Security scandal around #WhatsApp shows the need for decentralised #FreeSoftware messengers, #OpenStandards in communication, and digital sovereignty
https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200228-01.html #publiccode #FreeYourAndroid
#MachineLearning is proving to be quite #exploit-able, humans need to stay in charge, with #AI only as an assistant:
"Hackers stuck a 2-inch strip of tape on a 35-mph speed sign and successfully tricked 2 Teslas into accelerating to 85 mph"
https://www.businessinsider.nl/hackers-trick-tesla-accelerating-85mph-using-tape-2020-2?international=true&r=US
"The command line options we deserve" https://daniel.haxx.se/blog/2020/02/20/the-command-line-options-we-deserve/ - Why curl has so many options, why we can't change them and there will be more in the future. Should we add a (G)UI?
After more than ten years working to remove #tracking in software, I now see that tracking usage without tracking people is possible. Tracking is essential to #AddictiveDesign, so #DataDriven #SoftwareDevelopment is still full of moral hazards
One murky area of #FreeSoftware is what the #mirrors do with the all the #metadata they inevitably collect. Big mirrors like https://mirrors.kernel.org/ have no apparent public #privacy #policy. Purdue PLUG https://plug-mirror.rcac.purdue.edu/info.html and FAU https://ftp.fau.de/datenschutz post theirs
#Privacy policies need not be dense legalese meant to confuse and obscure, @EFF's #DoNotTrack #Policy provides a well crafted, privacy promise for like minded organizations to adopt https://www.eff.org/dnt-policy
The CIA literally owned Crypto AG from 1970 on, pushing out weakened crypto systems and allowing them to read messages sent around the world.
"There was a popular idea that spying on your spouse was fair game...making it detectable was not a priority." Learn more about the fight against stalkerware from @evacide's keynote at @AppSecCali: https://twitter.com/AppSecCali/status/1224392355312103424
free access to medical information is a moral imperative, #coronavirus is making this clear. #openaccess publishing should be a requirement for medical research https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z3b3v5/archivists-are-bypassing-paywalls-to-share-studies-about-coronaviruses
The construction industry is a large contributor to #ClimateChange, destroying livable buildings makes it even worse.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2020/jan/13/the-case-for-never-demolishing-another-building
Without a moratorium or a ban, law enforcement agencies will continue to exploit technologies like Clearview’s and hide their use from the public. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/01/clearview-ai-yet-another-example-why-we-need-ban-law-enforcement-use-face
Hey #fosdem, the #FSFE is hiring: We are looking for interns and trainees experienced in legal, policy or technical fields to join our team in our Berlin office.
https://fsfe.org/news/2020/news-20200129-01
If you are interested, get in touch at our booth.
@Karlitschek explains at #FOSDEM why GPL is actually great for business (like it is for @nextcloud ), and why open source should not become closed/proprietary just to fight back against cloud competitors like Amazon, Google & Microsoft. #NextGenerationInternet
The latest iOS & Android updates make the option to opt-out of location tracking very pronounced, & users are acting on it.
"Since the launch of iOS 13 last fall, the amount of background location data that marketers collect has dropped by 68%." https://www.fastcompany.com/90454921/apple-and-googles-tough-new-location-privacy-controls-are-working
Original tweet : https://twitter.com/DuckDuckGo/status/1223981147937562624
Here is some good #privacy news: the Eu Advocate General has concluded national mass retention laws in the EU are illegal. Countries can not demand that internet providers just keep massive amounts of personal data because it might be useful some day.
https://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/3334/advocate-generals-opinion-national-security-mass-retention-regimes-are
It has gotten ridiculous how much lighting humans live with now. I just donated to support #LightPollution research, like this awesome interactive map: https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=4&lat=5759860&lon=1619364&layers=B0FFFFFTFFFFFFFF
I installed T-UI (Terminal based launcher - https://f-droid.org/app/ohi.andre.consolelauncher ) today and it instantly eliminated all check emails, check mastodon, check all messenger, check emails again habits.
I guess it's more because of the unfamiliarity of the interface than any inherent benefit to it. Let's see how this will go. Maybe I'll just have to keep changing my phone UX radically every few months.
Chelsea Manning has been incarcerated for more than 9 months. She is being held in jail and fined $1,000 per day for up to 18 months or until she agrees to cooperate with the Grand Jury. #ReleaseChelsea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz_zBfjP2PE
As President Trump prepares to sign the USMCA, remember that when copyright creeps into trade agreements, it's almost always bad news. #CopyrightWeek https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/01/dont-write-copyright-law-secret