Gareth Cooper
@strangecolours.bsky.social
Earth, Technoethics, Mental Health, Urban Communities • 🇪🇺🇺🇦 • GCU (eccentric)
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
After 404 Media's months-long reporting and pressure from lawmakers, the data broker owned by the U.S.’s major airlines will now shut down a program in which it sold access to hundreds of millions of flight records to the government and let agencies track peoples’ movements without a warrant.
November 18, 2025 at 9:39 PM
After 404 Media's months-long reporting and pressure from lawmakers, the data broker owned by the U.S.’s major airlines will now shut down a program in which it sold access to hundreds of millions of flight records to the government and let agencies track peoples’ movements without a warrant.
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
Thousands of attorneys have left the Trump Justice Department this year. We talked to 60 about what alarmed them most. nyti.ms/3Xy2QiW
November 18, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Thousands of attorneys have left the Trump Justice Department this year. We talked to 60 about what alarmed them most. nyti.ms/3Xy2QiW
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
November 18, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
Europe’s rush to adopt AI in public services risks repeating mistakes in digital identity and procurement, writes Tech Policy Press Contributing Editor Amber Sinha. He urges governments to set clear goals and resist vendor-driven agendas to ensure technology truly serves the public.
AI Procurement and the Capture of Public Purpose | TechPolicy.Press
As the EU ramps up AI adoption, Amber Sinha raises questions about public procurement, vendor influence, and how governments ensure accountability.
buff.ly
November 17, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Europe’s rush to adopt AI in public services risks repeating mistakes in digital identity and procurement, writes Tech Policy Press Contributing Editor Amber Sinha. He urges governments to set clear goals and resist vendor-driven agendas to ensure technology truly serves the public.
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
The rise of personal AI or digital duplicates raises urgent questions about consent, data rights, and identity, writes Mark Fenwick and Paul Jurcys. They propose a new social contract to govern these digital selves and preserve human dignity and autonomy.
Digital Twins Demand a New Social Contract | TechPolicy.Press
Mark Fenwick and Paul Jurcys discuss how digital twins and personal AI raise new questions about consent, data control, and identity.
www.techpolicy.press
November 18, 2025 at 4:39 PM
The rise of personal AI or digital duplicates raises urgent questions about consent, data rights, and identity, writes Mark Fenwick and Paul Jurcys. They propose a new social contract to govern these digital selves and preserve human dignity and autonomy.
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
With consumers now frequently being asked to decide between ad-funded and subscription-based access to digital content, it’s worth considering the role of data portability in preserving truly meaningful choice, writes Tom Fish, Head of Europe for the Data Transfer Initiative.
Data Portability Can Restore Real Consumer Choice Between ‘Consent or Pay’ Offerings Online | TechPolicy.Press
More choice is good, paying for services is normal, relevant advertising is useful, people must be able to say no, and monopolies need oversight, says Tom Fish.
www.techpolicy.press
November 18, 2025 at 4:41 PM
With consumers now frequently being asked to decide between ad-funded and subscription-based access to digital content, it’s worth considering the role of data portability in preserving truly meaningful choice, writes Tom Fish, Head of Europe for the Data Transfer Initiative.
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
A reminder that seven years ago almost to the day, the CIA determined that Mohammed Bin Salman ordered the killing of @washingtonpost.com journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
I hired and worked with Jamal for a year.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...
I hired and worked with Jamal for a year.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...
CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination
Audio recordings, intercepted phone calls and other intelligence link Mohammed bin Salman to killing that Saudis say was conducted by rogue elements.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:05 PM
A reminder that seven years ago almost to the day, the CIA determined that Mohammed Bin Salman ordered the killing of @washingtonpost.com journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
I hired and worked with Jamal for a year.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...
I hired and worked with Jamal for a year.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
You can oversee the bloody dismemberment of a Washington Post journalist with a bone saw, and the president of the United States will smile, shake your hand and threaten to pull the license of a news outlet whose reporter asks you a question about it.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
Trump defends Saudi crown prince over Khashoggi killing
The de facto Saudi ruler was branded a pariah in 2018 after the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Now, U.S.-Saudi relations are approaching a high point.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:11 PM
You can oversee the bloody dismemberment of a Washington Post journalist with a bone saw, and the president of the United States will smile, shake your hand and threaten to pull the license of a news outlet whose reporter asks you a question about it.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
This mural has gone up in Kingston, ostensibly for Christmas but AI has ensured it's actually to celebrate the return of our dark lord Cthulhu
November 18, 2025 at 9:44 AM
This mural has gone up in Kingston, ostensibly for Christmas but AI has ensured it's actually to celebrate the return of our dark lord Cthulhu
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
6/Neo-royalism asks what happens to international politics when small groups of hyper elites (royalist cliques) become the central actor in world politics rather than the state. In short, tribute/extraction and exceptionalism replace rules and sovereign equality. Its all about the squeeze.
November 18, 2025 at 2:12 PM
6/Neo-royalism asks what happens to international politics when small groups of hyper elites (royalist cliques) become the central actor in world politics rather than the state. In short, tribute/extraction and exceptionalism replace rules and sovereign equality. Its all about the squeeze.
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
A devastating take-down of the Shabana Farage asylum plans by Zoe Gardner.
Most asylum seekers arrive with their valuables long lost in bombed or abandoned homes, stolen, or sold to afford the dangerous clandestine passage to safety
The real thing of value to be snatched from refugees under these proposals is far more painful: their families & futures
Me, for @zeteo.com
The real thing of value to be snatched from refugees under these proposals is far more painful: their families & futures
Me, for @zeteo.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:32 AM
A devastating take-down of the Shabana Farage asylum plans by Zoe Gardner.
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
Abolishing police and crime commissioners now is putting the cart before the horse
The government should have firmed up its broader plans on English devolution and police reform before announcing the abolition of PCCs. @cassiarowland.bsky.social
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/poli...
The government should have firmed up its broader plans on English devolution and police reform before announcing the abolition of PCCs. @cassiarowland.bsky.social
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/poli...
Abolishing police and crime commissioners now is putting the cart before the horse | Institute for Government
The benefits of new ‘policing boards’ over police and crime commissioners are far from clear.
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk
November 18, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Abolishing police and crime commissioners now is putting the cart before the horse
The government should have firmed up its broader plans on English devolution and police reform before announcing the abolition of PCCs. @cassiarowland.bsky.social
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/poli...
The government should have firmed up its broader plans on English devolution and police reform before announcing the abolition of PCCs. @cassiarowland.bsky.social
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/poli...
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
Coming to the UK to seek safety, to live, work, be with family, should have no connection to people’s risk of destitution or hardship here. But unfortunately the links are all too real, and some of Government’s new policies could make this worse. 7/7 (Links to sources follow.)
November 18, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Coming to the UK to seek safety, to live, work, be with family, should have no connection to people’s risk of destitution or hardship here. But unfortunately the links are all too real, and some of Government’s new policies could make this worse. 7/7 (Links to sources follow.)
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
We see the high rates of hardship amongst people who have made the UK their home but are already not allowed to access the safety net (people with 'No Recourse to Public Funds' or NRPF) - around 6 in 10 low-income households with NRPF are cutting back or skipping meals. 6/7
November 18, 2025 at 8:30 AM
We see the high rates of hardship amongst people who have made the UK their home but are already not allowed to access the safety net (people with 'No Recourse to Public Funds' or NRPF) - around 6 in 10 low-income households with NRPF are cutting back or skipping meals. 6/7
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
No one in the UK should experience destitution - wherever they were born – and destitution should never be an acceptable outcome of policy. But some policies announced in the Home Secretary’s asylum statement risk increasing destitution. 🧵1/7 www.gov.uk/government/p...
November 18, 2025 at 8:30 AM
No one in the UK should experience destitution - wherever they were born – and destitution should never be an acceptable outcome of policy. But some policies announced in the Home Secretary’s asylum statement risk increasing destitution. 🧵1/7 www.gov.uk/government/p...
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
Weirdest request yet: Can I scan your brain for a study on whether spec fic writers have more empathy than others. Fuck right off, for various reasons.
November 17, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Weirdest request yet: Can I scan your brain for a study on whether spec fic writers have more empathy than others. Fuck right off, for various reasons.
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
Refugees and "controlled immigration" are seperate issues. The first is a humanitarian issue, the second is an economic one. As different issues, they need different policies. The only ones throwing them into one pot should be the far-right.
November 17, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Refugees and "controlled immigration" are seperate issues. The first is a humanitarian issue, the second is an economic one. As different issues, they need different policies. The only ones throwing them into one pot should be the far-right.
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
We sold our water to foreign billionaires. Now we’re handing them our health data.
Government’s last chance to keep control of digital
Digital sovereignty isn’t optional anymore. We sold our water to foreign billionaires. Now we’re handing them our health data
yorkshirebylines.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 9:35 AM
We sold our water to foreign billionaires. Now we’re handing them our health data.
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
Can a digital double be 'utopian' if it's corporate property?
My late, brilliant friend Simon James & I explored this using H.G. Wells 'perfected' utopian double, not a creator; an administrator.
We're teaching AI to be administrators, not to be curious.
www.mariannhardey.com/technologica...
My late, brilliant friend Simon James & I explored this using H.G. Wells 'perfected' utopian double, not a creator; an administrator.
We're teaching AI to be administrators, not to be curious.
www.mariannhardey.com/technologica...
My Utopian Double, Simon’s Argument, and the Oligarchs Who Own Us
Image by Mariann Hardey, 2025
www.mariannhardey.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Can a digital double be 'utopian' if it's corporate property?
My late, brilliant friend Simon James & I explored this using H.G. Wells 'perfected' utopian double, not a creator; an administrator.
We're teaching AI to be administrators, not to be curious.
www.mariannhardey.com/technologica...
My late, brilliant friend Simon James & I explored this using H.G. Wells 'perfected' utopian double, not a creator; an administrator.
We're teaching AI to be administrators, not to be curious.
www.mariannhardey.com/technologica...
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
ICYMI, Ofcom has published the evidence submitted to its consultation on additional duties for categorised services. 41 submissions here. #OnlineSafetyAct www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet...
Call for evidence: Third phase of online safety regulation
We are seeking evidence to inform the codes of practice and guidance that Ofcom produces to implement the third phase of online safety regulation.
www.ofcom.org.uk
November 17, 2025 at 5:08 PM
ICYMI, Ofcom has published the evidence submitted to its consultation on additional duties for categorised services. 41 submissions here. #OnlineSafetyAct www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safet...
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
In applying AI to material science, biology, etc, capitalism is trying to shed science.
The point is to substitute the engineering of a machine that can generate what science has hitherto done, but without having people know things. Knowledge ultimately residing in private property is the dream.
The point is to substitute the engineering of a machine that can generate what science has hitherto done, but without having people know things. Knowledge ultimately residing in private property is the dream.
Jeff Bezos Creates A.I. Start-Up Where He Will Be Co-Chief Executive
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:12 PM
In applying AI to material science, biology, etc, capitalism is trying to shed science.
The point is to substitute the engineering of a machine that can generate what science has hitherto done, but without having people know things. Knowledge ultimately residing in private property is the dream.
The point is to substitute the engineering of a machine that can generate what science has hitherto done, but without having people know things. Knowledge ultimately residing in private property is the dream.
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
Six weeks since the PM said Britain faced a choice between decency or division and our bad, obviously, for not understanding that he was in fact Team Division
November 17, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Six weeks since the PM said Britain faced a choice between decency or division and our bad, obviously, for not understanding that he was in fact Team Division
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
Russia has embraced a novel technique: Sabotage-as-a-Service.💣
It’s outsourcing disruption like gig work. Immigrants and petty criminals are recruited via Telegram with offers of quick jobs: hang a poster, set fire to a telecom box, cut a cable, snap a photo. Cheap. Simple. Anonymous.
It’s outsourcing disruption like gig work. Immigrants and petty criminals are recruited via Telegram with offers of quick jobs: hang a poster, set fire to a telecom box, cut a cable, snap a photo. Cheap. Simple. Anonymous.
August 20, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Russia has embraced a novel technique: Sabotage-as-a-Service.💣
It’s outsourcing disruption like gig work. Immigrants and petty criminals are recruited via Telegram with offers of quick jobs: hang a poster, set fire to a telecom box, cut a cable, snap a photo. Cheap. Simple. Anonymous.
It’s outsourcing disruption like gig work. Immigrants and petty criminals are recruited via Telegram with offers of quick jobs: hang a poster, set fire to a telecom box, cut a cable, snap a photo. Cheap. Simple. Anonymous.
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
After a year of sucking up, the PM can’t even get Donald Trump on the phone as he tries to destroy one of our most important institutions, the BBC.
Was the state visit really worth this?
Was the state visit really worth this?
November 17, 2025 at 1:15 PM
After a year of sucking up, the PM can’t even get Donald Trump on the phone as he tries to destroy one of our most important institutions, the BBC.
Was the state visit really worth this?
Was the state visit really worth this?
Reposted by Gareth Cooper
"I'm going to propose to my girlfriend, do you have any engagement rings?"
"How about this one, it was forcibly ripped off the hand of a homeless Sudanese widow tearfully pleading that it was all she had left of her husband?"
"How about this one, it was forcibly ripped off the hand of a homeless Sudanese widow tearfully pleading that it was all she had left of her husband?"
The Sun has been told Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will on Monday propose confiscating jewellery, watches, necklaces from asylum seekers to meet asylum costs
This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT
This reflects the most controversial aspect of the Danish scheme - the Jewellery Law. The toughest Labour MPs thought this was OTT
November 17, 2025 at 12:46 PM
"I'm going to propose to my girlfriend, do you have any engagement rings?"
"How about this one, it was forcibly ripped off the hand of a homeless Sudanese widow tearfully pleading that it was all she had left of her husband?"
"How about this one, it was forcibly ripped off the hand of a homeless Sudanese widow tearfully pleading that it was all she had left of her husband?"