#Data privacy

[osterby]

So there's a class action lawsuit against google for spying on users who had the "don't track me" toggle turned on.

If you are in the US, had google's tracking "paused", and used a mobile device with that account at any time since 2016, you count. That going to be nearly every American who has ever poked with the privacy settings.

Google sent my email about about this straight to the spam folder. I'm not going to say they did that on purpose, but no matter if it's malicious supression of information or a poorly tuned auto filter, it's, uh, lets say "funny".

So yeah, go check your spam folders, guys.

[blackmagecat]

Time to tell you all a horror story. My own personal nightmare I’ve been living with for almost 2 years now.

[TW for pregnancy/childbirth trauma, stillbirth and infant mortality]

The minute I started my baby registry on Amazon was the minute I signed my soul away to unending torture. I lost my daughter at 34 weeks of pregnancy due to little blood clots that formed in my placenta that apparently nobody had been able to detect (but that's a story for another time...) Anywho, the algorithms had already been in full swing by that point, recommending and advertising every baby product under the sun.

But here's the thing. Those ads don't go away just because your baby is dead. In fact, they stick around, and assume that your kid is still there, growing. These things are so targeted, they have been literally serving me ads based around the relative age of my assumed-to-be-living child.

Do you have any idea how fucked up it is to have to watch your non-existent child age and grow in daily, targeted ads? To watch actors pantomiming milestones you'll never get to experience? And for what? To sell me diapers I can't buy?

Worse still, I think the algorithms are finally catching on that something happened to my daughter. Lately I've been getting ads like this:

They don't know what happened exactly, but you'd best believe they're ready to sell me something once they figure it out! My husband has also been getting St. Jude's ads left and right also, where previously he had next to none. Now it's every third ad on each YouTube video he watches, and that's been going on for weeks.

I wish it were illegal. I wish there was something I could do beyond praying that the VPN or ad-blocker I'm using will shield me. I've reported ads as often as I could, but my reasons are rarely listed in the little dropdown menu. I always end up picking "Other."

I can only imagine how many others are out there going through the same. Is it too much to hope we can all get together and file a class action somewhere, somehow? It's one thing to come across a random billboard, or actual TV commercial. I'm responsible for my own reaction to that. But its another thing entirely to have companies stalking you and using your personal history and trauma as a persistent, blunt force tool to make you spend money.

Also I've said this before but advertising is an industry that should be considered as pointless and harmful as fossil fuels.

[internetxanarchy]

Christmas Data Strike 2024

Instagram is literally suppressing every video I made on reels about this so I’m turning to tumblr. On the 24th and 25th, we are striking on Meta services (Instagram, Facebook) as well as X/Twitter and Tiktok. Streaming services, google, and any amazon services should be boycotted as well if possible.

DO ✅

Engage with activities that are offline

Spend as little time online as possible

Tell your friends and family that you’re going dark and then put your phone in airplane mode!!

DO NOT ❌

Use any of these socials period. Do not give them your screen time

Use google to search for anything - use an alternative search engine

Buy anything online

Stream television or music - download your shows and watch offline if necessary

Why?

These corporations, especially during christmas, use our data to train their models for next year. They want to know what gifts we got and what we’re doing with them. By depriving these companies of our data, we are saying that we want to maintain the right to our data and privacy! Here’s a tiktok video that explains in more detail.

PLEASE reblog for more reach!!! Tumblr is the only platform I can think of that won’t suppress this strike.

[zuko-always-lies]

From instructions on how to opt out, look at the official staff post on the topic. It also gives more information on Tumblr's new policies. If you are opting out, remember to opt out each separate blog individually.

Please reblog this post, so it will get more votes!

[ahb-writes]

(from The Mitchells vs. the Machines, 2021)

[felixer-of-life]

USGov: hey hey! Don't... Don't look over here...look. ...look at China!! They're doing something sobbaaaad. Look at this picture of what they did! *Shows a picture of USGov doing the things* ah! I mean! Not that one!

“China does not like the United States and has engaged in espionage behavior against the United States.” The United States does not like the United States and has engaged in espionage behavior against the United States.

[incognitopolls]

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

[would-you-punt-them]

Websites that demand you give them extremely private information to "verify your age"

[opensuse-official]

I think it is very cool how tech companies, schools, employers, and universities make it actively difficult to distance yourself from Google, Microsoft, and Apple.

Yes most Linux distros are very stable, way more secure, privacy friendly, and way more customizable. But every institution is built to make technological independence as difficult as possible.

Yelling on the internet that everyone should switch to Linux and FOSS really ignores how much of the technological world is designed to not let that happen.

[canadiancryptid]

Hey so just saw this on Twitter and figured there are some people who would like to know @infinitytraincrew is apparently getting deleted tonight so if you wanna archive it do it now

[allthecanadianpolitics]

The Supreme Court of Canada made a key privacy ruling Friday that means police must now first have a warrant or court order to obtain the numbers making up a person or organization's IP address.

The top court was asked to consider whether an IP address alone, without any of the personal information attached to it, was protected by an expectation of privacy under the Charter.

In a five-four split decision, the court said a reasonable expectation of privacy is attached to the numbers making up a person's IP address, and just getting those numbers alone constitutes a search.

Full article

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[bookshop]

reminder not to do what i almost did just now and tell tumblr what your high school mascot is/was just because someone made a fun poll about it, because that's a SECURITY QUESTION ON A BUNCH OF YOUR PASSWORD-PROTECTED PLATFORMS

[whereserpentswalk]

[aeolianblues]

Fucking funniest thing is, the FBI seizes any links that lead to the genuine Z-Library, but without fail leave up all the scam ones that pretend to be fundraising for Z-Lib.

Anyway, if you have a Z-library login and use it on any z-lib link that ends .is, .io, .to babes you're being scammed! Check the security of the email address you've used and also if you're reusing that particular password anywhere, change it ASAP. If you have made a transaction, block it PRONTO!

Z-lib exists on the concept of free access to books, you have previously been and will always be allowed a limited download of 3 (or 5 or 10) downloads a day, depending on whether you have an account or have made donations.

See, Z-library has fundraised in the past, but they will never cut off your access for not donating. Do you know how much IP law-related trouble they'd be in if they were explicitly charging for access to books that the US legal system already views as 'stolen'?

There are a few ways of accessing them now, most are through torrenting (need help? Reddit or Telegram apparently), many of the regular browser web URLs have been seized.

When in doubt, do not click. Trust your instincts if you feel anything is off. If you're unsure about a z lib link, try a libgen mirror or something else instead.

Posting this here because I know a LOT of readers, students, broke folks that would like access to books, other folks with geographical barriers; basically a lot of folks who might potentially use something like Z-Library. So FYI and heads up, stay safe out there. Change that password! (And feel free to reblog this, again for aforementioned reasons)

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Christopher Wiggins at The Advocate:

A Houston-based surgeon stands accused of betraying the privacy of transgender kids who weren’t under his care by stealing their medical information and handing it over to a far-right extremist who vehemently opposes transgender rights. The federal indictment, unsealed on Monday, details Dr. Eithan Haim’s alleged unauthorized access and disclosure of sensitive patient information at Texas Children’s Hospital. Haim, 34, completed his residency at Baylor College of Medicine and reportedly reactivated his access to the hospital’s electronic records system in April 2023. He is accused of illicitly obtaining patient names, treatment codes, and attending physician details, which he then shared with conservative activist Christopher Rufo. Rufo, known for his hardline stance against transgender rights, used the information to publish an exposé claiming the hospital continued to provide gender-affirming care for minors despite a public announcement to halt such services.

The indictment alleges Haim accessed this sensitive information under false pretenses and with malicious intent, aiming to harm Texas Children’s Hospital. Haim’s actions followed a 2022 opinion from Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, labeling gender-affirming care for minors as a form of child abuse. Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, subsequently directed the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate parents seeking such care for their children. In response, Texas Children’s Hospital announced it would pause all gender-affirming services for minors to comply with these directives and protect its staff and patients from potential legal consequences.

Dr. Eithan Haim, who leaked the health records of trans kids to far-right anti-LGBTQ+ extremist Christopher Rufo, is facing charges of violation patient privacy.

[jeremyfuscaldo]

Hey everyone,

Today is the last day to possibly opt out of Meta (Facebook/Instagram)'s AI program and there is a way to opt out if you are trying to protect your data privacy.

Please do what you can to save your art and data before it's too late. Edit/Update: It may not be applicable to the US because people living in Europe have the direct ability to opt out-- but US citizens can still submit the form for consideration.