Nicholas Lynn
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nicholaslynn.bsky.social
Nicholas Lynn
@nicholaslynn.bsky.social
35 followers 130 following 40 posts
Privacy and security
Ex-Google
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Reposted by Nicholas Lynn
ernie.tedium.co
If you have been sharing that Malwarebytes article on the Gmail thing, you should note the giant correction up top.

www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/20...
Update November 22. We’ve updated this article after realising we contributed to a perfect storm of misunderstanding around a recent change in the wording and placement of Gmail’s smart features. The settings themselves aren’t new, but the way Google recently rewrote and surfaced them led a lot of people (including us) to believe Gmail content might be used to train Google’s AI models, and that users were being opted in automatically. After taking a closer look at Google’s documentation and reviewing other reporting, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Gmail does scan email content to power its own “smart features,” such as spam filtering, categorisation, and writing suggestions. But this is part of how Gmail normally works and isn’t the same as training Google’s generative AI models. Google also maintains that these feature settings are opt-in rather than opt-out, although users’ experiences seem to vary depending on when and how the new wording appeared. It’s easy to see where the confusion came from. Google’s updated language around “smart features” is vague, and the term “smart” often implies AI—especially at a time when Gemini is being integrated into other parts of Google’s products. When the new wording started appearing for some users without much explanation, many assumed it signalled a broader shift. We’ve revised this article to reflect what we can confirm from Google’s documentation, as it’s always been our aim to give readers accurate, helpful guidance.
November 22, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Lynn
eff.org
We know very little about how cell-site simulators (CSS), devices that masquerade as legitimate cell-phone towers, are being deployed in the US or globally, but with Rayhunter, we hope to change that. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
Meet Rayhunter: A New Open Source Tool from EFF to Detect Cellular
Rayhunter is a new open source tool we’ve created that runs off an affordable mobile hotspot that we hope empowers everyone, regardless of technical skill, to help search out cell-site simulators
www.eff.org
August 26, 2025 at 10:56 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Lynn
eff.org
Developing a plan for if or when something bad happens online is a good practice for anyone, but especially a community of people who face increased risk. It’s important to strategize with your allies around what to do in the event of such things happening. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
Building a Community Privacy Plan
Everyone's security plans and situations will always be different, which is why we often say that security and privacy are a state of mind, not a purchase. But the first step is always taking a look
www.eff.org
August 25, 2025 at 11:47 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Lynn
scoiattolo.mountainherder.xyz
I really can't emphasize enough that it takes only about three pieces of information about someone to re-identify them. None of us are particularly anonymous if we have any sort of sustained online presence
6. The TXFC observed a post on the Bluesky account stating that his birthday was June 15th. Additionally, the Bluesky account user self-identified as 38 years old, indicating a likely date of birth (DOB) of 7. The Bluesky account user made additional posts about being in Cincinnati, Ohio. 8. The TXFC observed an additional post by the Bluesky account user regarding the death of his on 2025, at the age of years old. 9. The TXFC conducted open-source queries of obituaries matching the date of death of 2025, and likely location of Cincinnati, Ohio, and observed an obituary for [REDACTED] with a date of death of 2025. 10. Kelly’s obituary was reviewed, which included a listing of all grandchildren by name. The TXFC conducted Accurint searches for the last name [REDACTED], DOB of and location of Cincinnati, Ohio, and returned a match of [REDACTED]
August 15, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Reposted by Nicholas Lynn
sharonk.bsky.social
honestly "the chatbots are essentially the fae" would probably be better for normies as a mental model
fenn-boy.bsky.social 🌷 Vesper/Fidget 🌷 @fenn-boy.bsky.social · Aug 8
I truly think the fact that computers can now parse and respond in natural language, with the tint of a human personality, causes these systems to bypass the critical faculties of many people. AI becomes a mythcal hybrid creature, and we become fascinated in it, and grant it reverence.
faineg.bsky.social Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · Aug 8
It really does feel like a lot of formerly reasonable people have been infected by some sort of terrifying brain parasite when it comes to unthinking and total acceptance of using AI tools
August 10, 2025 at 3:32 AM
nicholaslynn.bsky.social
First clever method I've read on this--hope it works out as a saner alternative to uploading IDs
kupogames.bsky.social Matt "Kupo" Roszak 🌻🍉 @kupogames.bsky.social · Jul 30
Newgrounds' approach to verifying age is interesting and transparent.
July 31, 2025 at 6:19 AM
nicholaslynn.bsky.social
A pretty big privacy failure here. Identifying people from these kinds of things is often easy.
hypervisible.blacksky.app Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · Jun 12
“Meta does not indicate to users what their privacy settings are as they post, or where they are even posting to. So, if you log into Meta AI with Instagram, and your Instagram account is public, then so too are your searches about how to meet ‘big booty women.’”
The Meta AI app is a privacy disaster | TechCrunch
Meta does not indicate to users what their privacy settings are as they post, or where they are even posting to. So, if you log into Meta AI with Instagram, and your Instagram account is public, then ...
techcrunch.com
June 13, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Reposted by Nicholas Lynn
daphnek.bsky.social
Meta: We changed how we define bad stuff and also how we look for it. Here are some numbers!

News media: Meta announces change in quantity and prevalence of bad stuff!!

www.businessinsider.com/meta-says-on...
Meta says online harassment is up and false flags are down following a change in content moderation policies
The social media giant said it saw a slight uptick in bullying, harassment, and violent and graphic content.
www.businessinsider.com
May 31, 2025 at 3:09 PM
nicholaslynn.bsky.social
An solid look at a lot of the problems underlying behavior and abuse in online spaces, and good starting points for understanding the challenges in the space

pen.org/report/treat...
Treating Online Abuse Like Spam - PEN America
Social media platforms are not sufficiently investing in mechanisms that alleviate the harms of online hate and harassment.
pen.org
May 29, 2025 at 12:40 AM