Guardian Project @guardianproject@librem.one

Reminder: Tech jobs with real impact are rare. At the Sovereign Tech Agency, we work to strengthen digital infrastructure – fostering security, innovation, and resilience to provide a stable foundation for participation and democracy.

You can still apply for our open positions! 📩

https://mastodon.social/@sovtechfund/113792992197932834

Citizens can only trust the 🇪🇺 digital ID if it’s transparent & gives them control over their data. The @EUCommission must protect users from illegal access to their sensitive information & fix loopholes in the upcoming #eID now! ☔
#eIDAS
https://epicenter.works/en/content/civil-society-demands-eu-commission-must-close-e-id-loopholes

🇪🇺 EU Commission's Microsoft 365 reliance raises privacy alarms!

Internal documents reveal the EU Commission's data privacy concerns over dependency on Microsoft.

Should the EU embrace #opensource to prioritize data sovereignty?

#EUDataProtection #DigitalPrivacy

https://www.euractiv.com/section/tech/news/internal-documents-reveal-commission-fears-over-microsoft-dependency/

Remember that #Facebook's new name #Meta doesn't really refer to the doomed-from-the-start #Metaverse whim, but its much more important reliance on #metadata as the core business model.

#Instagram, #WhatsApp, and the other "products" are primarily metadata collectors. Who communicates with whom, when, how often, how much, through which types of data; which groups are they members of, how do they interact with them; which posts/articles/products do they read, like, or buy? This metadata is sufficiently detailed that the actual content of "what" somebody sent is no longer important - and therefore it doesn't hurt the business model to provide end-to-end encryption in WhatsApp and (more hesitantly) Facebook Messenger. Or, as Gen. Michael Hayden (ex-NSA) infamously once admitted "We kill people based on metadata" (https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/05/ex-nsa-chief-we-kill-people-based-on-metadata). And #Meta's metadata collection is much more detailed than the mere phone call/message and email and IP packet records the NSA/CIA/etc. use(d).

That metadata is the basis for targeted advertisement and manipulation of individual and public opinion. That's where the money and the power is, not some silly 3D avatars. So the company name #Meta is, actually, interestingly descriptive and honest about the exploitative business model.

Protect yourselves. Use @torproject, @signalapp, @Mastodon, @pixelfed, and other federated services instead of feeding more into the metadata collection.

I wrote a blog post about using TLS ECH from Python https://guardianproject.info/2025/01/10/using-tls-ech-from-python/

We're starting a sprint to look at all the issues preventing #ReproducibleBuilds in all the apps we ship. Most of the issues are simple fixes in the upstream code, like unsorted outputs or timestamps included in the build.
You can help make the #FreeSoftware #Android ecosystem be more reproducible! See the failures here and help us report them upstream: https://verification.f-droid.org/failed.html

Smartphone Runs Home Server

It’s one of the great tragedies of our technological era. Smartphones that feature an incredible amount of computational power compared to computers the past, are largely locked down by carriers …read more
#hacking #projects
https://hackaday.com/2024/12/09/smartphone-runs-home-server/

🇬🇧Orban insists: First public vote on #ChatControl scheduled for Thursday! https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/meetings/jha/2024/12/12/ +++ Silence no more: Which countries will support destroying the privacy of correspondence and secure #encryption? +++ Criticism from Austria and Slovenia: https://www.parlament.gv.at/dokument/XXVIII/EU/5949/imfname_11437653.pdf

We wrote a blog post about trust and how to have a verified installation of our client.

One such source for the client could be our CLI tool, that recently got the ability to download the F-Droid.apk.

Read more at
https://f-droid.org/2024/12/11/verified-first-time-installs.html

🎉 PSA: F-Droid users! 🎉 The Tuta Calendar app is now available on F-Droid 🥳

❤️ You can get the Tuta Calendar app here: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.tutao.calendar/

#Fdroid #Tutacalendar #Tuta #Download #Encryption

We were busy last week!

In short:
- Our DNS entries were finally transferred to us as a legal entity: https://f-droid.org/2024/09/30/dns-security-and-bus-factor-improvements.html
- This week in #FDroid (TWIF) was published again with news about the next F-Droid client update with fixes for TetheredNet and many app news: https://f-droid.org/2024/10/03/twif.html
- And the website is now available in Czech: https://f-droid.org/cs/2024/10/04/czech-language.html

All the details are in the linked blog posts, so please feel free to read them ;)

@thisven We are exploring funding for litigation and lawyers, that is looking promising. Meetings like this require technical people to spend quality time reviewing documents and joining meetings. #FSFE @edri and other orgs like that do have lawyers and policy people, and are doing a good job engaging on these issues, especially given limited resources. If you're ready to donate now to support this specific work, I recommend giving money to FSFE and EDRi.

On my own time, I have to read a ~50 page document produced for the #EuropeanCommission in order to effectively participate in a two hour meeting where #FDroid is pitted against #BigTech on the #DigitalMarketsAct and its requirements around installing and allowing other #AppStore options.
Its all NDA'ed so I can't ask for help.
This game is really rigged for the megacorps. Wish me luck! Here's to fighting the good fight!

Looking to make a big impact? We are searching for a Grant Administrator to help us scale our operations. We are looking to fill the position in September 2024. Check out the job ad here: https://guardianproject.info/2024/08/05/seeking-part-time-grant-administrator/

#remotejob #freelancer

"#FreeSoftware compete with big tech (gatekeepers) not in scale but in principle by providing to end-users curated solutions that respect their rights. #DMA is important for non-profit as well"
@fsfe at the Digital Markets Conference

#SoftwareFreedom

We have a new blog post about the Mobifree project and our role in it.

In short, it's a human-centered, ethical alternative, that champions privacy over profit and believes in collaboration, sustainability and inclusiveness.

https://f-droid.org/2024/05/24/mobifree.html

#FDroid #mobifree

Friendly reminder if you're an open source developer in the mobile ecosystem:

You still have time until 1st of June to apply for a #mobifree grant.

https://nlnet.nl/mobifree/