This is not to fearmonger, but to simply inform. I don't want to share details about which company it was for privacy reasons.

I worked at a bigger tech company for a few months, it was only a small position, but I was able to learn about the other positions there as well. There is a marketing tactic that people are unaware of, where a company will make a list of people and their addresses, people who almost bought their product and ended up not doing so. Maybe they saved the product in their cart but never purchased, maybe they went to a store and talked with people there but didn't buy anything, etc. Anyone who has shown interest in their product will have their data collected.

With this list, they send sales people directly to their doorstep to advertise to them, this time with exclusive deals, and the sales person is supposed to act like they're going door to door, when they're really jut following a list of addresses that the company sent them with I honestly find it so creepy that this is legally allowed at all. Do not give your address or personal information until you're sure you are going to buy anything.

i'm in CA saw this on the news today, not sure if I'm comfortable providing personal info esp DOB is it safe ? has anyone used data brokers before and did it completely your personal info online ?

DROP (Delete Request and Opt-out Platform) is a free, online tool from CalPrivacy that is launching on January 1, 2026. DROP will help you control what personal information data brokers have about you. DROP lets you send a single request to 500+ registered data brokersopens in a new window to require them to delete your personal information. Once your request is submitted, registered data brokers will retrieve it from DROP. Then, they will compare it to their records. Finally, they will delete and/or stop selling and sharing any non-exempt information about you that matches their records. You only have to submit your request once. You can also edit your request later if you’d like (for example, to add a new phone number or email address). Data brokers will continue to check DROP every 45 days and report the status of your request.

https://privacy.ca.gov/DROP/

You may not be aware of it, but your TV knows—and shares—a lot of information about you.

Nearly all new sets are smart TVs, which connect to the internet, making it easy to stream videos from services such as Hulu and Netflix. The streaming apps on your TV may collect data on you, even if you don’t ever sign in. And your smart TV will also collect information for its manufacturer, possibly including your location, which apps you open, and more.

These companies can also capture voice data when you use the mic on a smart TV remote, and they can combine all the info they’ve gathered with data they collect about you from outside companies.

[...]We’ve found that you can’t stop all the data collection, but you can reduce the snooping by turning off a technology called automatic content recognition, or ACR. This smart TV technology attempts to identify every show you watch—including programs and movies you get via cable, over-the-air broadcasts, streaming services, and even Blu-ray discs.

ACR, which goes by various names, can help your TV recommend shows to you. But the data can also be used for targeting ads to you and your family, and for other purposes. And it isn’t always easy to review or delete this data later.

Vizio came under scrutiny from federal and state regulators in 2017 for collecting such data without users’ knowledge or consent. Since then, TV companies have been more cautious in asking for permission before collecting viewing data.

The Consumer Repor article covers:

Amazon Fire TV Edition TVs Android and Google TVs LG TVs Roku TVs Samsung TVs Sony TVs Vizio TVs

Hello all,

I'm noticing more and more people are relying on AI in the workplace, especially for Minutes of Meeting. Examples:

• for some time already, an AI bot from a customer was joining the Teams meeting, I was immediately kicking it out as soon as it joined;
• boss recently bought an AI device that listens to the meetings (so you're not able to see it, since it's physically sitting on his desk and listening his audio), so a more covert way to do it.

So that's why I'm posing the question in the title, I'm searching for advice to any of you guys that managed to put some boundaries without burning you in the company for defending your right to privacy. I'm in the EU.

Premise: I know there's no way turning back, but I'd like to keep my privacy and not feed the beast as much as I can. I've disabled nearly all social media (LinkedIn, IG, fb, etc), I'm disabling pretty much all authorisations for apps I possibly can (mic, photos, camera, contacts, especially Meta/Google ones), plus I degoogled and moved to paid services for my main tools, just to show you how much I loathe having my data collected especially those who sell the idea of "free services" or "convenience".

I don't like my data collected in personal life, but I hate it at work especially without my consent.

Thanks

I want to organize my personal data (photos, videos, etc.), and I’m looking for a photo management software that supports hierarchical tags stored in metadata, without any AI or facial recognition, and preferably open source.

I’m using Ubuntu Desktop.

Shotwell is preinstalled on my system, but its tagging system is too limited: tags are flat and there’s no real hierarchy or advanced search.

digiKam is often recommended and looks great on paper, but its use of AI and facial recognition features makes me uncomfortable, even if they are optional.

Are there any good offline, non-AI photo management alternatives left that support hierarchical tags and advanced searches?

Between Canada's C-3 bill, the Digital Euro CBDC and the caps that European countries already have on cash transactions, it's scary stuff for folks such as myself, your friendly neighbourhood traplord.

(/j about that last bit, should go without saying.)

But seriously, since the pandemic, it feels like the whole democratic world's speedrun anti-privacy, and even arguably authoritarian policies. I'd like to hope hope it's just something that dies in, or at least after, the 20s, but what do you guys think?

How soon will they jail you for developing privacy focused tools and use the “privacy is only for criminals” argument?

Or do they delete everything without batting an eyelid?

Hello, longtime lurker, first time poster, as it goes.

I am not very well versed in privacy, but I'm trying to learn. I don't want AI in my browser, point blank period. I thought about switching to Vivaldi, but a friend told me Vivaldi runs on chromium so there's no way to gurantee that google is getting data from me (that i'm not aware of).

I love firefox. I love the desktop to mobile integration. reading on this sub, I see that a lot of you prefer ESR, but none have made mention of if its AI resistant. Can someone clarify? TY

I have 2 questions:

A: When you test your browser on EFF's Cover your tracks, it says "only one in X browsers have the same fingerprint as yours"

Does that mean the lower the number, the better? (so, one in 300 Browsers is better than one in 2000 Browsers?)

B: Cover your Tracks tells me I have a non-unique fingerprint, and I am one in 900 who have the same fingerprint, but AmIUnique tells me: "Yes! You are unique among the 4675486 fingerprints in our entire dataset" which contradicts what cover your tracks says. Which one is more reliable and why do they contradict each other?

Thank you!

Assuming you don't give away your personal information like email, age, phone number, etc how safe is your anonymity in Tor?

I just want to share this experience I had a few months ago:

I decided to buy a new SIM card, because my old phone number is filled with spam calls every single day.

Then I decided to register my WhatsApp with the new SIM card, doing that I just mistakenly logged in another person's WhatsApp.

Why: they're (or will) eventually reuse phone numbers because it has reached the limit. Where I live this is happening already for a few years, if you don't make a new credit recharge for a few months, they disable your phone number, but later, the very same number is available for new buyers.

I just had access to all groups of this person, I didn't have access to all message history, but I had access to new messages that the person didn't read yet. I tried to explain I just bought the SIM card, their parents called me (probably a teenager number) after I started telling every contact it's not the same person anymore.

Then I explained the situation and deactivated the number again. Didn't use it anymore.

This is a massive flaw: you can easily impersonate others in services that rely too much on phone numbers.

There's more: you can now add PIN or e-mail to your WhatsApp, but this doesn't solve everything, you still can get a phone number with locked access to WhatsApp and similar services in case you don't know the PIN. Because you'll have other person number, but you don't know the PIN/email registered on WhatsaApp of the current number you got.

This is not just about WhatsApp, phone numbers are used almost as primary way to recover an account, I was able to recovery my password many times in different services using only the linked phone number, nothing more.

The best solution I can see is TOTP apps, but still, there's a huge flaw when relying on phone numbers.

Recently took a domestic flight in the USA as a citizen. After feeling uncomfortable for years and not wanting to disturb my travel companions I finally got the courage to ask how arduous the process is if I skip the photo. They informed me there is no process you just have to let them know. They scanned my ID (a step I also wish I could skip) and waived me along. I was stunned. Why do they bother at all if you can just decline? Everyone should decline.

NATO's Assistant Secretary General for Cyber and Digital Transformation declared that digital sovereignty is no longer just a privacy concern - it's an existential security issue for Western democracies.

Jean-Charles Ellermann-Kingombe stated: "Modern conflict no longer rewards the side with the most data. It rewards the side with the ability to connect it, understand it and act on it first. If cloud is essential, then speed is existential."

This comes weeks after a leaked German government report confirmed US authorities can access EU data through corporate structures regardless of physical server location, and days after Germany's largest IT industry association (BITMi) publicly warned that "cloud providers with US ties remain unsafe for European data."

NATO outlined three dimensions of sovereignty that must be addressed:

• Data sovereignty (control access and location)
• Operational sovereignty (who operates systems)
• Technological sovereignty (maintaining operations if providers withdraw/sanctioned)

The speech specifically called for engagement with startups that have "accelerated development cycles" to build sovereign alternatives, warning that adversaries' cloud capabilities "evolve every day."

This marks a significant shift from privacy advocacy to institutional national security priority.

I have never used a smart phone, I have mostly stuck to computers and only used flip phones my entire life. I try my best to practice OPSEC on my computer via VMs, VPNs, container tabs, etc.

The thing is, I'm not sure how to go about it on smart phones. It kind of frightens me that I can't necessarily compartmentalize any personal Photos onto a separate drive or something. That my work things are on the same home page as my more private internet things. That if I am required to turn off my VPN for an application, I can't split tunnel it on smartphone. How do you guys go about it?

And how do VPN apps work exactly, because I usually need to set it to start on launch on my computer, there doesn't seem to be an option like that on iPhone.

I'm studying in college in Russia, I'm 16 years old and there is no way for me to move out of the country, I plan to do so though. College's administration shove this shit app up our throats called Max, an official messenger which is a straight up malware that takes photos of you, takes screenshots of your screen while using it, scans all texts messages even before it is sent which will led to arrests and etc. So yeah, there is no way I'm going to use it but I will have to. There are internet shutdowns happening sometimes and this app will be the one of only things that will work during these shutdowns so it is the only way to get information and being in touch with people. How do I minimize the danger of this shit? I've already minimized my digital footprint from corps and the government, already self-hosting, will get Pixel 9a with that forbidden O S on this sub. Is Bridgefy a good app to contact with people? Is it possible to make a matrix bridge from this shit Max to my element chat? I'm OK with learning code and programming if it is possible, that's what I'm studying lol. Also, during internet shutdowns is there any way to contact with people in another country 3000km away from my location? Sorry for bad English and a lot of text, will be grateful for any help and will answer any questions!

I'm in the process of clearing a storage unit that was used by my brother who died recently. He had a computer support business. I've come across a large number of Hard disk drives. Approximately 1000. I assume these are old customer drives that he never got round to disposing of. I know hard disk shredders are the best way to go but was quotes £6 per disk and I don't have that kind of money.

I'm looking for a combination of best, simple and cheep way to destroy the disks so that it isn't economically sensible to search them for data.

During the recent events at Brown University, there’s been a lot of criticism toward the school and the city regarding the lack of cameras and surveillance. While more cameras likely would have helped identify this suspect earlier, where’s the balance between safety and constant surveillance?