Reading list
Shortform reading
This is an incomplete list of the shortform reading (and listening and watching) I’ve been doing lately.
Trump administration concedes DOGE team may have misused Social Security data
Some DOGE personnel had more access to data than previously acknowledged, according to a court filing.
AI therapy is a surveillance machine in a police state
Big Tech wants you to share your private thoughts with chatbots — while backing a government with contempt for privacy.
#artificial-intelligence · #big-tech · #mental-health · #privacy · #surveillance
My impossible search for the best, most powerful, most private journaling app ever
I started out looking for a way to keep a digital journal. I ended up trying to figure out what it means to have a space of my own online — and whether an app can be both good and responsible.
EFF Sues DOGE and the Office of Personnel Management to Halt Ransacking of Federal Data
EFF and a coalition of privacy defenders have filed a lawsuit today asking a federal court to block Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing the private information of millions of Americans that is stored by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and to delete any data that has been collected or removed from databases thus far.
#elon-musk · #law · #privacy · #us-politics
Abolishing Section 230 Would Abolish Wikipedia (Podcast)
Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee had a hearing all about Section 230, in which they didn’t even attempt to find a witness pointing out its benefits. Among the many organizations that could have provided that vital perspective is the Wikimedia Foundation (as seen in three excellent posts on Medium), and this week we’re joined by Rebecca MacKinnon, Wikimedia’s VP of Global Advocacy and long-time open internet defender, to talk about why the hearing was bad and Section 230 is very, very important.
#law · #open-web · #privacy · #section-230 · #web
Automattic Is Doing Some Weird Stuff With Users' Public Data
What is implied in Automattic’s disclosure is how it is preparing to switch Tumblr and WordPress blogs from the current opt-in model to an opt-out one. Both platforms have been popular among artists and I am not sure they would expect their contributions to become fodder for machines.
#artificial-intelligence · #automattic · #consent · #privacy
The Tech Industry Doesn't Understand Consent
The default state of any decision regarding user data should be opted out. Users should instead be required to opt in for your decision to take effect, and they must not be coerced into doing so.
Granular Private Data Is the Foundation of Targeted Advertising, Obviously
What people with Big Business Brains often like to argue about the unethical but wildly successful ad tech industry is that it is not as bad as it looks because your individual data does not have any real use or value. Ad tech vendors would not bother retaining such granular details because it is beneficial, they say, only in a more aggregated and generalized form. The problem with this argument is that it keeps getting blown up by their demonstrable behaviour.