#Persona leak continued
Integration with Government Systems: The platform is capable of filing Suspicious Activity Reports (#SARs) directly to #FinCEN (U.S. Treasury) and #FINTRAC (Canada), and integrates with blockchain analytics tools like #Chainalysis to monitor cryptocurrency addresses.
Suspicious Checks: Some checks, like "SelfieSuspiciousEntityDetection" and "SelfiePoseRepeatedDetection", lack clear definitions of what constitutes a "suspicious" face or repeated pose, raising concerns about bias and opacity.
This is a big deal. I’ve been telling y’all that age verification was just a way to gather intelligence.
@xgranade
Here's an excellent article by @tante criticising that broader rhetorical point: https://tante.cc/2026/02/20/acting-ethical-in-an-imperfect-world/
It's really long, but totally worth the time IMO.
Somewhat tangentially, the backlash on the fedi along the lines of "Cory considered bad now" prompted tante to write a followup article which really gets one thinking: https://tante.cc/2026/02/20/on-alliances/
I recommend reading both.
oh good, the “you’re just doing purity culture” thing is already taking hold over on bluesky
so the line is now supposed to be that local LLMs are good and moral and SaaS LLMs are bad, when local LLMs come from the same fucked system that’s also actively making it impossible to buy computing hardware powerful enough to run even a shitty local LLM? is that about right? I’m supposed to clap cause someone with money is running a plagiarism machine but slower and shittier on their desktop?
i knew the archive. today guy was weird but i didn't realise he was a frothing nutter https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/02/wikipedia-bans-archive-today-after-site-executed-ddos-and-altered-web-captures/
annoying it's so often the only practical option
Anyone who is about to complete, or already has completed, an age-verification or identity-verification process online should read this short article.
Especially if it's on LinkedIn or Discord.
"I Verified My LinkedIn Identity. Here's What I Actually Handed Over." by @thelocalstack
https://thelocalstack.eu/posts/linkedin-identity-verification-privacy/
And added to the directory (https://the-counterforce.org/directory), The Crowbar Hotel, a new blog/site for tape reviews. Send them your tapes! Subscribe to their RSS feed!
As always if you know about punk websites (blogs, archives, online zines, etc) that we are missing in our directory, please send them in!
Added to the zines page:
Assume I Know Nothing, a little roundup of essential classic hardcore records from different contributors. I assume this is an intervention in the current spotification of Hardcore and new kids not knowing the classics...
https://the-counterforce.org/zines/other/
Don't like the recommendations in this zine? Make your own and send us the printable PDF and we'll put that up too! Or any other suitable zines you make or are involved with and you want to be printed and spread far and wide.
As Talking Points Memo's Josh Marshall makes clear, the Roberts Court's tariff ruling may be the right one, but it doesn't even begin to remove the court's stink of corruption.
When your password leaks:
→ Change your password
→ Problem solved
When your biometric data leaks:
→ You can't change your face
→ You can't change your fingerprints
→ The compromise is permanent
→ Your biometric data is in breach databases forever
This is why facial recognition for age verification is dangerous.
""If a woman is not married by her thirties, she's got something on her mind. Single women are a danger to society," she told me."
— Baqytgul Sarmekova, Mirgul Kali: To Hell with Poets, p. 39
BREAKING: Judge who allowed FBI to search Washington Post reporter’s home rips into Justice Department for not informing him of the law that explicitly bars raids of reporters
https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/20/politics/judge-rips-washington-post-fbi-reporter-warrant
Did you know that leakers helped exonerate Rümeysa Öztürk?
Watch FPF's Trevor Timm to find out about that story and more in this week’s Press Freedom in 90 Seconds, and subscribe: https://freedom.press/newsletters/
🏙️ We are supporting the creation of the Democratic Tech Fund! 🪙
Yesterday, we gathered at the @internetarchiveeurope to shape a new consortium made to distribute funding for value-aligned projects 🌱
The next key moment will be a general assembly at #DWebCamp!
Is free software only available for rich countries? #Techrights
https://techrights.org/n/2026/02/20/GNU_Linux_Adoption_is_Higher_in_Richer_Countries.shtml
Very tongue-in-cheek question, but it shows a gap that needs addressed. Are projects like One Laptop Per Child locking people into non-free solutions? (Not saying intentionally)
The Windows monopoly trapped a lot of people ignorant of alternatives in all countries.
#ShlaerMellor, #FunctionPointAnalysis, #punk, #environmentalist, #unionAdvocate, #anarchosocialist
"with a big old lie and a flag and a pie and a mom and a bible most folks are just liable to buy any line, any place, any time" - Frank Zappa