Privacy

I've noticed a lot of news sites are now blocking you unless you accept all their cookies and shite. Well I guess if it's important I can always run the article though archive.is. Yes The Guardian, I'll even include you in this although I'm still paying my member donations. #privacy #uk

The #UK has ordered #Apple to insert a backdoor into their encryption for a second time, #Microsoft has removed yet more workarounds to avoid creating an account in #Windows11, #Amazon adds #FacialRecognition technology to their #Ring doorbell cameras, and more.

"The initial order from January targeted the data of all Apple users. In August, the US claimed the U.K. withdrew the demand, but Apple did not re-enable Advanced Data Protection. The new order provides insight into why: the U.K. was just rewriting it to only apply to British users.

The Open Rights Group is a UK non-profit campaigning for digital rights, privacy and civil liberties online. They've created a video account you can follow here:

"First, there’s the UK’s Investigatory Powers Act, introduced in 2016, which she describes as “deeply authoritarian”. Earlier this year, The Washington Post reported that the Home Office had used a “technical capability notice” under the Act to demand Apple provide access to a user’s encrypted messages and data. The leaked story caused a furore in Washington. Apple has appealed, and the Home Office looks set to back down. But for some, the episode has cast a shadow over the UK.

"Age verification has officially arrived in the UK thanks to the Online Safety Act (OSA), a UK law requiring online platforms to check that all UK-based users are at least eighteen years old before allowing them to access broad categories of “harmful” content that go far beyond graphic sexual content. EFF has extensively criticized the OSA for eroding privacy, chilling speech, and undermining the safety of the children it aims to protect. Now that it’s gone into effect, these countless problems have begun to reveal themselves, and the absurd, disastrous outcome illustrates why we must work to avoid this age-verified future at all costs.

Interesting insight on how age verification measures are working in the UK and the various ways of getting around them. More importantly, these age verification measures are showcasing how people are taking their privacy seriously when facing potential roadblocks and limitations imposed by these laws.