Olives @olives@qoto.org

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.

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.

#privacy

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.

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.

https://reason.com/2024/02/20/the-biden-administration-is-bent-on-setting-an-alarming-precedent-by-prosecuting-julian-assange/

"WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been imprisoned in London for nearly five years, pending extradition to the United States so he can be prosecuted for violating the Espionage Act by publishing classified information. Since that amount of time behind bars is about the same as the four-to-six-year prison term that Justice Department lawyers have said Assange would be likely to serve if convicted, you might think the Biden administration would be ready to reconsider this case, especially since it poses an alarming threat to freedom of the press. Instead, the U.S. government's lawyers are back in London for yet another hearing, which Assange's attorneys describe as a last-ditch attempt to block his extradition."

#FirstAmendment

https://www.commondreams.org/news/australian-mps-free-assange Oh, it looks like they did end up opposing the extradition. Cool.

If you're not aware, this instance went down for maintenance for a while, so if it seemed quiet, that is why.

https://www.wired.com/story/blueskys-future-is-social-medias-past/ "Bluesky is boring and uninteresting" is not an inaccurate take.