Location data collected by over a hundred Dutch apps are for sale online.
It appears that the owner of popular weather app Buienalarm (Rain Alarm, in rough translation) does not know how the location data of its users ended up at this data broker. The app has 5 million users, a quarter of all people in The Netherlands. (Yes, it’s a rainy country.)
Locatiegegevens vergaard door ruim honderd Nederlandse apps staan online te koop. Het gaan en staan van hun miljoenen gebruikers is zonder hun medeweten te volgen. ‘Hartstikke illegaal’, zeggen deskundigen.
Cory Doctorow @pluralistic is ABSOLUTELY ON FIRE* today (and grimly hilarious), skewering crypto among many other enshittified things, not least the politicians who were warned of the consequences of their actions, but still continued to do the wrong thing, whether through stupidity, ideology or graft:
*Take Malcolm Turnbull, the former Australian Prime Minister. When he was told that the laws of mathematics dictated that it was impossible to build selectively effective encryption of the sort he was demanding, he replied, "The laws of mathematics are very commendable but the only law that applies in Australia is the law of Australia"*
*and he's writing as #la literally burns - though as he points out, the authorities were warned, time and time again, about the dangers. Not to mention that #exxonknew long ago about the consequences of its actions...
While #tech leaders like Zuck and Musk are busily demonstrating their callous contempt for their responsibility in shaping the Internet, I have immense respect for @Gargron, for showing what considerate, responsible and thoughtful entrepreneurship looks like. Thank you.
We think together, in groups, not alone. When the sinews of that process run through cyberspace, those who build the #internet build our minds. So they must be responsible, or to hell with them.
It seems I've been selected to participate in the Blog Question Challenge 2025. So here is my blog post to answer all of those questions that have been floating around social media by numerous others.
Excellent news to see. Setting up legal constructs for non-profits is surprisingly challenging, so this is a big development for #Mastodon. It'd be nice to see more legal resources available for other communities looking to do similar things.
"Rather than having a democratically accountable state that sets wages and prices based on need and ability, price discrimination gives this authority to large firms with pricing power, no regulatory constraints, and unlimited access to surveillance data. You couldn't ask for a neater example of the maxim that "What matters isn't what technology does. What matters is who it does it for; and who it does it to."..." - @pluralistic
"Rather than having a democratically accountable state that sets wages and prices based on need and ability, price discrimination gives this authority to large firms with pricing power, no regulatory constraints, and unlimited access to surveillance data. You couldn't ask for a neater example of the maxim that "What matters isn't what technology does. What matters is who it does it for; and who it does it to."..." - @pluralistic
The social function of the economics profession is to explain, over and over again, that your boss is actually right and that you don't really want the things you want, and you're secretly happy to be abused by the system.
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
Bekijk je favoriete video's, luister naar de muziek die je leuk vindt, upload originele content en deel alles met vrienden, familie en anderen op YouTube.
Meta’s “anything goes” attitude to free speech doesn’t extend to its own employees. @jasonkoebler of @404mediaco writes about how the company is deleting internal criticism of new board member, UFC president Dana White. “Major W,” one employee posted. “We hire Connor [McGregor] next for after work sparring?.” Employees are also livid about changes where Meta users can now say LGBTQ people have mental illness. “I am LGBT and Mentally Ill,” one post by an employee on an internal Meta platform called Workplace reads. “Just to let you know that I’ll be taking time out to look after my mental health.”
Google searches for how to cancel and delete Facebook, Instagram, and Threads accounts have seen explosive rises in the U.S. — over 5,000% compared to previous periods — since Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced radical changes to its moderation policies. Read more at @Techcrunch. #Meta #Facebook #Threads #Instagram #Google #Zuckerberg #Tech #Technologyflip.it/NDz1_8
"- the most exciting part of the "internet in the '90s" was that it had incredibly low barriers to entry and wasn't dominated by large companies – indeed, it had them running scared.
The AI bubble, by contrast, is being inflated by massive incumbents, whose excitement boils down to "This will let the biggest companies get much, much bigger and the rest of you can go fuck yourselves"..."
The AI bubble is the new crypto bubble: you can tell because the same people are behind it, and they're doing the same thing with AI as they did with crypto - trying desperately to find a use case to cram it into, despite the yawning indifference and outright hostility of the users:
So this is cool. And by “cool” I mean fucked up & dystopian. Dead internet theory actively pursued as #Meta launched A.I.-generated profiles on #Instagram
@nina_kali_nina has just written this awesome and very detailed article on Windows v2, that is the version of Microsoft Windows that was originally released in 1987. It contains everything she learned about the inner workings of the graphical shell, and actually running the original software and experimenting with it. Essential reading for #RetroComputing enthusiasts, although it might take you a good 30 minutes or more to read it all.
For those who don’t know, GUIs back then were still very new to the consumer PC market, having only recently been introduced the Apple Lisa in 1983 and Macint
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@nina_kali_nina has just written this awesome and very detailed article on Windows v2, that is the version of Microsoft Windows that was originally released in 1987. It contains everything she learned about the inner workings of the graphical shell, and actually running the original software and experimenting with it. Essential reading for #RetroComputing enthusiasts, although it might take you a good 30 minutes or more to read it all.
For those who don’t know, GUIs back then were still very new to the consumer PC market, having only recently been introduced the Apple Lisa in 1983 and Macintosh in 1984, and were not considered essential by most people. The publishing industry did see value in the “What You See is What You Get” document editing model provided by GUIs, but apart from them, most people were fine as long as they could do word processing (usually with WordPerfect), and spreadsheets (usually with Lotus 123), none of which required a GUI to work. GUI software like Microsoft Windows for the “IBM-compatible” PC platform, and Microsoft Workbench for the Commodore Amiga platform, were not operating systems, they were shells, and mostly seen as a novelty, until Windows v3 came out which genuinely made the PC platform easier to use.
Still, what Microsoft Windows (and Workbench) made possible was pretty impressive for the time. Although personally I still believe Apple had the better GUI product.
I have spent a week writing a massive article about Windows 2. It has sexy screenshots and is full of incredible trivia. Why not spend the New Year's Eve reading it? ;)
https://www.ninakalinina.com/notes/win2/
How to remove microphone, bluetooth, WiFi, webcam / camera on your laptop. Follow for any similar laptop model, once you find the placement of the microphone, bluetooth, wifi, camera. This video us...
I wrote what I thought would be the final blog post of 2024 last week, and was looking forward to starting 2025 strong with a blog I’d been drafting since July 2023. But then, a little after …
PCs set up with Windows 11 USB and Disc installer media made with October or November 2024 patches could be affected by a bug that disallows further security updates.
🔴 **Google allows advertisers to target the sensitive informational queries of cancer patients**
_"Advertisers mimicked the sensitive queries of cancer patients to target them with their marketing using Google’s keyword-matching feature. In 2023, 20,035 unique keywords emulated Google searches seeking information on cancer prognosis, alternative treatments, accessing treatment, treatment options, diagnosis, specific cancers, and late-stage cancer._
_The Google tools used by alternative cancer clinics exploit users’ searches for information and give prominence to websites promoting treatment unsupported by scientific evidence."_
Zenone, M., Marcon, A., Kenworthy, N., van Schalkwyk, M., Caulfield, T., Hartwell, G., & Maani, N. (2024). Google allows advertisers to target the sensitive informational queries of cancer patients. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review. doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-170
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🔴 **Google allows advertisers to target the sensitive informational queries of cancer patients**
_"Advertisers mimicked the sensitive queries of cancer patients to target them with their marketing using Google’s keyword-matching feature. In 2023, 20,035 unique keywords emulated Google searches seeking information on cancer prognosis, alternative treatments, accessing treatment, treatment options, diagnosis, specific cancers, and late-stage cancer._
_The Google tools used by alternative cancer clinics exploit users’ searches for information and give prominence to websites promoting treatment unsupported by scientific evidence."_
Zenone, M., Marcon, A., Kenworthy, N., van Schalkwyk, M., Caulfield, T., Hartwell, G., & Maani, N. (2024). Google allows advertisers to target the sensitive informational queries of cancer patients. Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Misinformation Review. doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-170
Apple urged to axe AI feature after false headline
The BBC made a complaint to apple after Apple Intelligence, which summarizes and groups together notifications, falsely created a BBC News headline that murder suspect Luigi Mangione had shot himself
Reporters Without Borders has also called on Apple to remove the technology
Canadians are watching as Silicon Valley takes over the US government, but few realize Shopify executives are trying to bring a similar project to Canada — and the leader of the Conservative Party has started praising them for it.
Bridgy Fed, which is working to connect the social network Bluesky with the wider fediverse (aka the open social web), which includes sites like Mastodon
SGGQA 376 Holiday Hangout, Google Taps MediaTek for Pixel 10, Android XR Announced
Google is FINALLY dumping Samsung and moving to MediaTek for parts, so Pixel performance should get a LOT better. Plus, we get our first look at Android XR, and we'll let the chat lead us out on a fun Holiday Hangout!
We’re keeping this week’s show comfy! Google is looking at using MediaTek parts in the next Pixel, as their exclusive arrangement with Samsung comes to a close. We also have a first loo…
Discover the beauty and joy of Sharkey, a stunning Fediverse platform that is a Misskey fork. Explore its elegant design, user-friendly onboarding, and unique features – like Antennas.
Today sharing my new tails on bracelet concept / idea with everyone - Tails on bracelet I call the "RightToPrivacy Pull The Plug Tails Bracelet". My idea for wearing Tails usbstick detachable brace...
