A Boring Dystopia: Mouse Movers

December 16, 2021December 14, 2021 ~ cafebedouin

"“The pandemic has proved to be a catalyst to saying no to the ‘9-to-5’ schedule. The tables have turned in favor of the Worker,” Rodriguez told me. “They are in power today. They value work flexibility. They are ambitious. They value work-life balance and are not afraid of saying no to employers who don’t share … Continue reading A Boring Dystopia: Mouse Movers

Why is Plaintext Better than HTML for Email?

November 29, 2021November 29, 2021 ~ cafebedouin

"In short, HTML emails are a security nightmare, are mostly used for advertising to you and tracking you, are less accessible for many users, and don't offer anything especially great for it."https://useplaintext.email/ He buried the lede. I went ahead and put it at the top. For more detail, read the below. Another in my ongoing … Continue reading Why is Plaintext Better than HTML for Email?

We Know What You Did During Lockdown. An FT Film Written by James Graham

June 5, 2021June 4, 2021 ~ cafebedouin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WTpO9y2Dh4 Obvious, but worth saying again. Algorithms aren't moral agents, and hence, they are not in the position to make moral judgments.

Privacy is For Finding Out Who We Are When We Are Not Performing Ourselves

May 10, 2021May 9, 2021 ~ cafebedouin

"Privacy is essential to human agency and dignity. Denying someone privacy—even when it’s as seemingly small as a parent who won’t let their kid close the door—has a corrosive effect, eroding trust as well as our sense of interiority. When we scale up the individual to a body politic, it is the private sphere that’s … Continue reading Privacy is For Finding Out Who We Are When We Are Not Performing Ourselves

Coveillance

February 16, 2021February 15, 2021 ~ cafebedouin

"Increasingly powerful surveillance tools have shifted the power dynamics between people and institutions. To address this new dynamic, we’ve been creating a toolkit, in collaboration with the ACLU of Washington, that demystifies surveillance technologies in Seattle in the historical context of structural inequities in the United States."https://coveillance.org/

Still Spying on Dissent

October 25, 2019 ~ cafebedouin

"Throughout its history, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has used its expansive powers to investigate, monitor, and surveil First Amendment-protected activity. As early as 1924, public concern about the FBI’s violation of First Amendment rights and other civil liberties spurred official attempts to check the FBI’s power. This report covers FBI surveillance of political … Continue reading Still Spying on Dissent

The Fashion Line Designed to Trick Surveillance Cameras | The Guardian

August 22, 2019August 21, 2019 ~ cafebedouin

"But to an automatic license plate reader (ALPR) system, the shirt is a collection of license plates, and they will get added to the license plate reader’s database just like any others it sees. The intention is to make deploying that sort of surveillance less effective, more expensive, and harder to use without human oversight, … Continue reading The Fashion Line Designed to Trick Surveillance Cameras | The Guardian

Duckduckgo.com

May 21, 2019May 17, 2019 ~ cafebedouin

"Virtually all internet users tend to be Google search engine users, by default. The main strategy for Google is to try to hold on to the users it has by implementing better security and privacy protection measures. This is something definitely on their agenda, but the issue still remains that user data is tracked. Therefore, … Continue reading Duckduckgo.com