The Nexus of Privacy
@thenexusofprivacy.net
A newsletter about technology, justice, equity, and strategy -- including privacy, AI, and social networks. Posts by @jdp23.thenexus.today
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I for one welcome Bluesky, the ATmosphere, BTS ARMY, millions of Brazilians, Black Twitter, and sex worker Twitter to the fediverses! (UPDATED)
Now also welcoming Black Twitter and sex worker Twitter!
privacy.thenexus.today
UPDATED: I for one welcome Bluesky, the ATmosphere, BTS ARMY, millions of Brazilians, Black Twitter, and sex worker Twitter to the fediverses!
privacy.thenexus.today/bluesky-atmo...
Yeah it's a long title, Black Twitter and sex worker Twitter are hugely important -- and should be recognized!
privacy.thenexus.today/bluesky-atmo...
Yeah it's a long title, Black Twitter and sex worker Twitter are hugely important -- and should be recognized!
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
If you want to enable WhatsApp’s “Advanced Chat Privacy” in group chats, you might also want to lock down the permissions of that chat first. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
What WhatsApp’s “Advanced Chat Privacy” Really Does
In April, WhatsApp launched its “Advanced Chat Privacy” feature, which, once enabled, disables using certain AI features in chats and prevents conversations from being exported. Since its launch, an
www.eff.org
November 21, 2025 at 10:04 PM
If you want to enable WhatsApp’s “Advanced Chat Privacy” in group chats, you might also want to lock down the permissions of that chat first. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
A roundup of personal data consolidation, surveillance, and destruction-of-oversight news from the @unbreaking.org Data Security team, who will surely be having amazing conversations at various dinners next week.
The federal government continues to roll new datasets into its surveillance operation and use them to target immigrants. We learned this week that ICE’s Mobile Companion app now includes driver’s license data:
www.404media.co/this-app-let...
www.404media.co/this-app-let...
This App Lets ICE Track Vehicles and Owners Across the Country
Material viewed by 404 Media shows data giant Thomson Reuters enriches license plate data with marriage, voter, and ownership records. The tool can predict where a car may be in the future.
www.404media.co
November 21, 2025 at 10:23 PM
A roundup of personal data consolidation, surveillance, and destruction-of-oversight news from the @unbreaking.org Data Security team, who will surely be having amazing conversations at various dinners next week.
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
Add Massachusetts to the list of states that has protections to keep out-of-state law enforcement from getting access to in-state surveillance data---but Flock Safety has still made that data available to police around the country. Well done, @jaystanley.bsky.social.
Flock Can Share Driver-Surveillance Data Even When Police Departments Opt Out, And Other Flock Developments | ACLU
The company’s default agreement with police departments grants the company license to share people’s license plate data
www.aclu.org
October 24, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Add Massachusetts to the list of states that has protections to keep out-of-state law enforcement from getting access to in-state surveillance data---but Flock Safety has still made that data available to police around the country. Well done, @jaystanley.bsky.social.
As a complement to Erin's post, I've been working on some threat modeling (including mitigations) for responding to this situation here in the ATmosphere as well as on fedi. This is at a very early stage ... feedback welcome!
thenexusofprivacy.leaflet.pub/3m3tn33jfyk2n
thenexusofprivacy.leaflet.pub/3m3tn33jfyk2n
October 23, 2025 at 6:06 AM
As a complement to Erin's post, I've been working on some threat modeling (including mitigations) for responding to this situation here in the ATmosphere as well as on fedi. This is at a very early stage ... feedback welcome!
thenexusofprivacy.leaflet.pub/3m3tn33jfyk2n
thenexusofprivacy.leaflet.pub/3m3tn33jfyk2n
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
Overflowing room for our session on Indigenous data governance and the @localcontexts.bsky.social labeling tools. People are eager to learn tools to support Indigenous communities governance of their data #LivingData2025
October 22, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Overflowing room for our session on Indigenous data governance and the @localcontexts.bsky.social labeling tools. People are eager to learn tools to support Indigenous communities governance of their data #LivingData2025
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
There was already a *lot* going on with Bluesky, and now it's under even more pressure. I wrote about how I think about moderation, affordances, expectations, human needs, and powerful trolls for @techpolicypress.bsky.social
www.techpolicy.press/trump-admini...
www.techpolicy.press/trump-admini...
Trump Administration's Arrival on Bluesky Highlights Growing Pains for Open Networks | TechPolicy.Press
The administration’s antagonistic entry to the platform is best understood as a game of chicken, writes Erin Kissane.
www.techpolicy.press
October 22, 2025 at 6:08 PM
There was already a *lot* going on with Bluesky, and now it's under even more pressure. I wrote about how I think about moderation, affordances, expectations, human needs, and powerful trolls for @techpolicypress.bsky.social
www.techpolicy.press/trump-admini...
www.techpolicy.press/trump-admini...
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
This is what solidarity looks like
thenexusofprivacy.net/what-solidar...
Part 2 of “Decentralization” and erasure: Blacksky, Bluesky, and the ATmosphere
Here's a thread with some highlights (🧵)
thenexusofprivacy.net/what-solidar...
Part 2 of “Decentralization” and erasure: Blacksky, Bluesky, and the ATmosphere
Here's a thread with some highlights (🧵)
This is what solidarity looks like
Part 2 of "Decentralization" and Erasure: Blacksky, Bluesky, and the ATmosphere
thenexusofprivacy.net
September 11, 2025 at 4:55 PM
This is what solidarity looks like
thenexusofprivacy.net/what-solidar...
Part 2 of “Decentralization” and erasure: Blacksky, Bluesky, and the ATmosphere
Here's a thread with some highlights (🧵)
thenexusofprivacy.net/what-solidar...
Part 2 of “Decentralization” and erasure: Blacksky, Bluesky, and the ATmosphere
Here's a thread with some highlights (🧵)
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
So far, I've been mostly ignoring Bluesky, with the attitude "Wake me up when I can do Bluesky without doing business with Bluesky the company."
@jdp23 just woke me up!
https://thenexusofprivacy.net/what-solidarity-looks-like/
I'm using a private PDS run by a friend, and using it to log into […]
@jdp23 just woke me up!
https://thenexusofprivacy.net/what-solidarity-looks-like/
I'm using a private PDS run by a friend, and using it to log into […]
Original post on a2mi.social
a2mi.social
September 11, 2025 at 8:36 PM
So far, I've been mostly ignoring Bluesky, with the attitude "Wake me up when I can do Bluesky without doing business with Bluesky the company."
@jdp23 just woke me up!
https://thenexusofprivacy.net/what-solidarity-looks-like/
I'm using a private PDS run by a friend, and using it to log into […]
@jdp23 just woke me up!
https://thenexusofprivacy.net/what-solidarity-looks-like/
I'm using a private PDS run by a friend, and using it to log into […]
This is what solidarity looks like
thenexusofprivacy.net/what-solidar...
Part 2 of “Decentralization” and erasure: Blacksky, Bluesky, and the ATmosphere
Here's a thread with some highlights (🧵)
thenexusofprivacy.net/what-solidar...
Part 2 of “Decentralization” and erasure: Blacksky, Bluesky, and the ATmosphere
Here's a thread with some highlights (🧵)
This is what solidarity looks like
Part 2 of "Decentralization" and Erasure: Blacksky, Bluesky, and the ATmosphere
thenexusofprivacy.net
September 11, 2025 at 4:55 PM
This is what solidarity looks like
thenexusofprivacy.net/what-solidar...
Part 2 of “Decentralization” and erasure: Blacksky, Bluesky, and the ATmosphere
Here's a thread with some highlights (🧵)
thenexusofprivacy.net/what-solidar...
Part 2 of “Decentralization” and erasure: Blacksky, Bluesky, and the ATmosphere
Here's a thread with some highlights (🧵)
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
Accessibility in the ATmosphere?
The current state of accessibiilty on Bluesky leaves a lot of room for improvement. So, let's start making things better!
thenexusofprivacy.leaflet.pub/3lxxyg36k5s2t
As a first step, let's focus on gathering information ...
#accessibility. (🧵, 1/N)
The current state of accessibiilty on Bluesky leaves a lot of room for improvement. So, let's start making things better!
thenexusofprivacy.leaflet.pub/3lxxyg36k5s2t
As a first step, let's focus on gathering information ...
#accessibility. (🧵, 1/N)
Accessibility in the ATmosphere? - The Nexus of Privacy
Suggestions for resources and tips? Ideas for improvements?
thenexusofprivacy.leaflet.pub
September 4, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Accessibility in the ATmosphere?
The current state of accessibiilty on Bluesky leaves a lot of room for improvement. So, let's start making things better!
thenexusofprivacy.leaflet.pub/3lxxyg36k5s2t
As a first step, let's focus on gathering information ...
#accessibility. (🧵, 1/N)
The current state of accessibiilty on Bluesky leaves a lot of room for improvement. So, let's start making things better!
thenexusofprivacy.leaflet.pub/3lxxyg36k5s2t
As a first step, let's focus on gathering information ...
#accessibility. (🧵, 1/N)
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
OK! Today's the day! Kicking off the home for the #PrivateDataWG in the new @atprotocol.dev hosted Discourse forum
Thanks to @ngerakines.me for spinning up the infra, including login with ATProto powered by AIP
If you're interested in Private Data, login and introduce yourself.
Thanks to @ngerakines.me for spinning up the infra, including login with ATProto powered by AIP
If you're interested in Private Data, login and introduce yourself.
Introductions and kick off
Hello! It’s time to kick off the Private Data Working Group! The goal of this group is to coordinate on implementations, documentation, interop of private data solutions for AT Proto. This may be off...
discourse.atprotocol.community
September 4, 2025 at 10:52 PM
OK! Today's the day! Kicking off the home for the #PrivateDataWG in the new @atprotocol.dev hosted Discourse forum
Thanks to @ngerakines.me for spinning up the infra, including login with ATProto powered by AIP
If you're interested in Private Data, login and introduce yourself.
Thanks to @ngerakines.me for spinning up the infra, including login with ATProto powered by AIP
If you're interested in Private Data, login and introduce yourself.
Accessibility in the ATmosphere?
The current state of accessibiilty on Bluesky leaves a lot of room for improvement. So, let's start making things better!
thenexusofprivacy.leaflet.pub/3lxxyg36k5s2t
As a first step, let's focus on gathering information ...
#accessibility. (🧵, 1/N)
The current state of accessibiilty on Bluesky leaves a lot of room for improvement. So, let's start making things better!
thenexusofprivacy.leaflet.pub/3lxxyg36k5s2t
As a first step, let's focus on gathering information ...
#accessibility. (🧵, 1/N)
Accessibility in the ATmosphere? - The Nexus of Privacy
Suggestions for resources and tips? Ideas for improvements?
thenexusofprivacy.leaflet.pub
September 4, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Accessibility in the ATmosphere?
The current state of accessibiilty on Bluesky leaves a lot of room for improvement. So, let's start making things better!
thenexusofprivacy.leaflet.pub/3lxxyg36k5s2t
As a first step, let's focus on gathering information ...
#accessibility. (🧵, 1/N)
The current state of accessibiilty on Bluesky leaves a lot of room for improvement. So, let's start making things better!
thenexusofprivacy.leaflet.pub/3lxxyg36k5s2t
As a first step, let's focus on gathering information ...
#accessibility. (🧵, 1/N)
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
Mississippi, Bluesky, Blacksky, the ATmosphere, Mastodon, and the Fediverse
privacy.thenexus.today/mississippi-...
A summary of the situation (both in the ATmosphere and the Fediverse) links to a bunch of interesting discussions, and an appendix on just why age verification laws are so bad. 🧵
privacy.thenexus.today/mississippi-...
A summary of the situation (both in the ATmosphere and the Fediverse) links to a bunch of interesting discussions, and an appendix on just why age verification laws are so bad. 🧵
Mississippi, Bluesky, Blacksky, the ATmosphere, Mastodon, and the Fediverse
Now's a good time to start thinking seriously about some hard questions
privacy.thenexus.today
August 28, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Mississippi, Bluesky, Blacksky, the ATmosphere, Mastodon, and the Fediverse
privacy.thenexus.today/mississippi-...
A summary of the situation (both in the ATmosphere and the Fediverse) links to a bunch of interesting discussions, and an appendix on just why age verification laws are so bad. 🧵
privacy.thenexus.today/mississippi-...
A summary of the situation (both in the ATmosphere and the Fediverse) links to a bunch of interesting discussions, and an appendix on just why age verification laws are so bad. 🧵
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
ICYMI: Amazon still doing Amazon things
The company is not only reintroducing new versions of old features that allow police to access footage from Ring users
Amazon is introducing a new Ring feature that will allow police to request *livestream* access to our home security devices.
@eff.org
The company is not only reintroducing new versions of old features that allow police to access footage from Ring users
Amazon is introducing a new Ring feature that will allow police to request *livestream* access to our home security devices.
@eff.org
Amazon Ring Cashes in on Techno-Authoritarianism and Mass Surveillance
Ring founder Jamie Siminoff is back at the helm of the surveillance doorbell company, and with him is the surveillance-first-privacy-last approach that made Ring one of the most maligned tech devices....
www.eff.org
August 2, 2025 at 9:20 PM
ICYMI: Amazon still doing Amazon things
The company is not only reintroducing new versions of old features that allow police to access footage from Ring users
Amazon is introducing a new Ring feature that will allow police to request *livestream* access to our home security devices.
@eff.org
The company is not only reintroducing new versions of old features that allow police to access footage from Ring users
Amazon is introducing a new Ring feature that will allow police to request *livestream* access to our home security devices.
@eff.org
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
The RuralPrivacy.org page is finally live!
Help add to our growing library of peer-created templates and community education materials, so we can interrupt the creep of surveillance tech in towns both big and small.
Help add to our growing library of peer-created templates and community education materials, so we can interrupt the creep of surveillance tech in towns both big and small.
July 24, 2025 at 8:01 PM
The RuralPrivacy.org page is finally live!
Help add to our growing library of peer-created templates and community education materials, so we can interrupt the creep of surveillance tech in towns both big and small.
Help add to our growing library of peer-created templates and community education materials, so we can interrupt the creep of surveillance tech in towns both big and small.
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
A credit-reporting agency falsely claimed people were terrorists. When the citizens sued, guess who the courts sided with.
I spoke w/ @daniel-solove.bsky.social on techtonic.fm about how our privacy is being destroyed. Often, he says, "the law is the villain."
buttondown.com/creativegood...
I spoke w/ @daniel-solove.bsky.social on techtonic.fm about how our privacy is being destroyed. Often, he says, "the law is the villain."
buttondown.com/creativegood...
Privacy scholar Daniel Solove: "We're entering a dark age"
I was happy to speak with Daniel Solove on Techtonic this week about his new book On Privacy and Technology. It’s a short, readable book covering all the...
buttondown.com
July 24, 2025 at 3:52 PM
A credit-reporting agency falsely claimed people were terrorists. When the citizens sued, guess who the courts sided with.
I spoke w/ @daniel-solove.bsky.social on techtonic.fm about how our privacy is being destroyed. Often, he says, "the law is the villain."
buttondown.com/creativegood...
I spoke w/ @daniel-solove.bsky.social on techtonic.fm about how our privacy is being destroyed. Often, he says, "the law is the villain."
buttondown.com/creativegood...
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
Study finds A.I. LLMs advise women to ask for lower salaries than men. When prompted w/ a user profile of same education, experience & job role, differing only by gender, ChatGPT advised the female applicant to request $280K salary; Male applicant=$400K.
thenextweb.com/news/chatgpt...
thenextweb.com/news/chatgpt...
ChatGPT advises women to ask for lower salaries, study finds
A new study has found that large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT consistently advise women to ask for lower salaries than men.
thenextweb.com
July 20, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Study finds A.I. LLMs advise women to ask for lower salaries than men. When prompted w/ a user profile of same education, experience & job role, differing only by gender, ChatGPT advised the female applicant to request $280K salary; Male applicant=$400K.
thenextweb.com/news/chatgpt...
thenextweb.com/news/chatgpt...
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
"To keep the US happy, Mark Carney’s Liberal government is pushing Bill C-2 — expanding surveillance, limiting refugee protections, and eroding privacy in the name of national security. It’s Canada’s own PATRIOT Act, minus the excuse of an actual attack. " buff.ly/ct1U1O2
The Great Canadian Rights Grab
To keep the US happy, Mark Carney’s Liberal government is pushing Bill C-2 — expanding surveillance, limiting refugee protections, and eroding privacy in the name of national security. It’s Canada’s…
jacobin.com
July 22, 2025 at 7:30 PM
"To keep the US happy, Mark Carney’s Liberal government is pushing Bill C-2 — expanding surveillance, limiting refugee protections, and eroding privacy in the name of national security. It’s Canada’s own PATRIOT Act, minus the excuse of an actual attack. " buff.ly/ct1U1O2
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
📣Surveillance in the Majority world Network's newsletter is out!
Surveillance in the Majority World Newsletter | July 2025
We share research/stories/podcasts that caught our attention.
surveillance-majority-world.net
July 18, 2025 at 6:10 PM
📣Surveillance in the Majority world Network's newsletter is out!
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
My university has announced a fund to essentially poach doctoral students from US institutions. DM me if you do work on the history/social impacts of AI and are interested in being poached 😂
July 17, 2025 at 8:17 PM
My university has announced a fund to essentially poach doctoral students from US institutions. DM me if you do work on the history/social impacts of AI and are interested in being poached 😂
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
ICE officials will be receiving access to the personal data of nearly 80 million people on Medicaid in order to acquire "information concerning the identification and location of aliens in the United States,” according to an agreement viewed by WIRED.
ICE Is Getting Unprecedented Access to Medicaid Data
A new agreement viewed by WIRED gives ICE direct access to a federal database containing sensitive medical data on tens of millions of Americans, with the goal of locating immigrants.
www.wired.com
July 17, 2025 at 9:55 PM
ICE officials will be receiving access to the personal data of nearly 80 million people on Medicaid in order to acquire "information concerning the identification and location of aliens in the United States,” according to an agreement viewed by WIRED.
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
This is truly wild: @josephcox.bsky.social got the user manual for ICE's new facial recognition app, which appears to be one of the most powerful face rec systems ever because it is connected to tons of different government databases and surveillance systems
www.404media.co/inside-ices-...
www.404media.co/inside-ices-...
Inside ICE’s Supercharged Facial Recognition App of 200 Million Images
404 Media has seen user manuals for Mobile Fortify, ICE’s new facial recognition app which allows officers to instantly look up DHS, State Department, and state law enforcement databases by just point...
www.404media.co
July 17, 2025 at 4:45 PM
This is truly wild: @josephcox.bsky.social got the user manual for ICE's new facial recognition app, which appears to be one of the most powerful face rec systems ever because it is connected to tons of different government databases and surveillance systems
www.404media.co/inside-ices-...
www.404media.co/inside-ices-...
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
We ran a randomized controlled trial to see how much AI coding tools speed up experienced open-source developers.
The results surprised us: Developers thought they were 20% faster with AI tools, but they were actually 19% slower when they had access to AI than when they didn't.
The results surprised us: Developers thought they were 20% faster with AI tools, but they were actually 19% slower when they had access to AI than when they didn't.
July 10, 2025 at 7:47 PM
We ran a randomized controlled trial to see how much AI coding tools speed up experienced open-source developers.
The results surprised us: Developers thought they were 20% faster with AI tools, but they were actually 19% slower when they had access to AI than when they didn't.
The results surprised us: Developers thought they were 20% faster with AI tools, but they were actually 19% slower when they had access to AI than when they didn't.
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
New Article! I interviewed those involved in drafting ADPPA, the American Data Privacy & Protection Act, & reviewed primary sources. I tell the story of how law, legal processes, and influences on civil society skewed ADPPA in industry-friendly ways.
scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/cgi/viewcont...
scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/cgi/viewcont...
scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu
June 30, 2025 at 4:58 PM
New Article! I interviewed those involved in drafting ADPPA, the American Data Privacy & Protection Act, & reviewed primary sources. I tell the story of how law, legal processes, and influences on civil society skewed ADPPA in industry-friendly ways.
scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/cgi/viewcont...
scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/cgi/viewcont...
Reposted by The Nexus of Privacy
In 2020, the Boston City Council passed a surveillance ordinance, requiring for the first time that police provide details about how they use approved technologies. Now, for the first time, we can see how BPD uses its vast network of surveillance cameras. data.aclum.org/article/vide...
What we know (and what we don't know) about BPD’s surveillance camera network
The ACLU of Massachusetts analyzed data from Boston Police Department about how they are using their 1,300+ surveillance video cameras.
data.aclum.org
June 25, 2025 at 4:46 PM
In 2020, the Boston City Council passed a surveillance ordinance, requiring for the first time that police provide details about how they use approved technologies. Now, for the first time, we can see how BPD uses its vast network of surveillance cameras. data.aclum.org/article/vide...