For absolutely no reason at all, here’s a nice recent guide to setting up an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) server.
Hi, I’m Phil Nelson, a writer, developer, and audio-visual maker of stuff. I have been making stuff online for over 25 years. I run RetroStrange and Set Side B. Good to see you.
Blog Archives
Tag: privacy
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Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month
This is just all kinds of fucking stupid. Unless you give Discord, a company which leaked 70,000(!) peoples full government IDs less than 6 months ago, now wants everyone’s ID. Don’t do it. Take your community somewhere, almost anywhere, else.
Here’s a good look at some of the top alternatives, ranked by Functionality, Openness, Security, Safety, & Decentralization.
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Amazon Ring Cashes in on Techno-Authoritarianism and Mass Surveillance
Matthew Guariglia for the EFF DeepLinks blog:
Ring is rolling back many of the reforms it’s made in the last few years by easing police access to footage from millions of homes in the United States. This is a grave threat to civil liberties in the United States. After all, police have used Ring footage to spy on protestors, and obtained footage without a warrant or consent of the user. It is easy to imagine that law enforcement officials will use their renewed access to Ring information to find people who have had abortions or track down people for immigration enforcement.
Don’t use Ring. Don’t let your friends use Ring.
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Signal Now Has A Standalone Desktop App
The app is now available for Windows, macOS, Debian-based linux distros. You should be using Signal if you ever talk about anything to anyone.
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Yahoo Files Suit Demanding Greater Accountability from the U.S. Government
[I doubt it’ll do much good, but I’m really glad to see Yahoo! trying *something*.][link]
[link]: http://yahoopolicy.tumblr.com/post/60753842342/yahoo-files-suit-demanding-greater-accountability-from “Yahoo Files Suit Demanding Greater Accountability from the U.S. Government | Yahoo Global Public Policy”
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Stop Watching Us
>The revelations about the National Security Agency’s surveillance apparatus, if true, represent a stunning abuse of our basic rights. We demand the U.S. Congress reveal the full extent of the NSA’s spying programs.
[Sign the letter to congress][link], follow them on [Twitter][twitter].
[link]: https://optin.stopwatching.us/ “Stop Watching Us | Stop Watching Us”
[twitter]: http://twitter.com/stopwatchingus “Stop Watching Us on Twitter” -
Verizon forced to hand over telephone data
[The Guardian:][link]
>The US government is collecting the phone records of millions of US customers of Verizon under a top secret court order.
Funny how government only uses the word “patriot” when they want to do something awful, isn’t it?
[link]: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2013/jun/06/verizon-telephone-data-court-order “Verizon forced to hand over telephone data – full court ruling | World news | guardian.co.uk”
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How To Protect Against Laptop Webcam Hacking
[Someone should make a removable 3D printable bracket that does this, maybe with some optional padding to kill a mic as well?][link]
[link]: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/04/how-protect-against-laptop-webcam-hacking “How To Protect Against Laptop Webcam Hacking | Electronic Frontier Foundation”
