Esra'a

Open web and privacy enthusiast.

Org: https://majal.org

Public Key

npub16sd8vehtem6shvdjp9pmtl4qaq28kjsrt9m773fyqj09dy9wwd0qmxpm34

NIP-05 Address

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsdgxnkvm4uaagtkxeqjsa4l6sws9rmfgp4jal0g5jqf8jkjzh8xhspz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds8c8vlv

Publishing to

relay.nostr.net

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub16sd8vehtem6shvdjp9pmtl4qaq28kjsrt9m773fyqj09dy9wwd0qmxpm34

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Last Notes

2025-01-16 01:34:35 CET

CPJ "calls on authorities to grant unconditional access to journalists and independent human rights experts to investigate crimes committed against the media during the 15-month long war. "
https://cpj.org/2025/01/cpj-welcomes-gaza-ceasefire-calls-for-media-access-and-war-crimes-investigations/
#Gaza #Palestine

2024-12-02 01:11:20 CET

I'm very glad so many people are focused on building important things that we desperately need in this world.
#AI
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/580/325/324/669/405/original/4a7819e3a635e8a3.png

2024-11-27 18:08:47 CET

Everyone has the right to browse, search, and speak online without the threat of their activities being tracked, sold to data brokers, or fed to the AI machine.
At Tor, we’re building tools to help people exercise that right to privacy easily (and at no cost)!
Please consider making a donation to Tor so we can keep building a better, privacy-respecting internet:
https://donate.torproject.org
#Privacy #Tor

2024-11-26 01:03:52 CET

Very happy to share that @npub1e22…get2 was named the 2024 recipient of the Human Rights and Business Award.
The award recognizes "outstanding work by human rights defenders addressing the human rights impacts of business" -
https://www.humanrightsandbusinessaward.org/award-recipient/migrant-rights-org/
#Migrants #HumanRights #GCC #Gulf

2024-11-25 16:34:43 CET

"The marketing of a new military tech tool powered by Meta’s artificial intelligence is irresponsible and clumsy."
"It gives incorrect technical data that a nonspecialist user is less likely to question."
"Turning to an LLM for airstrike planning also means sidestepping the typical human-based process and the responsibility that entails."
https://theintercept.com/2024/11/24/defense-llama-meta-military/
#AI #Meta #BigTech #Military

2024-11-22 04:23:36 CET

Took a nap and dreamt that I was stuck in an elevator with a gleeful a16z exec. Still nauseous.

2024-11-20 19:31:31 CET

"Niantic, the company behind the extremely popular augmented reality mobile games Pokémon Go and Ingress, announced that it is using data collected by its millions of players to create an AI model that can navigate the physical world" (and power robots)
https://www.404media.co/pokemon-go-players-have-unwittingly-trained-ai-to-navigate-the-world/
#AI

2024-11-17 22:52:31 CET

Despite attempts at reform, the Kafala system in Gulf countries is still custom-built to exploit workers:
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/the-wage-slaves-of-the-kafala-system/

2024-11-17 05:01:50 CET

It should matter that one of Bluesky's investors is Alumni Ventures, which also funded Outlogic (formerly known as X-Mode Social) - basically a data broker that collected and sold location data by tracking various mobile apps (including dating, music, weather, and Muslim prayer apps.)
Among other controversies, Outlogic/X‑Mode had supplied location data to U.S. military contractors:
https://themarkup.org/privacy/2022/01/27/gay-bi-dating-app-muslim-prayer-apps-sold-data-on-peoples-location-to-a-controversial-data-broker
#Bluesky #Privacy

2024-10-14 22:10:33 CEST

From an interview I had with privacy advocate Naomi Brockwell:
"The reality is that we don’t truly know what someone else’s threat model is, what risks they’re facing, or what social circles might make them an unwitting target. So when people reveal their privacy preferences, you should listen."
"Your decision to overshare or to use less secure communication doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It can have real consequences for others."
https://nordictimes.com/tech/your-privacy-choices-affect-others-too/
#Privacy #Surveillance

2024-09-11 05:18:24 CEST

- reply

😵

2024-09-11 02:46:21 CEST

"Ford Motor Company is seeking a patent for technology that would allow it to tailor in-car advertising by listening to conversations among vehicle occupants, as well as by analyzing a car’s historical location and other data, according to a patent application"
https://therecord.media/ford-patent-application-in-vehicle-listening-advertising
#Privacy #Surveillance

2024-09-06 00:23:39 CEST

- reply

I'll absolutely take Bitcoin, a16z says it's the future and that the environment doesn't matter because we're all dead inside anyways, and if the scams just enrich me at the expense of other communities then sure why not I deserve the best life EVER

2024-09-05 23:56:19 CEST

Hi everyone right now I'm fundraising for something called Super Safe Extra Superintelligence Inc (SSESI) and I can't quite share what it is but you have to trust me I need roughly $1B for a barely functional prototype (we promise it will be super duper safe and also super intelligent!!!!)
Our primary competitors, Safe Superintelligence Inc., have absolutely nothing on our GRAND idea that we need lots and lots of money for, heaps of money actually, an obscene amount - the time is now, join us!
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/087/160/037/895/815/original/640da52cd5d34831.png

2024-08-27 22:50:20 CEST

60 organizations, including RSF, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Free Press Unlimited signed a joint letter urging EU leaders to unequivocally and publicly call on Israel to meet the following press freedom demands:
- Provide access and uphold the freedom to report
- Protect the lives of journalists
- Ensure accountability and end impunity
https://rsf.org/sites/default/files/medias/file/2024/08/IOPT_EU_Joint%20Letter_8.21.2024_FINAL.docx.pdf
#Media #Press #Palestine #Gaza
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/035/917/733/851/830/original/731542c190386030.png

2024-08-27 19:57:03 CEST

"Released doctors, nurses and paramedics described to Human Rights Watch their mistreatment in Israeli custody, including humiliation, beatings, forced stress positions, prolonged cuffing and blindfolding, and denial of medical care. They also reported torture, including rape and sexual abuse by Israeli forces, denial of medical care, and poor detention conditions for the general detainee population."
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/26/israel-palestinian-healthcare-workers-tortured
#Palestine #Gaza

2024-08-26 21:20:13 CEST

"The revised ads, which linked to what UNRWA USA views as deeply dishonest distortions, have run across the US and Europe and continue to appear on Google as of this month despite additional UNRWA USA complaints"
https://www.wired.com/story/israel-unrwa-usa-hamas-google-search-ads/

2024-08-22 17:40:58 CEST

"Expanded surveillance gives police greater opportunities to abuse their power and exploit people in poor neighborhoods. Under constant surveillance, every tiny infraction or misdemeanor becomes actionable."
"Equating surveillance with safety considers only a fraction of what 'safety' for everyone looks like. You cannot protect people from harm if part of what you offer them is a different kind of harm."
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/08/police-surveillance-wont-make-us-safer-broken-windows-on-steroids.html
#Surveillance #Privacy

2024-08-21 21:39:43 CEST

"These big companies think they can enter small villages like ours, take our land, and destroy it."
"The villagers have accused Microsoft of illegally encroaching upon Tungakunta Lake and using it as a dump yard"
https://restofworld.org/2024/microsoft-data-center-india-mekaguda-industrial-waste/
#BigTech

2024-08-21 01:31:38 CEST

"In highly-censored regimes, circumvention tools like Tor — a browsing system which provides anonymity and unrestricted internet access — are often targeted by censors. In this article, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) introduces Tor bridges and explains how this technology can be used by journalists to access Tor."
https://safety.rsf.org/tor-bridges-a-way-to-keep-using-tor-in-countries-that-block-it/
#Privacy #Censorship #Anonymity
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/996/875/502/418/558/original/93d83b902cd22b9f.jpg

2024-08-17 05:26:53 CEST

- reply

The person running their fitness program is the tech billionaire using his teenage son's blood plasma in pursuit of youth, no red flags whatsoever, sign me up

2024-08-17 05:24:25 CEST

This is how every cult starts and then we have to sit through a 6-part Netflix docuseries about who got murdered when attempting to escape
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/975/206/760/107/533/original/9b7354bff2ed7cd0.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/975/213/189/145/142/original/7ba50e9f275341b2.png

2024-08-17 00:22:30 CEST

Thank you to everyone who has been making submissions to Surveillance Watch, it has been updated with additional companies, sources and investors: https://www.surveillancewatch.io/
#Spyware #Surveillance #Privacy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/974/026/621/361/141/original/be6c69bd4e5f33b1.mp4

2024-08-16 01:50:33 CEST

- reply

It's not ideal or perfect, but the entire project was built with ~$5K and with such limited resources we had to compromise on some choices. Lots of improvements needed for better usability, accessibility and privacy - but some things cost to do right, and we just ask for some support and patience. It is not a simple undertaking.

2024-08-15 18:10:45 CEST

"The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to collect and analyze photos of the faces of migrant children at the border in a bid to improve facial recognition technology, MIT Technology Review can reveal. This includes children down to the infant"
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/14/1096534/homeland-security-facial-recognition-immigration-border/
#Surveillance #Privacy

2024-08-15 00:29:08 CEST

- reply

Are you on the latest version, 129.0.1?

2024-08-11 01:42:36 CEST

"Between October 7 and November 14, a total of 9,500 takedown requests were sent from the Israeli authorities to social media platforms, of which 60 percent went to Meta with a reported 94% compliance rate."
"Alongside government takedown requests, free expression in Gaza has been further restricted by platforms unjustly removing pro-Palestinian content and accounts—interfering with the dissemination of news and silencing voices expressing concern for Palestinians."
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/07/digital-apartheid-gaza-unjust-content-moderation-request-israels-cyber-unit

2024-08-05 12:02:42 CEST

What tech-enhanced genocide looks like:
"The Israeli army is using Amazon’s cloud service to store surveillance information on Gaza’s population, while procuring further AI tools from Google and Microsoft for military purposes, an investigation reveals."
https://www.972mag.com/cloud-israeli-army-gaza-amazon-google-microsoft/
#Gaza #Palestine #Israel #Genocide #AI #BigTech #Surveillance #Amazon #Google #Microsoft

2024-08-03 17:57:09 CEST

"Israel has long used pollution and destruction of basic resources as a weapon against Palestinians. Water was already extremely polluted in Gaza before the genocide, with the WHO reporting in 2019 that 97 percent of the water from its aquifer was too polluted to meet standards for consumption."
https://truthout.org/articles/gaza-has-14-times-more-debris-than-total-created-in-all-conflicts-since-2008/
#Gaza #Palestine #Israel #Genocide