A resigning British minister used her goodbye letter to complain the government hadn't moved fast enough on installing image-scanning software on every phone in the country.
The EU already killed the same proposal (for now) after 700+ experts called it mass surveillance.
Once that software is on your device, a policy update decides what it looks for...
https://t.co/tvXYc1Nlax
France's intelligence delegation wants to add "ghost participants" to encrypted chats. Silent, invisible state agents added to your private conversations without your knowledge. This idea was floated in 2018. Every credible security researcher rejected it. Now it's back.
https://t.co/xvoR3vZk1t
France rebrands mass surveillance as
"Ghost participants"
No, it is not Halloween. It is part of a coordinated push for age verification and the elimination of encrypted chats.
First they regulate speech under the justification of misinformation.
Then they regulate platforms under the justification of safety.
Then they require identity verification under the justification of protecting children.
Finally they target anonymity itself by restricting the tools people use to avoid surveillance.
This week so far....
🔵 Bluesky started asking for Age Verification
🤖 Chrome started downloading AI to your computer without asking
🇪🇺 The EU floated banning VPNs
🇺🇸 Utah anti-VPN law went live
VPNs are not the problem.
The problem is using “protect the children” to normalize identity checks, then calling privacy tools loopholes when people resist.
Anonymity is not suspicious. Privacy is not evasion.
Once again, I’m absolutely ashamed of being European.
I just don’t understand how we manage to be this far behind in our thinking, every single time, until it’s too late. And still refuse to learn from our mistakes despite already being on our knees.
Absolute clown show. The rest of the world is laughing at us and honestly, they should be.
THEY ARE GOING TO BAN VPNs
THEY ARE GOING TO BAN VPNs
THEY ARE GOING TO BAN VPNs
THEY ARE GOING TO BAN VPNs
THEY ARE GOING TO BAN VPNs
THEY ARE GOING TO BAN VPNs
THEY ARE GOING TO BAN VPNs
THEY ARE GOING TO BAN VPNs
THEY ARE GOING TO BAN VPNs
THEY ARE GOING TO BAN VPNs
There’s something ominous about the speed with which the entire world has marched to require identification on platforms and, as I expected, begin the process of banning anonymous VPNs.
Here is a video of a North Korean IT worker being stopped dead in their tracks upon being required to insult Kim Jong Un.
It won't work forever, but right now it's genuinely an effective filter. I'm yet to come across one who can say it.
Why don’t they just tokenize the oil in the Middle East and transport it across permissionless financial rails, thereby avoiding the Strait of Hormuz altogether