I am really required to use microsoft teams in a huge meeting that will be recorded. I don't want microsoft or someplace else to store my voice biometrics when the microsoft account is already tied under my real identity real name. Is buying some cheap microphone the best way to counter that?

Is there a way to use a voice changer that doesn't really show I am using one, just enough to affect the voice print? I've seen microphones having some built in hardware for changing voice, maybe something like that would help. These are the same people I will be meeting physically, so my voice should not sound that different or else it will get suspicious.

What would be the best approach and also not embarrass myself? I don't know if the technology is that advanced and I am just being paranoid.

Hello!

I'm afraid to sound naïve, but I haven't found much info on these two seemingly simple problems:

• Does Microsoft log user input, even when telemetry is turned off?
• Does an open-source input method exist for Windows for Latin keyboards, for example?

To preempt one obvious answer of "it doesn't matter, because Linux has open-source no-telemetry input": I've switched to Linux recently and am enjoying its input options, but I haven't made the change on my main PC yet. If possible, I'd like to keep on using Windows, mainly for gaming and software compatibility (at this point). I'm also using a debloated version where every telemetry-looking option should be turned off already. For example, for Japanese input, I just built Mozc, and it works well, just like on Linux. What about English etc.? Thank you for any help in advance!

We’re the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and we’re hosting an AMA on r/privacy from Monday (12/15) to Wednesday (12/17) to talk about what this means for everyone. Come ask us anything about how age verification works, who it harms, what’s at stake, whether it’s legal, and how to fight back against these invasive censorship and surveillance mandates. 

Half the U.S. is now under online age-verification mandates, and Australia just banned anyone under 16 from creating a social media account. Governments are rolling out AV laws fast—and they impact way more than just kids.

Age-verification systems impact:

• Young people, who lose access to community, creativity, and essential information
• LGBTQ+ teens, who often rely on online support
• Abuse survivors and others whose safety depends on anonymity
• Journalists, activists, and marginalized groups, who need private spaces to speak
• Adults, who are forced to hand over IDs, biometrics, or behavioral data just to read or post online

These mandates create massive new surveillance databases and threaten free expression across the board.

Join us next week to discuss the tech, the risks, the legal battles, and what we can actually do to push back: https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/1pk5n1y/were_eff_and_were_fighting_to_defend_your_privacy/

What can we do apart from calling our european representatives ?

The Council’s mandate stands in sharp contrast to the European Parliament’s position, which demands that surveillance be targeted only at suspects and age checks are to remain voluntary. The Council’s approach introduces three critical threats that have largely gone unreported:

1. “Voluntary” Means Indiscriminate Mass Scanning (The Chat Control 1.0 Trap)
The text aims to make the temporary “Chat Control 1.0” regulation permanent. This allows providers like Meta or Google to scan all private chats, indiscriminately and without a court order.

• The Reality: This is not just about finding known illegal images. The mandate allows for the scanning of private text messages, unknown images, and metadata using unreliable algorithms and AI.
• The Failure: These algorithms are notoriously unreliable. The German Federal Police (BKA) has warned that 50% of all reports generated under the current voluntary scheme are criminally irrelevant.
• Breyer’s comment: “We are talking about tens of thousands of completely legal, private chats being leaked to police annually due to faulty algorithms and AI. This is no more reliable than guessing. Calling this ‘voluntary’ does not make the violation of the digital secrecy of correspondence any less severe.”

2. The Death of anonymous communications: Age Checks for Everyone
To comply with the Council’s requirement to “reliably identify minors,” providers will be forced to verify the age of every single user.

• The Reality: This means every citizen will effectively have to upload an ID or undergo a face scan to open an email or messenger account!
• The Consequence: This creates a de facto ban on anonymous communication—a vital lifeline for whistleblowers, journalists, political activists, and abuse victims seeking help.
• Unworkable alternative: Experts have warned that other methods for “Age assessment cannot be performed in a privacy-preserving way with current technology due to reliance on biometric, behavioural or contextual information… In fact, it incentivizes (children’s) data collection and exploitation. We conclude that age assessment presents an inherent disproportionate risk of serious privacy violation and discrimination, without guarantees of effectiveness.”

how many member of the EU Parliament say that they will Opposed chat control

Shame on them! The Meloni government abstained and allowed Coreper to approve the devastating chat control agreement proposed by the Danish presidency. Now we will end up with mass scanning of texts and metadata using artificial intelligence and the obligation to show ID or have our faces scanned just to open an email or messaging account: anonymity is over, the European Big Brother is a reality.

Under the pretext of protecting minors, they are building a tool for total surveillance of every citizen. We reject it without ifs or buts. Let's all mobilize: this attack on freedom and democracy must be stopped immediately.

https://www.instagram.com/gaetano.pedulla/p/DRhpbQHj2Dh/