Ben Collier
@susansegfault.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer at University of Edinburgh in STS. Criminologist and author of Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy. Chair of the Foundation for Information Policy Research. Researching power and harm in digital infrastructure. Pfp Jamie Buchan
Pinned
Tor
A biography of Tor—a cultural and technological history of power, privacy, and global politics at the internet's core.Tor, one of the most important and mi...
mitpress.mit.edu
For any lovely people who haven't heard, or aren't totally sick of me going on about it, my book on @torproject.bsky.social - bizarrely, the first book to tell the secret history of the technology behind the so-called 'dark web' - is out. Buy here or any bookstore: mitpress.mit.edu/978026254818...
Reposted by Ben Collier
Open Access link:
direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...
direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...
Interception: State Surveillance from Postal Systems to Global Networks
A media history of how the UK and US governments have surveilled citizens by intercepting their private communications.It may not be Big Brother (yet), but
direct.mit.edu
May 28, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Open Access link:
direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...
direct.mit.edu/books/oa-mon...
Reposted by Ben Collier
December 10 is International Human Rights Day #HRD. Celebrate with us and the Tor Community! 💜Join our State of the Onion Day 2 broadcast in an hour:
📺https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZVk0kb7lhw
🧅http://xgsobitduxv7gcc5qlveigwiku7qcjn5exf4ayusw4mwq7kfrapmrjyd.onion/
📺https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZVk0kb7lhw
🧅http://xgsobitduxv7gcc5qlveigwiku7qcjn5exf4ayusw4mwq7kfrapmrjyd.onion/
December 10, 2025 at 3:48 PM
December 10 is International Human Rights Day #HRD. Celebrate with us and the Tor Community! 💜Join our State of the Onion Day 2 broadcast in an hour:
📺https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZVk0kb7lhw
🧅http://xgsobitduxv7gcc5qlveigwiku7qcjn5exf4ayusw4mwq7kfrapmrjyd.onion/
📺https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZVk0kb7lhw
🧅http://xgsobitduxv7gcc5qlveigwiku7qcjn5exf4ayusw4mwq7kfrapmrjyd.onion/
Reposted by Ben Collier
Community contributions are what power Tor, tune in Wed, Dec 10 at 1700 UTC for day 2 of our State of the Onion to hear directly from @ooni.org, The Guardian Project, @freedom.press, HushLine and more.
📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZVk...
🧅 xgsobitduxv7gcc5qlveigwiku7qcjn5exf4ayusw4mwq7kfrapmrjyd.onion
📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZVk...
🧅 xgsobitduxv7gcc5qlveigwiku7qcjn5exf4ayusw4mwq7kfrapmrjyd.onion
State of the Onion 2025 – Community Day
YouTube video by The Tor Project
www.youtube.com
December 8, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Community contributions are what power Tor, tune in Wed, Dec 10 at 1700 UTC for day 2 of our State of the Onion to hear directly from @ooni.org, The Guardian Project, @freedom.press, HushLine and more.
📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZVk...
🧅 xgsobitduxv7gcc5qlveigwiku7qcjn5exf4ayusw4mwq7kfrapmrjyd.onion
📺 www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZVk...
🧅 xgsobitduxv7gcc5qlveigwiku7qcjn5exf4ayusw4mwq7kfrapmrjyd.onion
Reposted by Ben Collier
Excited to announce @leverhulmecal.bsky.social posts - we are looking for 7 interdisciplinary fellows to join our Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life, closing date 30 January 2026 (1/3) durham.taleo.net/careersectio...
Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life Fellows - Assistant Professor (Research) G7 - G8
Click the link provided to see the complete job description.
durham.taleo.net
December 2, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Excited to announce @leverhulmecal.bsky.social posts - we are looking for 7 interdisciplinary fellows to join our Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life, closing date 30 January 2026 (1/3) durham.taleo.net/careersectio...
Reposted by Ben Collier
Striking for me as a physicist who also does social science work is the way these physicists were suddenly totally ok with autoethnography as data because they personally enjoyed using GPT-5. A case study in how values orient our empirical practices if there ever was one lol
November 27, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Striking for me as a physicist who also does social science work is the way these physicists were suddenly totally ok with autoethnography as data because they personally enjoyed using GPT-5. A case study in how values orient our empirical practices if there ever was one lol
Reposted by Ben Collier
I want to extend my full support to staff threatened with compulsory redundancy at the University of Edinburgh.
I have today written to the Principal imploring him to change direction.
I have today written to the Principal imploring him to change direction.
November 19, 2025 at 3:43 PM
I want to extend my full support to staff threatened with compulsory redundancy at the University of Edinburgh.
I have today written to the Principal imploring him to change direction.
I have today written to the Principal imploring him to change direction.
Reposted by Ben Collier
More technical report www.volexity.com/blog/2025/10... via the excellent @fipr-policy.bsky.social
APT Meets GPT: Targeted Operations with Untamed LLMs
Starting in June 2025, Volexity detected a series of spear phishing campaigns targeting several customers and their users in North America, Asia, and Europe. The initially observed campaigns were tail...
www.volexity.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:57 PM
More technical report www.volexity.com/blog/2025/10... via the excellent @fipr-policy.bsky.social
Thanks so much Wendy, I really enjoyed the chat :)
October 28, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Thanks so much Wendy, I really enjoyed the chat :)
Reposted by Ben Collier
In the latest episode of the @plutopia.io #podcast we interview @susansegfault.bsky.social Ben Collier about his new(ish) biograophy of the Tor Project: plutopia.io/ben-collier-...
Ben Collier: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy - Plutopia News Network
Ben Collier discusses his book "Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy," arguing that media overstates Tor's ties to crime.
plutopia.io
October 28, 2025 at 12:37 PM
In the latest episode of the @plutopia.io #podcast we interview @susansegfault.bsky.social Ben Collier about his new(ish) biograophy of the Tor Project: plutopia.io/ben-collier-...
Thanks Martin :) really appreciate it!
October 28, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Thanks Martin :) really appreciate it!
Reposted by Ben Collier
A very good book on the history of an important privacy tool.
Had a lovely time on the Plutopia podcast talking about my book - Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy.
Listen here:
plutopia.io/ben-collier-...
Listen here:
plutopia.io/ben-collier-...
Ben Collier: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy - Plutopia News Network
Ben Collier discusses his book "Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy," arguing that media overstates Tor's ties to crime.
plutopia.io
October 28, 2025 at 12:37 PM
A very good book on the history of an important privacy tool.
And thanks as ever to the @torproject.org and the wider community - the research I do is totally independent from them but they've always been lovely and open and supportive.
October 28, 2025 at 12:28 PM
And thanks as ever to the @torproject.org and the wider community - the research I do is totally independent from them but they've always been lovely and open and supportive.
Had a lovely time on the Plutopia podcast talking about my book - Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy.
Listen here:
plutopia.io/ben-collier-...
Listen here:
plutopia.io/ben-collier-...
Ben Collier: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy - Plutopia News Network
Ben Collier discusses his book "Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy," arguing that media overstates Tor's ties to crime.
plutopia.io
October 28, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Had a lovely time on the Plutopia podcast talking about my book - Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy.
Listen here:
plutopia.io/ben-collier-...
Listen here:
plutopia.io/ben-collier-...
Early tetrapod gaining overwhelming evolutionary advantage by being weird about Ferrante
October 27, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Early tetrapod gaining overwhelming evolutionary advantage by being weird about Ferrante
Reposted by Ben Collier
Honestly feel like Labour on immigration is a political and moral crisis with potentially scary consequences
Worth saying that despite asking for more than 12 hours we’ve had nothing back from Labour on this
A Conservative MP tipped as a future party leader has been condemned for saying large numbers of legally settled families must be deported, in order to ensure the UK is mostly “culturally coherent”.
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
October 20, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Honestly feel like Labour on immigration is a political and moral crisis with potentially scary consequences
Reposted by Ben Collier
While they’re at it, they could pay more attention to the human rights problems with their Additional Measures proactive technology proposals. @douwekorff.bsky.social’s consultation submission here, referencing my blogpost as ‘typical British understatement’ 😀. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Fully-automated free speech-killing robots are incompatible with European and UK fundamental rights
<div>
In the UK, the communications services regulator, Ofcom, has issued for consultation proposed guidance to user-to-user (U2U) platforms and search engines
papers.ssrn.com
October 19, 2025 at 9:14 AM
While they’re at it, they could pay more attention to the human rights problems with their Additional Measures proactive technology proposals. @douwekorff.bsky.social’s consultation submission here, referencing my blogpost as ‘typical British understatement’ 😀. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Ben Collier
I actually don't really care if AI is useful/interesting/good for some things in education actually - it is besides these things clearly a big problem already that maybe need listing yet again:
October 11, 2025 at 10:20 PM
I actually don't really care if AI is useful/interesting/good for some things in education actually - it is besides these things clearly a big problem already that maybe need listing yet again:
Reposted by Ben Collier
Jamie Buchan, Sarah Anderson, and Katrina Morrison have published a 'Criminal Justice in Scotland' textbook 📚🍷📖👏
I had the joy of chairing their well attended book launch today.
It has gone straight onto #Criminology Uni reading lists.
🔗
www.routledge.com/Criminal-Jus...
@kmmorrison.bsky.social
I had the joy of chairing their well attended book launch today.
It has gone straight onto #Criminology Uni reading lists.
🔗
www.routledge.com/Criminal-Jus...
@kmmorrison.bsky.social
October 7, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Jamie Buchan, Sarah Anderson, and Katrina Morrison have published a 'Criminal Justice in Scotland' textbook 📚🍷📖👏
I had the joy of chairing their well attended book launch today.
It has gone straight onto #Criminology Uni reading lists.
🔗
www.routledge.com/Criminal-Jus...
@kmmorrison.bsky.social
I had the joy of chairing their well attended book launch today.
It has gone straight onto #Criminology Uni reading lists.
🔗
www.routledge.com/Criminal-Jus...
@kmmorrison.bsky.social
Reposted by Ben Collier
📣 Germany's close to reversing its opposition to mass surveillance & private message scanning, & backing the Chat Control bill. This could end private comms-& Signal-in the EU.
Time's short and they're counting on obscurity: please let German politicians know how horrifying their reversal would be.
Time's short and they're counting on obscurity: please let German politicians know how horrifying their reversal would be.
We are alarmed by reports that Germany is on the verge of a catastrophic about-face, reversing its longstanding and principled opposition to the EU’s Chat Control proposal which, if passed, could spell the end of the right to privacy in Europe. signal.org/blog/pdfs/ge...
signal.org
October 6, 2025 at 6:46 AM
📣 Germany's close to reversing its opposition to mass surveillance & private message scanning, & backing the Chat Control bill. This could end private comms-& Signal-in the EU.
Time's short and they're counting on obscurity: please let German politicians know how horrifying their reversal would be.
Time's short and they're counting on obscurity: please let German politicians know how horrifying their reversal would be.
Hey look www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
October 1, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Hey look www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Ben Collier
Has this all be throught through. In short, this has all the makings of another fiasco like the Post Office scandal. People will be wrongly denied access to basic services, employment, and other aspects of day to day life when this all breaks down.
September 26, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Has this all be throught through. In short, this has all the makings of another fiasco like the Post Office scandal. People will be wrongly denied access to basic services, employment, and other aspects of day to day life when this all breaks down.
Reposted by Ben Collier
On the BritCard - in theory better government systems are a great idea, but implementing it requires very high levels of management competence to cope with the ambition and complexity; the costs will correspondingly be very high.
September 26, 2025 at 1:26 PM
On the BritCard - in theory better government systems are a great idea, but implementing it requires very high levels of management competence to cope with the ambition and complexity; the costs will correspondingly be very high.
Reposted by Ben Collier
Systems like this need real institutional legitimacy to work.
September 26, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Systems like this need real institutional legitimacy to work.
netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/09/26/t... great overview of the history and evidence on ID cards by Wendy
The absurdity card
Fifteen years ago, a new incoming government swept away a policy its immediate predecessors had been pushing since shortly after the 2001 9/11 attacks: identity
netwars.pelicancrossing.net
September 26, 2025 at 1:29 PM
netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/09/26/t... great overview of the history and evidence on ID cards by Wendy