Notices by Dan Gillmor (dangillmor@mastodon.social), page 2

EU officials, who know nothing about how technology works but know what they want, are on the verge of ordering technology companies to make everyone much less safe by destroying strong encryption and eviscerating personal privacy.

https://netzpolitik.org/2024/client-side-scanning-chat-control-is-pure-surveillance-state/

@Gargron Will the new API allow that? @ernie

Facebook bots invading forums where people are trying to have conversations with other people is a genuinely evil development.

https://theconversation.com/ai-chatbots-are-intruding-into-online-communities-where-people-are-trying-to-connect-with-other-humans-229473

If you use Adobe, you really should stop. https://9to5mac.com/2024/06/06/change-to-adobe-terms-amp-conditions/

So Threads on Mastodon is read-only. If that doesn't change, there will be little point in allowing those posts to show up in my timeline.

Today's reminder that Texas is run by barbarians. https://www.texastribune.org/2024/05/31/texas-supreme-court-zurawski-abortion/

As warned, Reddit has taken a bundle of money from "Open"AI and will use it to further monetize what you -- and the volunteers who moderate it all -- contributed for free.

It's the norm now, and particularly slimy in this case.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/16/24158529/reddit-openai-chatgpt-api-access-advertising

Does anyone know of a way to buy an EV that doesn't relentlessly spy on the driver/passengers and send the data to whoever the carmaker feels like selling it to?

Related: Does anyone know of a service in the Bay Area that will disable all the surveillance that was, without my knowledge or permission, built into a 2008 Prius?

Stack Overflow's deal with "Open"AI is prompting the site's contributors to remove their posts and close their accounts. Good for them.

The "AI" cartel is telling the people who created and populated the open web that they were suckers.

Human Rights Watch 101: "Peaceful protest is a human right. Freedom of speech is a human right. Freedom of expression is a human right." https://www.hrw.org/the-day-in-human-rights/2024/04/29?story=paragraph-8162

Some changes ahead:

I'm leaving academia to "help people who are working to save democracy, and by extension freedom of expression, in part by helping journalism perform its most essential role."

More in my new blog post:

https://dangillmor.com/2024/04/14/whats-next-for-me/

A vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a vote for Trump. It truly is as simple as that.

Don't let anyone gaslight you on this.

Elon Musk controls Twitter. He is a right-wing extremist who actively engages in and promotes lies and loathing. He has made it clear, again and again, that he hates the press (unless it's favorable to him). As NBC News explains, his site welcomes Nazis. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/x-twitter-elon-musk-nazi-extremist-white-nationalist-accounts-rcna145020

All of which makes me ask again, with growing despair, why journalists continue -- by actively participating on Musk's site -- to actively support this evil man's business.

Just in case you had any doubt whether Musk is a complete slimeball, read about a lawsuit deposition that he tried to suppress from public view:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-didnt-want-his-latest-deposition-released-here-it-is_n_66133d2ce4b0d81853f9a766

Two state attorneys general are plainly running interference for Musk and his increasingly extremist-coddling deadbirdsite. They're deploying state power against a journalism organization -- one of the few -- that takes on right-wing media and lousy work in Big Journalism.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/03/missouri-ag-sues-media-matters-in-lawsuit-echoing-elon-musks-complaints/

This is incredibly dangerous to freedom of expression.

Given journalists' myopic continued presence on Musk's site, it seems they don't care.

Sam Bankman-Fried is a reminder of the rancid reality of so much about Silicon Valley mega-entrepreneurship -- and the corruption of modern capitalism throughout the top tiers of society.

The "financial crimes aren’t purveyed only by evil masterminds. They are licensed by entire societies who believe in them – until they don’t," writes Aditya Chakrabortty in the Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/28/sam-bankman-fried-jail-ftx-money

You won't be surprised that one of the Trump era's most ardent and prolific liars, and key election denier, has been hired by NBC "News" -- because that's how Big Journalism rolls these days. https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/22/media/ronna-mcdaniel-nbc/index.html

If you're using Glassdoor, stop right now and delete your account. This company just made it completely clear it can't be trusted. Read this from @arstechnica https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/03/glassdoor-adding-users-real-names-job-info-to-profiles-without-consent/

You should call your House member's office and demand an answer to this question:

"Why are you trying to ban TikTok or force its sale on privacy grounds while you do absolutely nothing about rampant privacy abuses by U.S. companies -- which are free to sell private information to anyone with a checkbook?"

"I have nothing to hide."

"Great! You won't mind if we install cameras in your bedroom and bathroom, then."