Olives @olives@qoto.org
Software Engineer. Psy / Tech / Sex Science Enthusiast. Controversial?
Free Expression. Human rights / Civil Liberties. Anime. Liberal.
Joined May 2023
https://reclaimthenet.org/maine-school-backtracks-on-using-fingerprints-to-track-students
"Following our recent reporting, and in the face of mounting criticism from parents and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, a plan to utilize biometric technology for student attendance tracking by Caribou High School has now been dropped.
The shelved project involved the deployment of identiMetrics, a fingerprint detection software produced by a Pennsylvania-based company. The software was aimed at bolstering student record accuracy and circumventing issues tied to missing student ID cards."
https://reclaimthenet.org/biometric-entry-for-major-league-baseball-games-is-becoming-more-prevalent
"The Major League Baseball (MLB) biometric system known as Go-Ahead Entry will this season be used at stadiums, including by “early adopter” Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
The use of biometric facial recognition surveillance tools at sporting venues around the world started some years ago, and got sped up – or exacerbated, as opponents of the trend might say, with the pandemic.
Incidentally, a key reason organizations like MLB and other leagues give for using such systems is to “speed up entry into stadiums.” This means that instead of a ticket, fans will be showing their faces to the cameras and feeding their biometric data into the system."
Olives
boosted
Hatsune Miku JAPAN TOUR 2023 THUNDERBOLT Ver. 1/7 Scale Figure - Preorder Available!
🛑https://meccha-japan.com/en/figures/129196-figure-thunderbolt-ver-hatsune-miku-japan-tour-2023.html
#Vocaloid #HatsuneMiku #Miku
Olives
boosted
You know, this stuff still applies.
Ugh... There's more puritanical nonsense, so it looks like I have to debunk that again... First off, even if online porn "might" be "problematic" t...
Olives
boosted
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/09/meta-political-content-moderation-threads From the looks of it, you can still opt into political recommendations, it's just not the default.
They're probably trying to avoid people getting mad at them.
I don't think there is any defending what Russia does.
Olives
boosted
"“New bill text, same problems,” Adam Kovacevich, the head of tech trade group Chamber of Progress, said in a statement. “This bill still gives right-wing AGs extraordinary power to police online speech. And the bill still forces platforms to over-moderate and censor marginalized communities by creating sweeping liability. As federal courts have repeatedly held, the features of a platform are inextricably linked with its speech, and KOSA’s censorship of that speech runs headlong into the constitution.”"
Already seeing criticism of the "new" KOSA draft.
Olives
boosted
"However, by not clarifying that the Duty of Care only applies in a content neutral manner, as we have asked, it still invites the harms that we’ve warned about.
As we have said for months, the fundamental problem with KOSA is that its duty of care covers content specific aspects of content recommendation systems, and the new changes fail to address that. In fact, personalized recommendation systems are explicitly listed under the definition of a design feature covered by the duty of care. This means that a future Federal Trade Commission (FTC) could still use KOSA to pressure platforms into automated filtering of important but controversial topics like LGBTQ issues and abortion, by claiming that algorithmically recommending that content “causes” mental health outcomes that are covered by the duty of care like anxiety and depression."
"It’s important to remember that algorithmic recommendation includes, for example, showing a user a post from a friend that they follow, since most platforms do not show all users all posts, but curate them in some way."
Olives
boosted
https://reason.com/2024/02/15/big-brother-in-the-drivers-seat/ Big Motor Is Watching You.
Some motorists are even modifying their cars to evade the all-seeing eye of Big Motor. #privacy
Apparently, not asking for access to the contact list fixed that particular case.
Google has just removed #Conversations_im from the Play Store because they think we are uploading the user’s contact list. We don’t.
Olives
boosted
Pokémon Buru Buru Mugyu! Pichu & Pikachu Plush - Still Available!
🛑https://meccha-japan.com/en/plush/125258-plush-pichu--pikachu-pokemon-buru-buru-mugyu.html
#Pokemon #Pichu #Pikachu
Olives
boosted
SPY×FAMILY Anya Forger Nendoroid - Available Now!
🛑https://meccha-japan.com/en/chibi-style/75279-nendoroid-anya-forger-spyofamily.html
#SpyxFamily #AnyaForger #Anya
Olives
boosted
Amnesia Kent Nendoroid - Preorder Available!
🛑https://meccha-japan.com/en/chibi-style/128356-nendoroid-kent-amnesia.html
#Amnesia #Kent
It appears Maryland and Vermont are having legislative hearings on an #AADC (a censorious and unconstitutional bill which tackles vague "harms" to minors).
It looks like a KOSA-like law, an "AADC" is before Maryland's legislature, so that might be of interest to you.
Perks of a privacy law with some standard of data minimization:
1) It doesn't violate the U.S. Constitution ✅
2) It helps avoid embarrassing security breaches, or if there is one, less information will be revealed ✅
3) The data can't be used by some wacko state to enforce an unjust law, or other form of persecution ✅
4) Less data to be used for marketing purposes ✅
5) It helps protect someone's privacy more generally ✅
Olives
boosted
Don't be fooled by new KOSA's stuff about design features - it's still a proxy for content restrictions: "For example, if an online service presented an endless scroll of math problems for children to complete, or rewarded children with virtual stickers and other prizes for reading digital children’s books, would lawmakers consider those design features harmful?" https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/02/dont-fall-latest-changes-dangerous-kids-online-safety-act
Kind of funny to see people comparing Bluesky to Linkedin.
So, this was my initial assessment of Bluesky. It was pretty prescient.
Two things to add though:
1) QAnon like policy has been confirmed.
2) Evidence shows that Bluesky is actually quite puritanical. This part was based primarily on second hand accounts.
I took a closer look at Bluesky. The good, the bad, the ugly. I'll get the good out of the way first, because the rest is not going to be so pleasa...
Google removing XMPP apps from their Play store for apparently nonsensical reasons. #antitrust
Google have been quietly de-listing #XMPP apps from their Play store one-by-one for made-up reasons. Today they finally came for Conversations (htt...
Software Engineer. Psy / Tech / Sex Science Enthusiast. Controversial?
Free Expression. Human rights / Civil Liberties. Anime. Liberal.
Joined May 2023
