Great #DSA report by @bitsoffreedom about how #Snapchat manipulates its users through notifications:
"From 109 notifications we categorized 39 as misleading." They contained "false information (e.g., “check out this post from someone you follow”—even though we weren't following anyone), resembled a personal message from other users, or were incorrectly labeled as being “time-sensitive”."
https://www.bitsoffreedom.nl/2025/12/05/how-snapchat-manipulates-its-users-through-notifications/
#DigitalRights #DarkPatterns #DigitalServicesAct #BigTech #InterfaceDesign
#Google #Chromebook has a good reputation for #security. They let any user install a #Debian container where you can then install anything from Debian, even add Flathub or directly install downloaded .deb packages. All of this without anything like the #AndroidDeveloperVerification requirements.
https://www.howtogeek.com/how-to-install-and-use-linux-apps-on-a-chromebook/
Oh yes, and then there is this! 😄
"Leading facial #AgeEstimation tools were easily fooled by a $22 "old man" mask, a Guy Fawkes mask, and other cheap party costumes, researchers have found."
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-02/social-media-ban-vpns-masks-age-checks-disguises/105836134
#AgeVerification #DigitalRights #privacy #Australia #SocialMediaBan
Just to be sure, I scanned all apps on @fdroidorg and found no apps that used the libs vulnerable to #ReactServer #CVE-2025-55182 aka #React2Shell.
I'm no #Javascript nor #React dev though, maybe it was silly to scan apps for server components? In any case, #FDroid's data collection is easy to scan via scripts, so better safe than sorry.
Elon Musk and X are once again proving why institutions should never rely on corporate-owned, centrally-controlled social media platforms to reach their people.
Looking for strict #HTTPS enforcement when using #Git in #Python code? I implemented it here: https://github.com/gitpython-developers/GitPython/issues/2020
It should be easy to port to other languages since it is mostly using git config options.
#AgeVerification is a hot topic right now. Societies around the world are asking for it because of real harms to children. Shady companies use it as a way to gather more data, or to distract from their exploitation of vulnerable people.
But it does not have to be that way.
We can have real age verification without sacrificing #privacy. For example, #Phreeli uses #ZeroKnowledge payment verification. This same technique can be used for age verification https://www.phreeli.com/blog/DoubleBlindArmadillo
@fj as much as I like to see social democratic values being defended, I must also point out that there is also a tone of nationalism in what she is saying, as in "we should keep what we have here in Europe". We should also never stop recognizing that the wealth of Europe was built on the backs of so much of the world. And we have a massive climate impact debt to the world.
Phreeli founder Nick Merrill “is somebody who is extremely principled and willing to take a stand for his principles,” EFF’s Cindy Cohn told @WIRED “He's careful and thoughtful, but also, at a certain level, kind of fearless.” https://www.wired.com/story/new-anonymous-phone-carrier-sign-up-with-nothing-but-a-zip-code/
@Tutanota It is true that some are trying to utilize age verification to gather more data, but it does not have to be that way. We can have our cake and eat it too. We can have real age verification on the internet and in apps without sacrificing privacy. That is the most important takeaway here. Phreeli is a new phone company that does zero knowledge payment verification. This same technique can be used for age verification as well!
"The Dutch government has quietly removed #Google #tracking tools from job listings for its intelligence services over concerns that the data would expose aspirant spies to U.S. #surveillance," according to POLITICO.
"The intervention would put an end to Google’s processing of the data of job seekers interested in applying to #spy service jobs, after members of parliament in The Hague raised security concerns." 💥
I made a minor v2.4.3 release of fdroidserver to support Python 3.14, which is rollling out some places already
https://pypi.org/project/fdroidserver/2.4.3/
@pinkie161 @EUCommission That kind of thing does not replace trains. It could make it economically feasible to run transit in places where trains would just be too expensive, e.g. rural areas.
@accrescent I don't think Google will just acquiesce and implement it that way. We need to keep the pressure on them to ensure it actually happens in a way where Free Software and app stores like ours can continue to function how we except them to.
5 visitors of my 6th Exhibition already use F-Droid. After all, 15 visitors have noticed that there is also F-Droid. And 100 visitors didn't know it at all.
(There have been 120 visitors so far)
25 days until the end of the #exhibition in #radebeul
@LaQuadrature I agree that media coverage of privacy-preserving tech is too often just replaying law enforcement PR points, and that its harmful to privacy. I wish the GrapheneOS project didn't have a long track record of wild accusations. If it is true that the French government is trying to mess with the project, I'd like to be able to support the GrapheneOS project. But it is really hard to know...
@EUCommission this is actually quite cool, I like that it looks super nice to ride in: comfy seating and big windows. We can make mass transit a better experience than driving cars. I already reguarly experience this taking the RailJet and CityJet through Austria.
15 years fly by like last week, when you're the package manager for #Android, but you feel the technical debt more and more.
What to do? Rip it out and start over? Improve bit by bit? RiiR?
Find out how #FDroid prepares for the next 15 here: https://f-droid.org/2025/11/24/an-experiment-in-automated-building-from-source-15-years-later.html
@nextgraph @NGICommons you can see the raw recording of live stream still. That's at https://www.youtube.com/live/meseh2tjhDE