Zak Kolar
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Zak Kolar
@zkolar.xyz
36 followers 97 following 50 posts
Digital learning teacher in Massachusetts. Exploring societal impacts of technology. Helping students become critical creators and consumers of tech

https://zkolar.xyz
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Reposted by Zak Kolar
drtlovesbooks.bsky.social
Um, hell yes!

A company wants to sell you their output, but doesn't want to be responsible for that output? We'd laugh out loud if it was a physical product. So why should we accept it for a digital product?

#AiIsTheProblem #TLSky #EduSky #SchoolLibrarians
emilymbender.bsky.social Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 22d
One of the biggest issues with the synthetic text extruding machines is that we have well-formed linguistic output with no accountability. Solution: OpenAI should be accountable for everything that comes out of ChatGPT, period. (And likewise for Google with Gemini, etc.)
emilymbender.bsky.social Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 22d
New on the Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 newsletter: @deccamuldowney.bsky.social and I write about OpenAI's transparent attempt to shift accountability.

buttondown.com/maiht3k/arch...
November 15, 2025 at 1:34 AM
zkolar.xyz
I started a newsletter called Reclaiming Data to help people understand who collects their data, what it's used for, and how to take back control one step at a time.

You can preview the first issue here:
reclaimingdata.party/posts/app-cl...

And sign up here:
reclaimingdata.party

#dataprivacy
reclaimingdata.party
September 15, 2025 at 9:12 PM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 Pluralistic: You can't fight enshittification (31 Jul 2025)

https://zkolar.xyz/links/pluralistic-you-can-t-fight-enshittification-31-jul-2025
July 31, 2025 at 8:15 PM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 A Startup is Selling Data Hacked from Peoples’ Computers to Debt Collectors

https://zkolar.xyz/links/a-startup-is-selling-data-hacked-from-peoples-computers-to-debt-collectors
July 22, 2025 at 12:14 PM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 Republican Budget Bill Signals New Era in Federal Surveillance

https://zkolar.xyz/links/republican-budget-bill-signals-new-era-in-federal-surveillance
July 2, 2025 at 4:45 PM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 The New Surveillance State: Why Data Privacy Is Now Essential to Democracy

https://zkolar.xyz/links/the-new-surveillance-state-why-data-privacy-is-now-essential-to-democracy
June 23, 2025 at 2:24 PM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 A Starter Guide to Protecting Your Data From Hackers and Corporations

https://zkolar.xyz/links/a-starter-guide-to-protecting-your-data-from-hackers-and-corporations
May 26, 2025 at 10:49 AM
zkolar.xyz
To prevent the sale of your genetic information to whoever acquires 23andMe, consider deleting your data from the platform.
23andMe (andMyGeneticData)
To prevent the sale of your genetic information to whoever acquires 23andMe, consider deleting your data from the platform.
zkolar.xyz
April 30, 2025 at 10:51 PM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 Reports of LLMs mastering math have been greatly exaggerated

https://zkolar.xyz/links/reports-of-llms-mastering-math-have-been-greatly-exaggerated
April 5, 2025 at 9:17 PM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 When Your Threat Model Is Being a Moron

https://zkolar.xyz/links/when-your-threat-model-is-being-a-moron
March 27, 2025 at 6:25 PM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 How to Delete Your Data From 23andMe

https://zkolar.xyz/links/how-to-delete-your-data-from-23andme
March 24, 2025 at 11:37 PM
zkolar.xyz
Overcoming choice paralysis
Wants, shoulds, and have-tos
Overcoming choice paralysis
zkolar.xyz
March 24, 2025 at 1:28 AM
zkolar.xyz
As the ability to process massive amounts of data gets easier and more accessible, we need to rethink what constitutes personally identifiable information. #dataprivacy #LLM #civilliberties
The image shows a screenshot of a mobile interface displaying a ChatGPT conversation. The user asked ChatGPT to search for information about the person who wrote a specific statement about an internship with Waltham Public Schools. The statement was: "My internship with Waltham Public Schools as a Brandeis student led to my current role as a Digital Learning Teacher" ChatGPT's response indicates that this statement was made by Zak Kolar, who is currently a Digital Learning Teacher at Plympton Elementary School in Waltham, MA. According to the information provided, Zak collaborates with students and teachers to integrate digital literacy and computer science into the curriculum. His career path included an internship with Waltham Public Schools while he was a student at Brandeis University, which helped him secure his current position.
March 23, 2025 at 4:14 PM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 Pluralistic: Gandersauce (08 Mar 2025)

https://zkolar.xyz/links/pluralistic-gandersauce-08-mar-2025
March 9, 2025 at 12:42 AM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 What You Should Do

https://zkolar.xyz/links/what-you-should-do
March 6, 2025 at 1:41 PM
zkolar.xyz
Our policies and practices around sharing student photos and information are based in outdated assumptions and must be revisited. #education #dataprivacy
Rethinking privacy, safety, and student autonomy
Our policies and practices around sharing student photos and information are based in outdated assumptions and must be revisited.
zkolar.xyz
February 28, 2025 at 12:55 AM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 Hacked location data broker told Massachusetts lawmakers not to ban the sale of cellphone location data

https://zkolar.xyz/links/hacked-location-data-broker-told-massachusetts-lawmakers-not-to-ban-the-sale-of-cellphone-location-data
January 14, 2025 at 8:08 PM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 Online Behavioral Ads Fuel the Surveillance Industry—Here’s How

https://zkolar.xyz/links/online-behavioral-ads-fuel-the-surveillance-industry-heres-how
January 9, 2025 at 2:06 PM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 When Tools Become Culture

https://zkolar.xyz/links/when-tools-become-culture
January 6, 2025 at 2:07 AM
zkolar.xyz
If we have to anthropomorphize, an #LLM is the person at bookclub who didn't read the book and paraphrases everyone else. They lack their own insight and have no way to know if their statements are accurate.
January 2, 2025 at 8:11 PM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 Things you're allowed to do

https://zkolar.xyz/links/things-you-re-allowed-to-do
December 27, 2024 at 5:11 PM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 Systems: The Purpose of a System is What It Does
Systems: The Purpose of a System is What It Does
zkolar.xyz
December 25, 2024 at 8:35 PM
zkolar.xyz
My favorite #books from 2024 #booksky
Best Books of 2024
My favorite books this year
zkolar.xyz
December 22, 2024 at 2:59 PM
zkolar.xyz
🔗 Billionaires, Influencers, and Ed Tech

New(ish) technology, same people and problems.

https://zkolar.xyz/links/billionaires-influencers-and-ed-tech
Billionaires, Influencers, and Ed Tech
New(ish) technology, same people and problems.
zkolar.xyz
December 17, 2024 at 12:43 AM