van Pearl. Ik heb het maar even een dag laten bezinken.
Lees en huil. Wat een hemeltergende stupiditeit, wel eens van Stealth Mode gehoord, oen! Artikel uit mijn link duidelijk ook niet gelezen ... 🤦‍♀️ 👇
1/2
#Pearl #Meta #RayBan #BigTech #Privacy #Surveillance

Hi everyone! 👋 I know it's been a while since I was last here, but I had a very specific reason for it. I've spent the last few months with my small team intensely developing a project I mentioned to you once before. Every moment of my inactivity here was simply coding, designing the architecture, and endlessly solving problems

Today, I am proud to announce - LibreConnect has moved past the phase of vague plans and become a fully functional app!

We managed to deliver what was absolutely most important to us - an ecosystem connecting your 💻 computer and 📱 smartphone that respects your privacy 100%. Zero external clouds and hidden telemetry. Everything is based exclusively on a direct P2P connection within your local network and strong E2E encryption 🔐

So, what can our app actually do?
- Virtual camera and microphone from your phone
- Mobile device file manager right from your PC 📁
- Notification and clipboard synchronization 📋
- Receiving and sending SMS/MMS from your computer 💬
- Two-way media playback control 🎵
- Remote keyboard and presentation control from your phone
- Finding your phone by triggering a loud alarm (overriding silent mode) 🚨
- And a few other minor conveniences

We also made sure the project is truly cross-platform. LibreConnect runs natively on Linux, macOS, Windows, and Android. It's worth mentioning that the app isn't limited to just x86_64 architecture - we support ARM64 as well! To make updates easier, we've set up our own F-Droid repository, along with native packages for Linux package managers (APT, DNF, Pacman)

The code is 100% open-source under the GNU GPL v3.0 license However, I have to be honest - the project is still very young. The app is highly usable, but it still requires optimization, might have some silly bugs, and can occasionally be unstable 🐛

That's why we need you so much right now. For the continued development of this app to make any sense, we need a small but engaged user base. I encourage you to install it, test it out, and report bugs, and for those interested - to join the project as contributors (you'll find a CONTRIBUTING.md in the repo) 🤝

If you like our vision, leaving a star ⭐ on our GitHub repository is the form of support we would appreciate the most. It's these stars that will allow us to take the project out into the world! Because of this, for the next few days, my activity here will focus mainly on promoting the app and its features - we need your help to build the right momentum. Thank you in advance for your support!

You can find all other info here:
https://libreconnect.one

#LibreConnect #Privacy #PrivacyByDesign #OpenSource #FOSS #Freedom #Software #FreeSoftware #Libre #BigTech #Tech #Technology #Dev #Programming #Code #App #Apps #CPlusPlus #Qt #Phone #PC #Computer #OS #OperatingSystem #Linux #RaspberryPi #Apple #Mac #Windows #Android #FDroid #Obtainium

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A mobile screenshot of the LibreConnect Android app showing a "Connected" status. Below the app logo are four large, touch-friendly buttons for quick access - Media Remote, Remote Keyboard, Presenter Mode, and Sync Clipboard.

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A desktop screenshot of the LibreConnect app in dark mode on Linux. The "Messages" tab is open, showing a sidebar with features, a list of SMS conversations in the middle, and an active chat on the right containing large emoji messages.

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A desktop screenshot showing the LibreConnect "Media Remote" interface on Linux. The app displays title, artist name, album name and art, a progress bar, and playback controls for a song. In the right corner of the screen, a native Linux media widget mirrors the exact same song, showing seamless system integration.

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A desktop screenshot of the LibreConnect "Notifications" tab on Linux. The app window lists active phone notifications. In the bottom right corner of the screen, a native Linux popup notification from LibreConnect displays a new SMS message, demonstrating integration with the desktop environment.

Apple Intelligence and a smarter Siri sounds great in a world where it's your choice, your hardware, or at worst a server sitting effectively next to the iCloud you're already trusting. It lands very differently when the honest version of the announcement is: we can't actually deliver the privacy we promised AND the capabilities we promised, but here it is anyway.

https://blog.ppb1701.com/apples-privacy-stance-the-latest-act-of-courage

#apple #siri #ai #privacy #nvidia #google #appleintelligence #bigtech #wwdc #userhostile #blog

“We can’t count on the US to help us tame Big Tech. The US is Big Tech. The roof isn’t leaking anymore. The roof has fallen in, and it’s time to move.

This isn’t all bad. All things being equal, it would be better if Putin had stayed out of Ukraine and if Trump had lost the 2024 election. But when life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla. Trump’s incontinent belligerence creates the conditions for the replacement of our old enshittified internet with a new, good internet. A post-American internet. That’s the internet that activists like me and EFF have been trying to build for decades ever since it became apparent that the old, good internet was gone. Swallowed by enshittifying monopolists.

We tried hard. We eked out some victories. But we were overmatched by the largest, most rapacious corporations to curse the Earth since the Hudson’s Bay Company. Today, we have new allies. Members of a coalition who have different motives and access to different levels of power but have a shared goal.

In all, Trump has summoned up three armies to fight for the post-American internet. The first army: digital civil society groups battling for privacy, consumer rights, and labour rights; for an end to the systematic program of worker misclassification and wage theft we call the gig economy; for the right to use the internet anonymously rather than having your data harvested in the name of age verification only to have it mobilized later by the next Viktor Orbán or Trump; for an end to Big Tech monopolies and their corrosive power over our democracies and lives.“

https://thewalrus.ca/the-internet-has-become-too-american-to-trust

#USA #BigTech #Trump #SocialMedia #DigitalRights #PoliticalEconomy #Monopolies #Oligopolies

Researchers found that writers using biased AI agents to auto-complete suggestions had their sociopolitical values shifted without their knowledge it was happening.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adw5578

We worry about cognitive capture, what the LLMs of big tech are doing to our ability to identify and think through problems. We should be equally worried about them making a grab for our ethos, what we care about, and at population scales.

#ai #bigtech #ethics

Flipboard curator Erin Brockovich has been highlighting the need for transparency when it comes to data centre construction. She delves into the secrecy that surrounds the Big Tech projects, the long-term impacts they have and explains how communities are pushing back.
https://flip.it/774pmU

Check out Erin Brockovich's Magazine on Flipboard:
https://flipboard.com/@erinbrockovich/the-brockovich-report-ad9p2eniz

#DataCenters #AI #BigTech

RE: https://mas.to/@MaryAnnJohanson/116663400507044240

Couple this with #digitalid and #facialrecognition verification and you have the best means to get any such people !

Doesn't matter if it's #europe or the #usa when #bigtech will have access to that data they would be selling it as well as giving it to the govts 'under the law of the land' to take away dissenting voices !

Everywhere such legislation is being pushed sometimes under the guise of digital ids and age verification, sometimes for saving the kids online (outsourcing parenting) 🙄

Age verification expanding from websites to operating systems; California’s 2027 law requires OS setup age collection sharing age ranges to apps 🔐
OS-level age signals may enable app enforcement and future ID or biometric verification, raising privacy and open-source concerns 🔒

🔗 https://me.pcmag.com/en/security/37364/your-computer-may-soon-require-an-age-check-and-it-might-not-take-no-for-an-answer

#TechNews #AgeVerification #OperatingSystems #OS #Privacy #DigitalRights #California #California #Law #Tech #DataProtection #Surveillance #OpenSource #FOSS #Biometrics #BigTech #Regulation

I was wondering if anyone had released any turn-key OS for a #PiZero or similar that detects devices like AXON cop tazers, wifi retail surveillance cameras, smart glasses etc...

So I asked #AI because it has indexed things like Github and should know this.

It didn't find anything, but immediately told me how to make it, and it was correct. I just wanted a shortcut.

I keep telling people, AI can be used against #bigtech

#surveillance #privacy #security #IT

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A hand holding a Pi Zero SBC

Pffft. I see our beloved Government is learning from the Tech Bros about consent.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, no (but it actually means yes once you've read it).

Have your say (as far as you can) here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/growing-up-in-the-online-world-a-national-consultation

Last day today.

#onlineSafety #privacy #ageVerification #bigTech #digitalID #UKPolitics #UKPol

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Screenshot from a government consultation. It asks: Would you support it being a legal requirement for social media platforms to have a minimum age lower than 16? If so, what age should it be? Possible answers are: Yes - 12 years old and younger Yes - 13 years old Yes - 14 years old Yes - 15 years old No - it should be 16 years old Don't know Prefer not to say

It’s easier for Californians to escape data brokers following a Markup investigation

https://themarkup.org/privacy/2026/05/22/its-easier-for-californians-to-escape-data-brokers-following-a-markup-investigation

#California #DataBroker #privacy #TheMarkup #BigTech

1 DAY TO GO ⏰️

💭 Tell the UK government to rethink online safety.

❌️ Creating a privacy timebomb with surveillance-based information blockades isn't the way.

✅️ We need user choice and better platform design, NOT mandatory ID checks.

Have your say on a better way by 26 May ➡️ https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/growing-up-in-the-online-world-a-national-consultation

#onlinesafety #ageverification #digitalID #privacy #interoperability #bigtech #ukpolitics #ukpol

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Better alternatives to achieve online safety. The government should support safer and more privacy-preserving alternatives instead of age verification systems. Interoperability – People should be able to choose safer services/platforms without losing networks, just how you can switch bank accounts easily. Empowering users – Encourage competition around safety and reduce dependence on large platforms that monetise attention to keep us online. Reject surveillance-based Internet – Creating privacy risks isn’t safe.

@EUCommission
Would be nice if the EU commission acted like it. Meaning:
- ditching #chatcontrol for good, along with all other ways of mass surveillance, like (european versions of) #Palantir.
- actually enforcing fines against #BigTech instead of halting it like von der Leyen did with #Google
- not selling our data to usa by #omnibus
- list goes on

This is what peak capitalism looks like.

#mirror #capitalism #adtech #BigTech #surveillance #peopleFarming

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Screenshot of the Mirror rag’s web site inundated with ads to Take That, a dream home, and tonybet.

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Another screenshot of the same page, refreshed, showing ads for printable chair yoga, a holiday place, the dream home and tonybet ad. There’s almost nothing of the “article” you can see.

Google is testing reduced free cloud storage for new accounts created without phone number verification, cutting capacity from 15GB to 5GB. ☁️
The change links Gmail, Drive, and Photos storage access to identity verification, increasing pressure to provide personal data. 📱

🔗 https://www.pcworld.com/article/3140911/google-quietly-cuts-free-storage-to-5gb-without-a-phone-number.html

#TechNews #Google #Privacy #CloudStorage #Gmail #GoogleDrive #GooglePhotos #DataPrivacy #DigitalRights #BigTech #Surveillance #Internet #Security #OnlinePrivacy #Technology #Drive #Photo

I wrote about Apple's privacy promise yesterday — then Google held I/O and made the whole thing worse. They didn't build a better search, they built a cage out of the old one funneling you right into their AI and likely away from the actual sources of what you searched for.

https://blog.ppb1701.com/every-road-leads-to-google

#google #apple #ai #privacy #gemini #search #googleio #bigtech #userhostile #agentic #blog

So I realize the Evil v. Evil trial wrapped and it will have a mini post a bit later, but a little more has been surfacing on Apple's deal with Siri and it doesn't look great for that privacy brand Apple works so hard to maintain.

https://blog.ppb1701.com/apples-privacy-promise-is-starting-to-look-like-a-marketing-slogan

#apple #siri #privacy #AI #bigtech #appleIntelligence #userhostile #google

POV: You want to #DeGoogle your life but are unsure whether #BigTech alternatives have all the features..

Well you're in luck.

At Tuta, we do not only end-to-end encrypt your emails and inbox, but we also have all your favorite features like email templates, undo send, schedule send and more! 🎉🔥

Check out our email templates here 👉 https://tuta.com/blog/how-to-email-template

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Outlook and Gmail app icons with a red cross and an arrow pointing to the Tuta Mail app icon with the text, "The ethical email solution made with love in Germany"

Je m'accuse, on s'accuse – a reaction piece I published on Substack on the misguided moral outrage of LLMs.

👉 https://brywillis634737.substack.com/p/je-maccuse-on-saccuse

#philosophy #moraloutrage #rationality #freespeech #aiethics #llms #surveillancecapitalism #criticaltheory #scapegoating #blog #substack #podcast #aisafety #enlightenment #mythos #bigtech #airegulation #philosophyofmind #moralpanic #artificialintelligence

#BigTech lawyer to chair #Dutch #privacy watchdog #AP

https://www.dutchnews.nl/2026/05/big-tech-lawyer-to-chair-dutch-privacy-watchdog-ap/

#politics

#SpeakingOutOfPlace welcomes #QuinnSlobodian & #BenTarnoff to talk about their book #Muskism: A Guide for the Perplexed.

'We see a mind that is profoundly troubled by any contagion spreading into seemingly closed systems—it can take the form of racial others, transpeople, “woke” populations, or most generally and dismissively, “Non-Player-Characters.” '

https://speakingoutofplace.buzzsprout.com/2084729/episodes/19188391-muskism-its-roots-nature-and-how-to-fight-it-a-conversation-with-quinn-slobodian-and-ben-tarnoff

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

/e/OS blocked KLM from sending tracking data 117 times per day over the last week.

Why mobile apps trackers are one of the most impactful threats regarding your privacy and your freedom: read the Privacy Guide at https://e.foundation/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/murena_white_paper_privacy.pdf

#tracking #privacy #degoogle #deapple #bigtech #KLM #android #eos #murena

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Biggest data leaker: KLM sent data 117 times per day this week on my smartphone

I'm in tech. I used to do Ops for an AdTech startup. (Mea culpa) I _know_ how much folks are tracked even when they try not to be. It's truly horrific IMO.

A friend just shared a link to a site that gives an idea of how much a website knows about you before the page finishes loading, without cookies or other games. (Trust me, there ARE games)

It helps bring home how bad it is, especially for non-technical folks https://sinceyouarrived.world/taken

#AdTech #Enshittificatiaon #BigTech

"‘The world is sounding an alarm’: Why big tech is the new colonist

Power is no longer exercised through military force alone, but via technology, finance, and control over information, experts warn.

Istanbul, Turkiye – When investigations by Al Jazeera and other media outlets in 2024 revealed that Israeli-linked artificial intelligence (AI) systems such as Lavender and Gospel had helped generate thousands of military targets in Gaza, critics warned that warfare was entering a new era – one driven not only by soldiers and bombs, but by algorithms, data, and surveillance technology.

Then, in September 2024, thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by members of Hezbollah exploded in coordinated attacks in Lebanon, widely attributed to Israeli intelligence operations that had turned ordinary communication devices into weapons.

And, last year, reporting by Al Jazeera also raised concerns about the use of cloud and data infrastructure linked to major US technology companies in Israeli surveillance operations involving Palestinians."

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/5/14/the-world-is-sounding-an-alarm-why-big-tech-is-the-new-colonist

#palestine #BigTech #surveillance #AI
🧵

[quote] "The legal instrument protecting your rights as a user of Linux is less important than the commercial ecosystem built on top of it. And that commercial ecosystem as we have established is controlled by the same corporations paying a half a million dollars a year for board seats at the Linux Foundation. ... The message ... enforce the GPL, lose your friends ... violate it openly ... get a seat on the board ... The GPL is not dead but its enforcement mechanism has been systematically dismantled by the very organization that claims to steward it."

Linux Foundation has squelched the voice of the lay contributors and now corporations control the decision-making process.

Now that your contributions to GPL'd free software have created mega-millionaires and billionaires ... those same rich fat cats that profited from your free code now want to keep you from sharing your own free code or profiting from it while they violate the software license to cash in. They promote ideology campaigns employing useful idiots and ideological parrots to insulate themselves from criticism and hold themselves above reproach from the people they are exploiting to build their tech empire. The Linux Foundation has joined the empire.

I have said before that a new alternative operating system is required if software freedom and privacy are to survive. Linux is not the resistance against the system. Linux is the system.

[/synopsis]

Full video for your earbuds: https://youtu.be/efDXFsUWk8U

[copypasta]

Our latest discussion builds on previous conversations, exploring the alleged corruption within the Linux Foundation and Linus Torvalds's potential awareness. We'll examine the intricate relationship between user space and the linux kernel developer, diving into how these components interact and influence the broader linux internals. This video aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the situation, explaining the nuances of these operating systems and the impact on open source software.

[/copypasta]

#LinusTorvalds #Linux #LinuxFoundation #OperatingSystem #Corruption #BigTech #GPL #FreeSoftware #FOSS #Tech #Desktop

"Given the current state of play, what we’re concerned about is how little we actually know about how these AI tools work and what their long-term impact will be to citizens, especially as governments have access to troves of sensitive personal data in order to further develop and fine tune the technology. How are government AI models storing and processing data about public servants, citizens and/or residents of a country, whether in experimental sandboxes or beyond?

There are merits to streamlining tedious administrative tasks, but there are still big questions that must be answered around data privacy, transparency and automated decision-making if the government is about to promote and embed wide-spread agentic AI use for civil services.

On the data privacy front, several questions arise:

- How will personal data, including sensitive data, be processed and used by the AI tools deployed? What data protection safeguards will be in place to prevent data leakage?
- When involving third-party vendours, what are the contractual safeguards governments and AI companies have around data processing arrangements?
- What are the data protection safeguards governing fine-tuning?

Data protection in the govAI context is especially important when we consider how highly sensitive, and sometimes secret, government data might be that could end up being processed by a black box algorithm - e.g., where an employee or colleague lives, any confidential documents that appear in meeting notes, etc."

https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5767/big-oil-big-algorithm-public-money-private-models

#AI #BigTech #GenerativeAI #Privacy #DataProtection #Algorithms #BlackBoxes

RE: https://mastodon.online/@parismarx/116535473179185669

#Muskism #BigTech #SiliconValleyRight #books @bookstodon

A little break from "#TheranasAI" court coverage...

You know that thing where you just want to read an article and instead spend 4 minutes clicking motorcycles for Google? Wrote about why that's not a bug, it's the whole point — and why it keeps getting worse.

reCAPTCHA: from digitizing books to mandatory phone verification. Same company. Very different ambitions.

https://blog.ppb1701.com/prove-youre-human-pay-with-your-data

#blog #cloudflare #google #privacy #recaptcha #surveillance #userhostile #bigtech

‚Auf der Suche nach Minderjährigen will Meta Nutzer*innen auf #Facebook und #Instagram umfassend durchleuchten. Der Konzern will sogar die Knochenstruktur von Menschen auf Fotos auswerten. Wie gefährlich ist das? ….‘

Analyse von @sebmeineck

https://netzpolitik.org/2026/du-siehst-aber-jung-aus-meta-will-uns-bis-auf-die-knochen-ueberwachen/

#Netzpolitik #Überachung #Meta #Instagram #Altersverifikation #Datenschutz #Privacy #Technology #BigTech

OpenAI violated Canadian privacy laws, federal and provincial watchdogs say
By Jesse Cole May 6, 2026

#Canada #bigtech #surveillance #privacy #AI #OpenAI #cdnpoli

https://betakit.com/federal-and-provincial-privacy-watchdogs-say-openai-violated-canadian-privacy-laws/

@sundogplanets
All those you've mentioned!!!

Maybe I've missed some, but these here are very worrying to me as well:

* Kessler Syndrome, cascading damage once a threshold has been triggered, endangering *everyting* in the adjacent orbit(s).
* Impact on the atmosphere and global warming due to aluminium ablation of de-orbiting satellites.

For Big Tech and tech bros, this is all a land grab right now, driven by FOMO and perceived 'street creds' (redeemable in Silicon Valley and with the Tangerine Tyrant).

#satellites #SpaceInsanity #pollution #enshittification #BigTech

So, you may want/need to adjust which browsers you're deeming as being a 'good' standard recommend for use:

* MS Edge browser is storing (all) passwords it manages in clear text in memory. A memory dump can be created very easily using on-board Windows (or other) tools to compromise them from user account level.
https://isc.sans.edu/diary/32954
* Google is to install a 4 GB in size local LLM silently on Chrome browsers (No consent dialogue. No opt-in. No opt-out. Reinstalls itself if the user removes it manually.)
https://www.thatprivacyguy.com/blog/chrome-silent-nano-install/

🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

#browsers #LLM #GenAI #enshittification #privacy #security #BigTech

The advocacy for privacy is kind of like a 'Silent Revolution' from the past decade till now.

More & more people are becoming aware of their #privacy rights & have concerns about #surveillance.

Even the #BigTech are compelled to add privacy features in their products. We have got great #FOSS apps.

But still, I think we have a very long way to go in this revolution.

#Tech #technology #OpenSource #Digital #software #FreeSoftware #SilentRevolution #opinion #thought #truth

@vowe It was never about #ageverification!

It was about government having become impotent to regulate big tech. It was about the #neoliberal #ideology having invaded every nook & cranny of our lives. Even children have to serve the interests of shareholders in #BigTech companies, who won’t be held accountable for making their products safe for children.

Instead we hand over what remains of our #privacy to generate even more money & power for shareholders, disguised as care.. 🤮

First we take USA, then we take Europe!
Autoritäre Tech-Milliardäre

‚Die Auslagerung von Kernaufgaben des Militärs und anderer sicherheitsrelevanter staatlicher Aufgaben an Privatunternehmen ist das Thema einer umfassenden Recherche, die Francesca Bria, José Bautista und xof-research.org unter dem Titel „The authoritarian stack“ (Der autoritäre Block) veröffentlicht haben. Europa stehe vor einer existenziellen Entscheidung, so die Autor*innen….‘

Vorstellung der Reportage The Authoritarian Stack! Via @npla_de
https://www.npla.de/thema/politik-gesellschaft/autoritaere-tech-milliardaere-first-we-take-usa-then-we-take-europe/

#Palantir #PeterThiel #USA #BigTech #Digitalisierung #Technology