Found as yet another censored r/privacy post!

Understand that the decision to fire the chief and his deputy may be in fact be the most dangerous decision Trump has made so far. Timothy Haugh like his last 2 predecessors were restricting the access and control Peter Thiel had through his company Palantir over the CIA/NSA to commit domestic surveillance. Palantir is the 2nd biggest defense contractor for the CIA/NSA along with providing day-to-day operations for both agencies. The goal for Palantir is and always has been domestic surveillance. Palantir is an intelligence corporation which provides advanced analysis, sigint, osint, criminal and threat awareness and kill chain efficiencies to all levels of US, UK, and corporate agencies.

(comment source)

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/60365167

Case 1

Original post

Moderator carrotcypher says "removed for paywall." When asked about which rule this breaks, receives no response. The post is then locked.

Case 2

Original post

Same as the first, except this time there is no paywall - the link is to a freely accessible advocate.com page.

It is censored with no explanation.

Case 3

Original post

Same as Case 2, moderators censor the post and leave no explanation.

Case 4

Original post

This one is finally given a removal reason: a rule that does not exist in the sidebar, and seems to have nothing to do with the post ("Your post has been removed for being too specific to a company or single product.")

But in a censored comment, the OP of the post says they received a different removal reason:

This time, other people notice the censorship and the nonsensical nature of the official removal reason.

Since this removal, there has been no further post of this news in r/privacy. Sources tell me the moderators refuse to explain their decision.

Tuta is having a birthday sale, putting their highest Legend tier at the same price as their second-highest Revolutionary tier, and I'm wondering two things:

• Is this a good deal for 36€ per year?
• Is this a deal that comes around every year, or is this a rare sale?

I use addy.io to manage aliases, so the extra addresses are whatever. The custom domains might be nice, since I could potentially(?) use that with Addy. I've been pretty judicious with my free 1GB of space, but having 500GB would be more than comfortable (besides being overkill).

I'm not really interested in getting into self-hosting right now, but I might in the future, so I'm also curious how y'all who self-host email feel about a deal like this. Comparable to the cost of self-hosting? Similar features?

Thanks!

Archive https://archive.ph/LGc6s

I discovered this article after it was censored from the Reddit privacy community.

Thank goodness there are still some places where you are allowed to criticize the rich and powerful.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32102322

Archived

TikTok owner ByteDance is set to be hit by a privacy fine of more than €500 million for illegally shipping European users’ data to China, adding to the growing global backlash over the video-sharing app.

Ireland’s data protection commission, the company’s main regulator in Europe, will issue the penalty against TikTok before the end of the month, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move comes after a lengthy investigation found the Chinese business fell foul of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation in sending the information to China to be accessed by engineers, added the people, who spoke under condition of anonymity.

[...]

As part of the decision from Ireland’s data protection commission, the regulator will order TikTok to suspend the unlawful data processing in China within a set time frame. China has long provoked the ire of privacy activists, who claim that the nation’s mass surveillance regime violates fundamental rights.

TikTok has been in the crosshairs of the Irish data protection commission before. In September 2023, it was fined €345 million for alleged lapses in the way it cares for children’s personal data. The watchdog has also sounded the alarm over Big Tech firms shipping the personal data of European citizens outside of the 27-member bloc, slapping a record €1.2 billion fine against Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. for failing to protect personal information from the American security services.

The Irish probe into TikTok started in 2021, when the regulator’s then head Helen Dixon claimed that EU user data could be accessed by “maintenance and AI engineers in China.”

[...]

https://archive.is/oZVmK

"Age verification" laws are actually "upload your ID or get your face scanned to access every website, ending anonymity and associating your identity with everything you do online" laws and if more people understood that they would not be down for this authoritarian nonsense

• Evan Greer via BlueSky

https://archive.is/RDRH1

Cross-posted from "It's Time to Wake Up: A Darknet Anarchist's Case for Anonymity & Digital Safety" by @Illegal_[email protected] in [email protected]

(Note: .onion links should be accessed with Tor Browser)

The main source of Anonymity: The Tor Network http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/torvsvpns/index.html

Tor Web Browser Setup (on Desktop and Mobile) http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/torbrowsing/index.html

Have you ever been afraid to speak your mind on the internet? Do you have peace of mind that you know what your electronics are doing? Is technology working for and empowering you, or has it become a tool of oppression tracking your every move and storing it on corporate/government servers to be used against you in the future?

These powerful tech companies work closely with our fascist government to surveil, track, manipulate, and scare vulnerable citizens into compliance and silence. We have been tricked into giving up all control and privacy for the sake of convenience.

This is no accident.

The state has the most sophisticated surveillance network ever known, and you are voluntarily participating in it.

The phones Americans carry in their pockets are proprietary black boxes, constantly communicating with cell towers logging your position and IMEI/IMSI tied to your real identity. They are also constantly recording the strength of wifi access points, and other devices around you, sending this back to HQ to build a map of everyone's movements. This is not even mentioning how most people are logged into a google/apple account at all times. You probably know this costs you YOUR privacy, but do you realize you are also snitching on everyone around you and contributing to this surveillance network?

Kill the Cop in your Pocket: http://uwb25d43nnzerbozmtviwn7unn7ku226tpsjyhy5n4st5cf3d4mtflqd.onion/posts/nophones/

Ask yourself how you feel about this? How much would freedom, privacy, and anonymity be worth to you? Many realize the situation is dire, but are preoccupied with trying to survive the next rent payment, and are do not have the knowledge necessary to resist.

Those organizing in the US (50501) overwhelmingly are using reddit and discord to plan protests. A few who know better use signal and consider this good enough, not thinking about how they are linked to a phone number. Signal is secure and private, but when your adversary is the US gov/tech corps that is not enough. We need ANONYMITY.**

Phone Numbers are incompatible with Anonymity: http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/phonenumbers/index.html

"Laws" and "rights" are meaningless now. If the state deems you an enemy they have hundreds of ways to crush you into submission, throw you in prison, or worse. Things will only get worse over the coming years. The only hope we have is to maintain real anonymity

Here on Lemmy many are curious about digital privacy, but only have bits and pieces of the knowledge required. Without a solid understanding of how to use technology safely, misinformation, half truths, and FUD abound. There is a pervasive attitude that you have no choice at all, and that it is hopeless to stand up against your oppressors.

I am here to tell you this is NOT TRUE. I am here to tell you it is POSSIBLE, and WORTHWHILE.

You can reclaim technology to work for you instead of against you, but it will require effort and change.

Using Lemmy anonymously Is not too hard. You just need to register an email account in tor browser, and use that to verify a lemmy account. Be sure to ONLY access this account over Tor. The more privacy invasive the service, the more likely they will try to prevent you from doing this. Circumventing that is an advanced topic for another time.

How to Get an Email Account Anonymously (Emails as a Service) http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/anonemail/index.html

https://www.404media.co/the-200-sites-an-ice-surveillance-contractor-is-monitoring/

Trump wants green card applicants already legally in the US to hand over social media profiles: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-green-card-applicants-social-media-b2720180.html

How long until similar demands are made of others? Every day the risk grows greater and less possible to ignore. The time to wise up is now! Start learning and investing in yourself today so that you can be prepared to protect yourself and those you care about before it is too late.

What is Anonymity ? Why is it Important ? http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/anonymityexplained/index.html

Why isn’t Privacy enough for Anonymous Use? http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/anonuse/index.html

In this technocracy lines are being drawn. They are wielding technology to oppress and control us, and we need to decide if we are subservient data cattle, or if we are willing to learn how to use technology to empower ourselves and resist.

The relationship between average people and technology is unacceptable. Even those with advanced "tech skills" know next to nothing about how to maintain security/privacy/anonymity against the state. It does not have to be this way.

You deserve better. The people in your life deserve better. They NEED you to educate yourself so you can help teach them. The only way we can do this is together. The time for learning is limited and the clock is ticking.

Operational Security: Privacy, Anonymity and Deniability (Current and High quality) https://nowhere.moe/ http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/index.html

Anonymous Planet: Hitchhiker's Guide to Online Anonymity (Classic resource, somewhat dated) https://anonymousplanet.org/guide/

It's time to decide. Will you allow these corporations to own you, or will you rise to the challenge?

**When law enforcement subpeonas Signal for user information, all they hand over is the phone number associated with the account, and the last time they logged in. Due to the secure end to end encryption the contents of the messages are safe. No problem right? Well the cell phone number and associated metadata is more than enough for them to prosecute, imprison, and kill. Which cell towers has this phone number been around? What other numbers has it been communicating with and when? How is this cell service paid for?

It is not impossible to circumvent these issues, for instance by paying for a jmp.chat phone number with monero XMR. In this case you don't actually have the sim, but rather access it remotely over XMPP. If you do this over Tor very little can be used against you.

Ask yourself though, how many signal users actually go through these lengths? These phone numbers change law enforcement investigations from stumped, to having valuable leads and evidence. What motivations could signal have for requiring this valuable personally identifying information to be shared?

If a service requires your phone number, they are against your Anonymity http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/phonenumbers/index.html

Easy Private Chats - SimpleX (http://blog.nowherejezfoltodf4jiyl6r56jnzintap5vyjlia7fkirfsnfizflqd.onion/opsec/privatesimplex/index.html)

(sorry for the semi off topic rant, no signal is not the worst thing or the first problem to fix, but KYC*** phone numbers are.)

***KYC: Know your Customer: https://kycnot.me/about

I was going to make some anonymity guides, but I needed to first address the issues and problems so I can follow up with solutions. Please give me your feedback and feel free to ask if you have any questions or requests for guides.

A federal judge struck down Arkansas' Social Media Safety Act, ruling it unconstitutional for broadly restricting both adult and minor speech and imposing vague requirements on platforms. Engadget reports:

In a ruling (PDF), Judge Timothy Brooks said that the law, known as Act 689 (PDF), was overly broad. "Act 689 is a content-based restriction on speech, and it is not targeted to address the harms the State has identified," Brooks wrote in his decision. "Arkansas takes a hatchet to adults' and minors' protected speech alike though the Constitution demands it use a scalpel." Brooks also highlighted the "unconstitutionally vague" applicability of the law, which seemingly created obligations for some online services, but may have exempted services which had the "predominant or exclusive function [of]... direct messaging" like Snapchat.

"The court confirms what we have been arguing from the start: laws restricting access to protected speech violate the First Amendment," NetChoice's Chris Marchese said in a statement. "This ruling protects Americans from having to hand over their IDs or biometric data just to access constitutionally protected speech online." It's not clear if state officials in Arkansas will appeal the ruling. "I respect the court's decision, and we are evaluating our options," Arkansas Attorney general Tim Griffin said in a statement.