Olives @olives@qoto.org
Software Engineer. Psy / Tech / Sex Science Enthusiast. Controversial?
Free Expression. Human rights / Civil Liberties. Anime. Liberal.
Joined May 2023
I wonder what has become of that frivolous lawsuit against Facebook's planned end-to-end encryption from Nevada's Attorney General.
Olives
boosted
🚨🚨 The UK government is trying to give itself more surveillance powers without regard for our right to privacy
The Investigatory Powers Amendment Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament, is the latest power grab.
Its most concerning proposals could allow the intelligence services to harvest millions of facial images and social media data.
I know this is a brazen assault on human rights, but because Papa ECHR hasn't told me off (yet?), I am going to insist on doing it. Screw you.
The British Government also has a problem where various parts of it don't seem to actually understand the law and you see them indulge in a censorial fantasy (which would be alarming, if true) x.x
They also conflate real content with fantasy content, rely on misleading misrepresentations of the effects on porn, and typically, people like this conflate animated violence with realistic violence, and mild "aggression" with what might more typically be viewed as "aggression". To put it simply, it is a mess, and extremely problematic.
As it turns out though, they're looking for submissions. #ukpol
If you're curious about the sorts of people who push for these sorts of things, one who appeared before parliamentarians is the U.K.-based Vice-President of an American bunch of Christian fundamentalists known as NCOSE (formerly known as Morality in Media)*, Haley McNamara.
These politicians also voice "concern" about something, then they push for broader censorship than that. For instance, this "baroness" appears to be looking to censor vast swathes of content. It is an extreme attack on free expression.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Center_on_Sexual_Exploitation
#ukpol
I suppose since the British government is at great risk of becoming puritanical fascists (if they're not already), as evidenced by the above meeting, I should repost my "porn isn't bad" science / knowledge pack* for #ukpol.
https://www.freespeechcoalition.com/blog/fsc-meets-with-baroness-conducting-review-of-uk-pornography-laws The Free Speech Coalition (no, not the one you are thinking of, the other one) meets puritanical anti-porn Tory appointee* who wants to censor porn in the #UK.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabrielle_Bertin%2C_Baroness_Bertin
https://web.archive.org/web/20240218013044/https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2024/S.289 #KOSA-like censorship bill introduced in Vermont. #AADC
I see a "I work at Facebook. Please pass a very specific regulation which we can more readily comply with, but which would regulate my smaller competitors to death." take.
Olives
boosted
When someone complains about porn one minute, complains about end-to-end encryption the next, and advocates censorship the next, that doesn't breed confidence in me that their argument that human rights concerns with undermining end-to-end encryption could be fixed with the so-called mythical government which never over-steps it's boundaries has much merit.
Olives
boosted
https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/22/24080135/avast-security-privacy-software-ftc-fine-data-harvesting Avast fined for selling customer info without their consent and lying about it.
https://sahanjournal.com/business-work/amazon-coffee-machine-camera-surveillance/ Amazon coffee machine under fire for secretly taking pictures of employees in breakroom.
https://reclaimthenet.org/eu-group-looks-for-ways-to-overcome-court-ban-on-weakening-encryption E.U. working group apparently looking for ways around ECHR ruling prohibiting undermining end-to-end encryption.
https://edri.org/our-work/press-release-brussels-rocked-by-major-spyware-scandal-urgent-call-for-ban/ EDRi pushes for ban on spyware after politicians were attacked by phone hacking malware.
https://reason.com/2024/02/22/proposition-e-would-make-it-easier-for-police-to-surveil-san-francisco/ San Francisco police to be able to operate any method of surveillance for a year before review. San Franciscans have a chance to vote against it.
https://reclaimthenet.org/biometric-entry-for-major-league-baseball-games-is-becoming-more-prevalent Major League Baseball is scanning your face.
https://reclaimthenet.org/maine-school-backtracks-on-using-fingerprints-to-track-students School drops plans to fingerprint students.
https://reason.com/2024/02/20/nyc-child-protection-agency-uses-coercive-tactics-to-bully-parents-into-allowing-warrantless-searches/ Child Protective Agency coercing parents into allowing them to search their homes without a warrant.
https://reclaimthenet.org/facial-recognition-technology-to-hit-new-zealand-grocery-stores New Zealand's Privacy Commissioner helps grocery store to invade citizens privacy with new face recognition program.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/02/eff-opposes-california-initiative-would-cause-mass-censorship It's a pretty bad idea, all things considered. #FirstAmendment
Olives
boosted
I take solace in the continued evidence that generative #AI models invariably produce obvious artifacts in their output. I think that may be just the nature of neural networks; they're probabilistic, and the chance that their output doesn't include something weird is very small.
Just take a look at every #sora video the AI-bros are freaking out about today, and you'll see each one has at least one obvious tell, if not multiple.
Olives
boosted
Slapping the #AI label on generative models is a move designed to make them seem mysterious and powerful, and thus attract media hype and venture capital. We can see this an intentional weaponization of that Arthur C Clarke quote about advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic.
Evil vending machine scandal making the rounds, lol. It is troublesome though that it has a camera hidden inside it, and that it's recording people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_... I see someone completely missed this poem.
"A malfunctioning vending machine at a Canadian university has inadvertently revealed that a number of them have been using facial recognition technology in secret.
Earlier this month, a snack dispenser at the University of Waterloo showed an error message – Invenda.Vending.FacialRecognition.App.exe – on the screen.
There was no prior indication that the machine was using the technology, nor that a camera was monitoring student movement and purchases. Users were not asked for permission for their faces to be scanned or analysed."
Software Engineer. Psy / Tech / Sex Science Enthusiast. Controversial?
Free Expression. Human rights / Civil Liberties. Anime. Liberal.
Joined May 2023
