#privacy and safety

[deputy-buck]

This post is very important and led me to look further into this.

Upon following the instructions above, I noticed that when I unchecked the "Allow contacts to add me" box, exited that screen, and went back to that screen, it automatically re-checked itself.

That's fine!

That box means nothing as long as you follow the instructions below.

(1. Go to your profile located at the bottom-right corner of your screen.

.

(2. Tap on the gear/settings icon at the top-right of your screen.

.

(3. Tap "Privacy & Safety"

.

(4. Scroll down til you see "Find Your Friends" and make sure "Sync Contacts" is toggled off.

(5. Just below "Sync Contacts" is "Discovery Permissions". You Want to make sure both "Phone" and "Email" are also toggled off.

You should be all set! Stay safe out there, y'all!

warning for discord users

If you're on the app, immediately go to your dms and then "add friends". After the latest update they allow your contacts to find you and have that option turned on by default, so make sure it's unchecked!

This is very obviously not great for a multitude of reasons, but especially for people in vulnerable positions who do not want people in their contacts to see who they are on discord and/or know they have discord in the first place. I've also tried finding out if this is a thing on desktop but haven't been able to find any mention of it, so either it's not a "feature" (yet) or they've hidden it. Either way, stay safe, and turn off finding friends via contacts!

[ID: three screenshots from the discord app with circles around the buttons to press to get to this "feature". 1: the messages/DM button, 2: the "add friends button", 3: in the add friends page, the "allow contacts to add me" checkbox. /END ID]

[apricior]

i remember when i was a child internet safety was like "if you even hint at the country you live in, you're gonna get kidnapped and murdered", and nowadays it is encouraged or even necessary to give corporations every single personal detail if you want to use anything because if they can't sell your information they cry so hard they throw up

[embodiedfutures]

UPDATE! REBLOG THIS VERSION!

[headlinehorizon]

Gyms in the UK Crack Down on Filming Exercise Routines

Discover the latest news on UK gyms implementing a policy against filming exercise routines. Learn about the reasons behind this decision and the concerns it addresses.

[ahb-writes]

(from The Mitchells vs. the Machines, 2021)

[titleknown]

So, Dove soap and Lizzo are endorsing KOSA, in the name of "social media is bad for teens' self-esteem" (even though that's bullshit) and I am mad.

If you don't know, long story short KOSA is a bill that's ostensibly one of those "Protect the Children" bills, but what it's actually going to do is more or less require you to scan your fucking face every time you want to go on a website; or give away similarly privacy-violating information like your drivers' license or credit card info.

Either that or force them to censor anything that could even remotely be considered not "kid friendly." Not to mention fundies are openly saying they're gonna use this to hurt trans kids. Which is, uh, real fucking bad.

Given that in terms of their actual products they don't have a direct stake in it, it might be possible to get Dove to rescind this (can't find contact info for Lizzo sadly), if you want to contact Dove about this, here's their contact page.

And, as per usual, I urge you to contact your congresscritters, especially given that as of now (Thursday, 4/13/2023) they plan to re-introduce the bill this Monday, and we're going to need a flood of people saying this is awful to kill it.

[whydidisavethistomyphone]

Full article

Comic by AndrewWD on bluesky

[ready-resist-rebuild]

U.S. RESIDENTS PLEASE READ

For those living in the United States who are unhappy with the state of the country and who wish to protect themselves, protect others, or those who wish to fight back, this message is for you. Below you will find a link to a Proton Drive containing a folder called Tipr Complete. In it are valuable resources regarding health, safety, rights, building national resilience, and more.

Each file is sorted into sub-folders, and a full list of source links for each document is provided in a text file to make it easier to access the information online if you wish. There is also a text file to assist with getting started as well as an index to help you navigate. This is a work in progress, so you can expect updates in the future.

As there is increasing concern over potential censorship, it is recommended to download these resources, either from the Proton Drive directly or by going to the original sources. This will help ensure the information is still accessible in the future. Please consider sharing this information and this post as much as you can so that it may reach those who need it most.

Thank you, and good luck.

[daisiesonafield-blog]

Meta is tracking your personal life! Yes, private texts, banking, health information and more!

Here’s how to turn it off:

On IG click the 3 lines at the top right of your profile

Click on ‘Accounts Center’

Under ‘Account Settings’, click on ‘Your information and permissions’

Click on ‘Your activity off Meta technologies’

Click ‘Manage Future Activity’

Select ‘Disconnect future activity’ and press ‘continue’, then select ‘Disconnect future activity’

Here are more tips:

[sortanonymous]

[botgal]

A heads up to anyone who is still looking out for KOSA news.

Supposedly there's going to be a push from KOSA supporters to go to DC and try to convince House leadership to push it through before the end of the Lame Duck period. This being after Donald Trump Jr and Elon Musk have voiced their support for it in the past couple days.

To be clear, there's no votes set to happen anytime soon or anything, and all news out of the GOP from sources like Evan Greer and Fight For The Future indicate that there's little to no chance Speaker Johnson or anyone intends to push it forward before the end of this year.

But even so, if you will have the time and energy to call and write to your House and Senate reps, especially House leadership like Johnson, to let them know that there's still a great amount of resistance to it, your efforts would be much appreciated. And this amount of vocal resistance could also help us try and push back against it being stuck onto any last minute must-pass financial legislature even if it won't pass under its own power.

Thank you in advance for your time and efforts! Only two weeks to go until the end of the legislative session. Let's work hard until the end and then hope that we can put it to rest for this year so we can build up our energy to work full force for all that's important to us next year!

[our-trans-punk-experience]

do you have any knowledge of secure online communication that cannot be tracked or is at least difficult to track? my friend and i want to organize but we want to stay safe.

Secure vpn

Variety of different names (do not use ur govt name online at all)

Share an online document such as libreoffice

Move away from Google and chrome (Firefox & duckduckgo)

If anyone has better suggestions, pls drop in. I also think I reblogged a good post abt this, I will go looking

[hederskrans]

okay now that the committee hearing about KOSA is started, i need all of you to do something.

i need all of you to call them like you're being put on voicemail and your grandma's dying.

you will make sure these fuckers phones buzz so much they fall off the table. they will get ANNOYED with you. MAKE SURE IT HAPPENS.

the number is 813-492-2379, and you will just give them a piece of your mind. make the ringtone your favorite song to make you feel better. if it makes you feel cooler, imagine you're going off to battle or something.

while calling, you can use a script, or simply say that you are calling about KOSA and the earn it act and restrict act, and say YOU DO NOT SUPPORT THEM!

for more info go to:

stopkosa.com

badinternetbills.com

MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE TO FUCKING THINK ON IT!

[charliejaneanders]

But it gets even worse. The easiest and cheapest way to make sure a personal recommendation system doesn’t return “harmful” content is to simply exclude any content that resembles the “harmful” content. This means adding an additional content moderation layer that deranks or delists content that has certain keywords or tags, what is called “shadowbanning” in popular online culture.

Great breakdown of what will happen if the odious KOSA bill passes

[gen-z-superheroes]

"Stopncii.org is a free tool designed to support victims of Non-Consensual Intimate Image (NCII) abuse."

"Revenge Porn Helpline is a UK service supporting adults (aged 18+) who are experiencing intimate image abuse, also known as, revenge porn."

"Take It Down (ncmec.org) is for people who have images or videos of themselves nude, partially nude, or in sexually explicit situations taken when they were under the age of 18 that they believe have been or will be shared online."