Hans-Christoph Steiner @eighthave@librem.one

#Google desparately wants to limit the scope of the #DMA as much as possible, and wants the European Commission that #GooglePlayServices is not part of the operating system, even though users cannot uninstall it. Google is even working to change the definition of "uninstall" so that it means the same as what #Android currently calls "disabling". Even Google Play itself will entirely delete the app when users click "uninstall" except of course for the stuff where Google prevents uninstallation.

@SebastienK @1br0wn also consider that the #gatekeeper companies are trying to slow the process down as much as possible. If you think the #DigitalMarketsAct is slow, then you should look at anti-trust lawsuits. They often take a decade then don't really change anything. The #DMA is already looking like a big improvement in comparison.

@matthew_d_green "differential privacy" is not a privacy tool, in my opinion. It just slightly reduces how bad the privacy issues are, but they are still all there. The privacy must be provided in a different way, like via regulations like #GDPR or health data laws. "Differential privacy" definitely seems to be very valuable as a PR tool to respond to #SurveillanceCapitalism to hide what is really going on.

@daniel of course sandboxes improve #security. It is important to remember that sandboxes by definition are sets of restrictions. If a sandbox only restricts things you don't use, you win. Sandbox restrictions often break features that users want. Since I'm focused on #UserFreedom and #FreeSoftware, I want community control over which restrictions are in place. #Android does not provide that unless you have the skills to hack and make your own ROM, even then its hard. #Debian does provide that.

Want to see a visual example of why #beef and #dairy have such a big #climate impact? Massive amounts of water and resources go to growing cheap alfalfa, which is mostly cattle feed.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/05/us/arizona-water-foreign-owned-farms-climate/index.html

#ACM took another big step towards "transition[ing] to a fully Open Access publisher... under a financially sustainable model". #OpenAccess publishing is clearly the future of disseminating academic, scientific, and medical knowledge. Not so long ago, people were being jailed for opening up access while the publishers were not.

https://cacm.acm.org/news/cacm-is-now-open-access-2/

@olasd @interpipes I understand why DSA would make that choice, I'm not faulting them. My goal is to raise awareness of the advantages and disadvantages of each approach, and to increase user privacy. That requires transparency about what happens with the data and metadata, and commitments from any organizations running the mirrors.

@andydavies @neil I'm looking for actual privacy policies since those would be legally binding and the company could be help liable for violations. I've seen a lot of language like that, it promises little, since it has broad, vague exceptions like "except where explicitly stated in the Documentation and related to the functional performance of the services". Like, if some gov asks nicely for data, would handing it over be considered "functional performance of the services"?

@miyuru Does the AWS mirror have a clearer privacy policy somewhere? That front page is just as minimal as the Fastly one

@andydavies @neil that would be nice, do you have any documentation on that?

The #EuropeanCommission is having workshops to get feedback about making companies that have been designated #gatekeepers comply with the #DigitalMarketsAct. You can register to attend in person or online:

* #Alphabet / #Google https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/events-poolpage/alphabet-dma-compliance-workshop-2024-03-21

* #Apple https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/events-poolpage/apple-dma-compliance-workshop-2024-03-18

* all https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/events

We need more voices for #FreeSoftware and #Privacy present to counterbalance #BigTech and #SurveillanceCapitalism!

#Debian has been moving more towards the deb.debian.org mirror which is provided by a single CDN company, #Fastly. It works well, but also feeds an enormous amount of #metadata to a single company, and it can be used to track computers and maybe even people. And the privacy policy in effect is unclear. Fastly says the #privacy policy of the "subscriber" applies, but the privacy policy for deb.debian.org is not listed anywhere I could find. Anyone have any insight here?