Al Ghaff
@alghaff.bsky.social
Board Director @Bigbrotherwatch.bsky.social. ex-Chief Operating Officer @OpenRightsGroup.org. All views my own.
https://www.alghaff.org
https://www.alghaff.org
Reposted by Al Ghaff
Hey, London! Why not log off for the night and meet in person?
Come on down to get the latest on our campaigns from the Online Safety Act to Digital IDs and more. Everyone is welcome!
🗓️ Monday 10 November
🕡 6.30–9pm
📍 Newspeak House, E2 7DG
Sign up now ⬇️
www.openrightsgroup.org/events/org-l...
Come on down to get the latest on our campaigns from the Online Safety Act to Digital IDs and more. Everyone is welcome!
🗓️ Monday 10 November
🕡 6.30–9pm
📍 Newspeak House, E2 7DG
Sign up now ⬇️
www.openrightsgroup.org/events/org-l...
ORG London Meet-Up
Join ORG to get the latest on our campaigns on the Online Safety Act, Digital IDs and more.
www.openrightsgroup.org
October 22, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Hey, London! Why not log off for the night and meet in person?
Come on down to get the latest on our campaigns from the Online Safety Act to Digital IDs and more. Everyone is welcome!
🗓️ Monday 10 November
🕡 6.30–9pm
📍 Newspeak House, E2 7DG
Sign up now ⬇️
www.openrightsgroup.org/events/org-l...
Come on down to get the latest on our campaigns from the Online Safety Act to Digital IDs and more. Everyone is welcome!
🗓️ Monday 10 November
🕡 6.30–9pm
📍 Newspeak House, E2 7DG
Sign up now ⬇️
www.openrightsgroup.org/events/org-l...
Reposted by Al Ghaff
Debated "A law abiding citizen has Nothing to Fear from surveillance" in Durham Union last night, alongside Professor Charles Raab and Rebecca Vincent; proposing was Professor Anthony Glees. #digtalid #privacy #durham #durhamunion
October 25, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Debated "A law abiding citizen has Nothing to Fear from surveillance" in Durham Union last night, alongside Professor Charles Raab and Rebecca Vincent; proposing was Professor Anthony Glees. #digtalid #privacy #durham #durhamunion
Reposted by Al Ghaff
The case against digital ID cards: imagine how a Reform government could use them | Gaby Hinsliff
The case against digital ID cards: imagine how a Reform government could use them | Gaby Hinsliff
The civil liberties argument against giving the state more power over our lives becomes more urgent by the day – just look to Trump’s America, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff
www.theguardian.com
September 26, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The case against digital ID cards: imagine how a Reform government could use them | Gaby Hinsliff
Reposted by Al Ghaff
Today it's a mandatory digital ID card to prove you have the right to work but in the future you might have to use it to access the NHS, to rent or buy a home, or to access benefits.
It's time to fight back, 'Say No to Digital IDs'.
Join the Campaign: action.openrightsgroup.org/join-campaig...
It's time to fight back, 'Say No to Digital IDs'.
Join the Campaign: action.openrightsgroup.org/join-campaig...
September 26, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Today it's a mandatory digital ID card to prove you have the right to work but in the future you might have to use it to access the NHS, to rent or buy a home, or to access benefits.
It's time to fight back, 'Say No to Digital IDs'.
Join the Campaign: action.openrightsgroup.org/join-campaig...
It's time to fight back, 'Say No to Digital IDs'.
Join the Campaign: action.openrightsgroup.org/join-campaig...
Reposted by Al Ghaff
ORG turns 20 this year! 🎈 🎉 🎂
To celebrate two decades of fighting for digital rights, join us for Cory Doctorow in conversation with @mariafarrell.bsky.social.
Register now to hear about Cory's work and how to fight Big Tech ✊
🗓️ 16 July, 6pm BST
💻 Zoom
www.openrightsgroup.org/events/org-a...
To celebrate two decades of fighting for digital rights, join us for Cory Doctorow in conversation with @mariafarrell.bsky.social.
Register now to hear about Cory's work and how to fight Big Tech ✊
🗓️ 16 July, 6pm BST
💻 Zoom
www.openrightsgroup.org/events/org-a...
ORG at 20: Cory Doctorow in conversation with Maria Farrell
As well as being a renowned author, activist and journalist, Cory Doctorow was a founding member of Open Rights Group!
www.openrightsgroup.org
June 17, 2025 at 2:16 PM
ORG turns 20 this year! 🎈 🎉 🎂
To celebrate two decades of fighting for digital rights, join us for Cory Doctorow in conversation with @mariafarrell.bsky.social.
Register now to hear about Cory's work and how to fight Big Tech ✊
🗓️ 16 July, 6pm BST
💻 Zoom
www.openrightsgroup.org/events/org-a...
To celebrate two decades of fighting for digital rights, join us for Cory Doctorow in conversation with @mariafarrell.bsky.social.
Register now to hear about Cory's work and how to fight Big Tech ✊
🗓️ 16 July, 6pm BST
💻 Zoom
www.openrightsgroup.org/events/org-a...
Reposted by Al Ghaff
Become a Sustaining Donor today and:
🤑 Become a member for just $5 a month
🪙 Receive our new EFF35 challenge coin
👕 Grab one of our new Cityscape t-shirts
❤️ Support the leading nonprofit protecting your rights online!
🤑 Become a member for just $5 a month
🪙 Receive our new EFF35 challenge coin
👕 Grab one of our new Cityscape t-shirts
❤️ Support the leading nonprofit protecting your rights online!
35 Years for Privacy, Free Speech, and a Brighter Future
Through July 10, new monthly or annual Sustaining Donors get an EFF35 Challenge Coin! With your help, EFF is here to stay.
eff.org
June 10, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Become a Sustaining Donor today and:
🤑 Become a member for just $5 a month
🪙 Receive our new EFF35 challenge coin
👕 Grab one of our new Cityscape t-shirts
❤️ Support the leading nonprofit protecting your rights online!
🤑 Become a member for just $5 a month
🪙 Receive our new EFF35 challenge coin
👕 Grab one of our new Cityscape t-shirts
❤️ Support the leading nonprofit protecting your rights online!
Reposted by Al Ghaff
Police are paying big money for unproven “undercover bot” tech that uses AI-generated online personas to collect intelligence, @404media.co reports. “So like, what is it effective at, violating protesters’ First Amendment rights?” asks EFF’s @maassive.bsky.social.
This ‘College Protester’ Isn’t Real. It’s an AI-Powered Undercover Bot for Cops
Massive Blue is helping cops deploy AI-powered social media bots to talk to people they suspect are anything from violent sex criminals all the way to vaguely defined “protesters.”
www.404media.co
April 17, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Police are paying big money for unproven “undercover bot” tech that uses AI-generated online personas to collect intelligence, @404media.co reports. “So like, what is it effective at, violating protesters’ First Amendment rights?” asks EFF’s @maassive.bsky.social.
Reposted by Al Ghaff
If you're critical of the US government and you are planning to cross the US border any time soon, today is a good day to review EFF's border search pocket guide: www.eff.org/document/eff...
EFF Border Search Pocket Guide
border-pocket-guide-2.pdf
www.eff.org
March 19, 2025 at 7:46 PM
If you're critical of the US government and you are planning to cross the US border any time soon, today is a good day to review EFF's border search pocket guide: www.eff.org/document/eff...
Reposted by Al Ghaff
Meta settles UK ‘right to object to ad-tracking’ lawsuit by agreeing not to track plaintiff
Meta settles UK ‘right to object to ad-tracking’ lawsuit by agreeing not to track plaintiff
A human rights campaigner, Tanya O’Carroll, has succeeded in forcing social media giant Meta not to use her data for targeted advertising. The agreement is contained in a settlement to an individual challenge she lodged against Meta’s tracking and profiling back in 2022. O’Carroll had argued that a legal right to object to the use […]
tcrn.ch
March 22, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Meta settles UK ‘right to object to ad-tracking’ lawsuit by agreeing not to track plaintiff
Reposted by Al Ghaff
Accessible version: archive.is/4Vvms
archive.is
March 19, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Accessible version: archive.is/4Vvms
This is an interesting Op-Ed by Tim Berners-Lee on #interoperability in the Financial Times, of all places!
“Let’s knock down social media’s walled gardens.” — This is exactly what many #DigitalRights organisations & experts have been advocating for years.
www.ft.com/content/79d2...
“Let’s knock down social media’s walled gardens.” — This is exactly what many #DigitalRights organisations & experts have been advocating for years.
www.ft.com/content/79d2...
Let’s knock down social media’s walled gardens
I envisioned the web as a place for the shared benefit of all — by reclaiming our data we can make that happen
www.ft.com
March 16, 2025 at 12:29 PM
This is an interesting Op-Ed by Tim Berners-Lee on #interoperability in the Financial Times, of all places!
“Let’s knock down social media’s walled gardens.” — This is exactly what many #DigitalRights organisations & experts have been advocating for years.
www.ft.com/content/79d2...
“Let’s knock down social media’s walled gardens.” — This is exactly what many #DigitalRights organisations & experts have been advocating for years.
www.ft.com/content/79d2...
Reposted by Al Ghaff
New Ctrl-Alt-Speech: Backdoors and Backsteps
This week we have guests from @aramsinn.bsky.social's media, law & policy class at @au-comm-studies.bsky.social!
We kick off with a discussion of the UK's demand that Apple break all encryption & why that's bad
podcast.ctrlaltspeech.com/2315966/epis...
This week we have guests from @aramsinn.bsky.social's media, law & policy class at @au-comm-studies.bsky.social!
We kick off with a discussion of the UK's demand that Apple break all encryption & why that's bad
podcast.ctrlaltspeech.com/2315966/epis...
Backdoors and Backsteps - Ctrl-Alt-Speech
In this week's round-up of the latest news in online speech, content moderation and internet regulation, Mike and Ben are joined by a group of students from the Media Law and Policy class at the Ameri...
podcast.ctrlaltspeech.com
February 15, 2025 at 12:20 AM
New Ctrl-Alt-Speech: Backdoors and Backsteps
This week we have guests from @aramsinn.bsky.social's media, law & policy class at @au-comm-studies.bsky.social!
We kick off with a discussion of the UK's demand that Apple break all encryption & why that's bad
podcast.ctrlaltspeech.com/2315966/epis...
This week we have guests from @aramsinn.bsky.social's media, law & policy class at @au-comm-studies.bsky.social!
We kick off with a discussion of the UK's demand that Apple break all encryption & why that's bad
podcast.ctrlaltspeech.com/2315966/epis...
Reposted by Al Ghaff
Just wrote about the UK Apple encryption mess. This is a BIG deal. It doesn't just apply to the UK. It would be an absolute disaster for online privacy and security. www.techdirt.com/2025/02/07/u...
UK Orders Apple To Break Encryption Worldwide While World Is Distracted
In a stunning escalation that confirms our worst fears, the UK government has finally shown its true hand on encryption — and it’s even worse than we predicted. According to a bombshell repor…
www.techdirt.com
February 7, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Just wrote about the UK Apple encryption mess. This is a BIG deal. It doesn't just apply to the UK. It would be an absolute disaster for online privacy and security. www.techdirt.com/2025/02/07/u...
Reposted by Al Ghaff
🚨 Encryption is under attack 🚨
🔴 The UK government has demanded that Apple build a backdoor to retrieve content that any user has uploaded to the cloud.
🔴 This will undermine the security of millions of users and expose them to higher risks of cybercrime ⬇️
www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releas...
🔴 The UK government has demanded that Apple build a backdoor to retrieve content that any user has uploaded to the cloud.
🔴 This will undermine the security of millions of users and expose them to higher risks of cybercrime ⬇️
www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releas...
UK Government undermines security with demands for Apple users encrypted data
Open Rights Group has responded to a Washington Post article that claims the UK has demanded that Apple build a backdoor to retrieve content that any Apple user has uploaded to the cloud.
www.openrightsgroup.org
February 7, 2025 at 5:04 PM
🚨 Encryption is under attack 🚨
🔴 The UK government has demanded that Apple build a backdoor to retrieve content that any user has uploaded to the cloud.
🔴 This will undermine the security of millions of users and expose them to higher risks of cybercrime ⬇️
www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releas...
🔴 The UK government has demanded that Apple build a backdoor to retrieve content that any user has uploaded to the cloud.
🔴 This will undermine the security of millions of users and expose them to higher risks of cybercrime ⬇️
www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releas...
Reposted by Al Ghaff
📩 Ever linked a new device to your @signal.org account but didn’t get your old messages? No longer!
A new feature helps import the last 45 days of messages to a new device.
Read about how to use it in our digital security newsletter (and subscribe):
A new feature helps import the last 45 days of messages to a new device.
Read about how to use it in our digital security newsletter (and subscribe):
Signal allows synching with new devices
Ever linked a new device to your Signal account, only to find you didn’t get your old messages? No longer!
freedom.press
February 5, 2025 at 8:24 PM
📩 Ever linked a new device to your @signal.org account but didn’t get your old messages? No longer!
A new feature helps import the last 45 days of messages to a new device.
Read about how to use it in our digital security newsletter (and subscribe):
A new feature helps import the last 45 days of messages to a new device.
Read about how to use it in our digital security newsletter (and subscribe):
⛔️⚠️🚨 Everyone knows your location: tracking myself down through in-app ads!
An explainer on how data brokers get access to all your data, including your precise location, screen brightness, and whether you are wearing headphones!
timsh.org/tracking-mys...
An explainer on how data brokers get access to all your data, including your precise location, screen brightness, and whether you are wearing headphones!
timsh.org/tracking-mys...
Everyone knows your location
How I tracked myself down using leaked location data in the in-app ads, and what I found along the way.
timsh.org
February 3, 2025 at 8:36 AM
⛔️⚠️🚨 Everyone knows your location: tracking myself down through in-app ads!
An explainer on how data brokers get access to all your data, including your precise location, screen brightness, and whether you are wearing headphones!
timsh.org/tracking-mys...
An explainer on how data brokers get access to all your data, including your precise location, screen brightness, and whether you are wearing headphones!
timsh.org/tracking-mys...
Reposted by Al Ghaff
Prof @jdportes.bsky.social doing the media's job for them.
Emma Trimble, "1 in 12 people in London are illegal immigrants"
Professor Jonathan Portes, "Emma has taken that figure from a story in The Telegraph.. That story was a lie.. The Telegraph has corrected it, The Times has corrected it.. The Sun has corrected it.. And The Daily Mail has corrected it"
Professor Jonathan Portes, "Emma has taken that figure from a story in The Telegraph.. That story was a lie.. The Telegraph has corrected it, The Times has corrected it.. The Sun has corrected it.. And The Daily Mail has corrected it"
February 2, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Prof @jdportes.bsky.social doing the media's job for them.
Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez wants to "end anonymity" of all users on social media.
Ending online #anonymity is a terrible idea, because it:
👉 Protects free expression
👉 Protects LGBTIQ+ community
👉 Protects targets of bullying
👉 Vital for press freedom
👉 Ensures safety of vulnerable groups
Ending online #anonymity is a terrible idea, because it:
👉 Protects free expression
👉 Protects LGBTIQ+ community
👉 Protects targets of bullying
👉 Vital for press freedom
👉 Ensures safety of vulnerable groups
January 22, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez wants to "end anonymity" of all users on social media.
Ending online #anonymity is a terrible idea, because it:
👉 Protects free expression
👉 Protects LGBTIQ+ community
👉 Protects targets of bullying
👉 Vital for press freedom
👉 Ensures safety of vulnerable groups
Ending online #anonymity is a terrible idea, because it:
👉 Protects free expression
👉 Protects LGBTIQ+ community
👉 Protects targets of bullying
👉 Vital for press freedom
👉 Ensures safety of vulnerable groups
Reposted by Al Ghaff
With Meta bending the knee to a Musk addled Trump, social media is in a politico-corporate bubble.
And these bros in arms say it's all in the name of free speech. It's enough to make you think double.
Our latest blog on the need to break these monopolies ⬇️
www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/musk-an...
And these bros in arms say it's all in the name of free speech. It's enough to make you think double.
Our latest blog on the need to break these monopolies ⬇️
www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/musk-an...
Musk and Zuck: Engineering Free Speech
Under the guise of protecting free speech, an alarming alignment between government power and Big Tech’s corporate power is unfolding.
www.openrightsgroup.org
January 9, 2025 at 3:41 PM
With Meta bending the knee to a Musk addled Trump, social media is in a politico-corporate bubble.
And these bros in arms say it's all in the name of free speech. It's enough to make you think double.
Our latest blog on the need to break these monopolies ⬇️
www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/musk-an...
And these bros in arms say it's all in the name of free speech. It's enough to make you think double.
Our latest blog on the need to break these monopolies ⬇️
www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/musk-an...
Reposted by Al Ghaff
CALL TO ACTION: The Senate needs to advance the PRESS Act ASAP to protect journalist-source confidentiality against retaliatory gov’t surveillance.
Tell your senator that you support the #PRESSAct today!
Use this ACLU tool to send a message to your senator now: go.peoplepower.org/letter/congr...
Tell your senator that you support the #PRESSAct today!
Use this ACLU tool to send a message to your senator now: go.peoplepower.org/letter/congr...
December 7, 2024 at 5:04 PM
CALL TO ACTION: The Senate needs to advance the PRESS Act ASAP to protect journalist-source confidentiality against retaliatory gov’t surveillance.
Tell your senator that you support the #PRESSAct today!
Use this ACLU tool to send a message to your senator now: go.peoplepower.org/letter/congr...
Tell your senator that you support the #PRESSAct today!
Use this ACLU tool to send a message to your senator now: go.peoplepower.org/letter/congr...
Reposted by Al Ghaff
One person spent this much money in a very close election. Our system can’t withstand this kind of assault. Citizens United must be overturned.
December 6, 2024 at 6:43 PM
One person spent this much money in a very close election. Our system can’t withstand this kind of assault. Citizens United must be overturned.
Reposted by Al Ghaff
Signal is famous for knowing as little about its users as possible. The app isn’t hoarding metadata, tracking you, or showing you ads.
President @meredithmeredith.bsky.social sees a shift underway as the monoliths of big tech lose popularity and the old economics of Silicon Valley become brittle.
President @meredithmeredith.bsky.social sees a shift underway as the monoliths of big tech lose popularity and the old economics of Silicon Valley become brittle.
With Threats to Encryption Looming, Signal’s Meredith Whittaker Says ‘We’re Not Changing’
At WIRED’s The Big Interview event, the president of the Signal Foundation talked about secure communications as critical infrastructure and the need for a new funding paradigm for tech.
www.wired.com
December 3, 2024 at 8:39 PM
Signal is famous for knowing as little about its users as possible. The app isn’t hoarding metadata, tracking you, or showing you ads.
President @meredithmeredith.bsky.social sees a shift underway as the monoliths of big tech lose popularity and the old economics of Silicon Valley become brittle.
President @meredithmeredith.bsky.social sees a shift underway as the monoliths of big tech lose popularity and the old economics of Silicon Valley become brittle.
Reposted by Al Ghaff
⚠️ The #DataBill will unleash AI ⚠️
Being stripped back is the right to human review over automated decisions – even if they have life-changing impacts.
Life mustn’t be haunted by the ghost in the machine.
Sign and share our petition to keep human review!
✍️ ⬇️
you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ai...
Being stripped back is the right to human review over automated decisions – even if they have life-changing impacts.
Life mustn’t be haunted by the ghost in the machine.
Sign and share our petition to keep human review!
✍️ ⬇️
you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ai...
November 19, 2024 at 6:57 PM
⚠️ The #DataBill will unleash AI ⚠️
Being stripped back is the right to human review over automated decisions – even if they have life-changing impacts.
Life mustn’t be haunted by the ghost in the machine.
Sign and share our petition to keep human review!
✍️ ⬇️
you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ai...
Being stripped back is the right to human review over automated decisions – even if they have life-changing impacts.
Life mustn’t be haunted by the ghost in the machine.
Sign and share our petition to keep human review!
✍️ ⬇️
you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/ai...
Reposted by Al Ghaff
'First-past-the-post has just delivered the most disproportionate result in British history'
✍️ Labour MP @alexsobel.co.uk on the launch of the new Fair Elections APPG
✍️ Labour MP @alexsobel.co.uk on the launch of the new Fair Elections APPG
The government must tackle distrust in politics – starting with our voting system
If the fight for trust is “the battle that defines our age”, as the Prime Minister has said, it is a battle Westminster is losing.
www.politicshome.com
November 25, 2024 at 2:19 PM
'First-past-the-post has just delivered the most disproportionate result in British history'
✍️ Labour MP @alexsobel.co.uk on the launch of the new Fair Elections APPG
✍️ Labour MP @alexsobel.co.uk on the launch of the new Fair Elections APPG
UK gym scraps facial recognition following our pressure — Big Brother Watch
bigbrotherwatch.org.uk
November 18, 2024 at 6:30 PM