@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange cover
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

thenexusofprivacy

@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange

A newsletter about #privacy, #technology, #policy, #strategy, and #justice.

Currently at @nexusofprivacy, but looking for a new home and so checking out infosec.exchange

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

FediTips , (edited ) to random
@FediTips@social.growyourown.services avatar

There is an unofficial reminder bot on the Fediverse. It can remind you minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or years later. To use it, just mention the bot in a post or reply and include the period you want to be reminded after. For example:

@ remindme @ mstdn.social 1 week

To be reminded in a DM, include the word "dm" in small letters:

@ remindme @ mstdn.social dm 1 week

(Remove spaces in the address to make it work, I've only included spaces to avoid setting off the bot!)

thenexusofprivacy ,
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

> If you DM it but forget to include "dm", it reminds you in public.

How intuitive! What could possibly go wrong? Still, a uaseful service as long as you know that trick.

@FediTips

FediTips , (edited ) to random
@FediTips@social.growyourown.services avatar

If you're an ordinary Mastodon user, the "block domain" option does not block servers, it just mutes them. It hides their posts from you, but does not hide your posts from them.

Only server admins can do actual blocks through defederation, preferably on a server that has activated "authorized fetch".

For example, if you want to avoid threads.net, you need to join a server that has defederated threads.net. (You can find nice servers that block threads.net at https://fedi.garden)

#FediTips

thenexusofprivacy ,
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

@FediTips
I'm not sure this si completly true. https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/18345#issuecomment-1120176872 talks about functionality beyond muting. And last week @tokyo_0 was experimenting with this; I think the results were consisent with what Claire said in the github comment. There certainly are weakneesses here -- ndivudally blocking an instrance (or an individual user) doesn't keep them from seeing boosts of posts that have already federated there -- but I'm not sure defederation behaves differently.

thenexusofprivacy ,
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

Interesting. I thought that wasn't what I saw when I tested it but mabye I was confused, or maybe there's something else going on. What kind of interactions were you able to do?

@FediTips @tokyo_0

thenexusofprivacy ,
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

Hmm. It's so hard to know what's a problem with blocking/defederation in general and what's specific to users blocking instances.

Had the profile and the posts you were viewing already federated to the instance that you had blocked?

And if so, does defederation behave differently in that case?

@FediTips @tokyo_0

onepict , to random
@onepict@chaos.social avatar

On any online space, you should consider who you give power to. Who has the control over who you choose to associate with? Power doesn't corrupt. It reveals.

People in real life do choose to avoid dangerous or toxic places.

All that the instances who sign the fedipact are doing is signalling to some of us that somewhere is safe for folk who don't want to engage with Facebook at all.

This is a Freedom of Association issue, not a Freedom of Speech issue.

thenexusofprivacy ,
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

@FediTips do you have an artile on how users can blcok entire instances? I did a bit of searching but couldn't finde it

thenexusofprivacy , to KOSA and other Bad Internet Bills (US-specific for now)
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

Microsoft endorses anti-LGBTQ online "child safety" bill KOSA night before Big Tech hearing (US Politics)

Worth noting: Microsoft owns LinkedIn, which wouldn't be particularly affected by KOSA.

There's a hearing on Wednesday, and potentially a Senate vote soon, so if you're in the US now's a good time to contact your Senators. https://stopkosa.com and EFF's page make it easy!

https://gazette.com/news/wex/microsoft-president-endorses-online-child-safety-bill-night-before-big-tech-hearing/article_cd2e8eb5-ba98-5e95-9333-5646dd6a249f.html

@bad_internet_bills

thenexusofprivacy OP ,
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

@olives Very true. And it won't make kids safer. @bad_internet_bills

thenexusofprivacy , to KOSA and other Bad Internet Bills (US-specific for now)
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

Microsoft endorses anti-LGBTQ online "child safety" bill KOSA night before Big Tech hearing (US Politics)

Worth noting: Microsoft owns LinkedIn, which wouldn't be particularly affected by KOSA.

There's a hearing on Wednesday, and potentially a Senate vote soon, so if you're in the US now's a good time to contact your Senators. https://stopkosa.com and EFF's page make it easy!

https://gazette.com/news/wex/microsoft-president-endorses-online-child-safety-bill-night-before-big-tech-hearing/article_cd2e8eb5-ba98-5e95-9333-5646dd6a249f.html

@bad_internet_bills

thenexusofprivacy , to Fediverse
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

Strategies for the free fediverses

https://privacy.thenexus.today/strategies-for-the-free-fediverses/

The fediverse is evolving into different regions

  • "Meta's fediverses", federating with Meta to allow communications, potentially using services from Meta such as automated moderation or ad targeting, and potentially harvesting data on Meta's behalf.

  • "free fediverses" that reject Meta – and surveillance capitalism more generally

The free fediverses have a lot of advantages over Meta and Meta's fediverses, some of which will be very hard to counter, and clearly have enough critical mass that they'll be just fine.

Here's a set of strategies for the free fediverses to provide a viable alternative to surveillance capitalism. They build on the strengths of today's fediverse at its best – including natural advantages the free fediverses have that Threads and Meta's fediverses will having a very hard time countering – but also are hopefully candid about weaknesses that need to be addressed. It's a long list, so I'll be spreading out over multiple posts; this post currently goes into detail on the first two.

  • Opposition to Meta and surveillance capitalism is an appealing position. Highlight it!

  • Focus on consent (including consent-based federation), privacy, and safety

  • Emphasize "networked communities"

  • Support concentric federations of instances and communities

  • Consider "transitively defederating" Meta's fediverses (as well as defederating Threads)

  • Consider working with people and instances in Meta's fediverses (and Bluesky, Dreamwidth, and other social networks) whose goals and values align with the free fediverses'

  • Build a sustainable ecosystem

  • Prepare for Meta's (and their allies') attempts to paint the free fediverses in a bad light

  • Reduce the dependency on Mastodon

  • Prioritize accessibility, which is a huge opportunity

  • Commit to anti-fascist, anti-racist, anti-colonial, and pro-LGBTQIA2S+ principles, policies, practices, and norms for the free fediverses

  • Organize!

#fediverse #freefediverse #threads @fediverse @fediversenews

thenexusofprivacy OP ,
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

The free fediverses should focus on consent (including consent-based federation), privacy, and safety

https://privacy.thenexus.today/free-fediverses-and-consent/

(Part 2 of "Strategies for the free fediverses")

@fediversenews

thenexusofprivacy OP ,
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

The free fediverses should emphasize networked communities

https://privacy.thenexus.today/the-free-fediverses-should-emphasize-networked-communities/

Here's how @lrhodes describes the Networked Communities view:

"instances are valuable for the relations and interactions they facilitate locally AND for their ability to connect you to other parts of the network."

By contrast, @evanprodromou notes that "Big Fedi" advocates typically see instances as typically see the instance as "mostly a dumb pipe." But The Networked Communities view aligns much better with the free fediverses' values – as does the "Social Archipelago" view @noracodes sketches in The Fediverse is Already Dead. Not only that, it's good strategy!

@fediversenews

thenexusofprivacy OP ,
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

The free fediverses should support concentric federations of instances

Part 4 of Strategies for the Free Fediverses

https://privacy.thenexus.today/the-free-fediverses-should-support-concentric-federations-of-instances/

Here's how @zkat describes caracoles: "you essentially ask to join concentric federations of instances ... with smaller caracoles able to vote to federate with entire other caracoles."

And @ophiocephalic's "fedifams" are a similar idea: "Communities could align into fedifams based on whatever conditions of identity, philosophy or interest are relevant to them. Instances allied into fedifams could share resources and mutually support each other in many way"

The idea's a natural match for community-focused, anti-surveillance capitalism free fediverses, fits in well with the Networked Communities model discussed in part 3, and helps address scalability of consent-based federation discussed in Part 2.

https://privacy.thenexus.today/the-free-fediverses-should-support-concentric-federations-of-instances/

@fediversenews @fediverse

thenexusofprivacy OP ,
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

The free fediverses should make it easier to move between (and create) instances

Part 5 of Strategies for the Free Fediverse

https://privacy.thenexus.today/make-it-easier-to-move-to-instances-in-the-free-fediverses/

There's likely to be a lot of moving between instances as people and instances sort themselves out into the free fediverses and Meta's fediverses -- and today, moving accounts on the fediverse today. There are lots of straightforward ways to improve it, many of which don't even require improvements to the software. And there are also opportunities to make creating, customizing, and connecting instances easier.

#fediverse #fedipact #threads @fediversenews

thenexusofprivacy OP ,
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

The free fediverses should work together with people and instances in Meta's fediverses and on Bluesky whose goals and values align with the free fediverse

https://privacy.thenexus.today/work-together-with-metas-fediverses-and-bluesky/

Part 6 of Strategies for the free fediverses

Many of the Meta advocates I've talked to share the free fediverses' long-term goal of building a sustainable alternative to surveillance capitalism -- and the same is true for people on Bluesky. So there are likely to be situations where some of the people and instances in Meta's fediverses and Bluesky wind up as situational allies to the free fediverses.

A few areas where collaboration could be very useful:

  • A key principle of organizing is meeting people where they are.

  • Moderation on decentralized networks is a shared challenge.

  • Bringing concepts similar to Bluesky's custom feeds to the fediverses, and more generally focusing on human-focused and liberatory (as opposed to oppressive) uses of algorithms in decentralized social networks designed from the margins.

  • Meta's fediverses, Bluesky, and the free fediverses are all vulnerable to disinformation.

https://privacy.thenexus.today/work-together-with-metas-fediverses-and-bluesky/

@fediversenews

thenexusofprivacy OP ,
@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange avatar

Instances in the free fediverses should consider "transitive defederation" from instances that federate with Meta

https://privacy.thenexus.today/consider-transitively-defederatiion/

Part 7 of Strategies for the free fediverses

Transitive defederation -- defederating from instances that federate with Threads as well as defederating from Threads -- isn't likely to be an all-or-nothing thing in the free fediverses. Tradeoffs are different for different people and instances. This is one of the strengths of the fediverse, so however much transitive defederation there winds up being, I see it as overall as a positive thing -- although also messy and complicated.

So the recommendation here is for instances to consider #TransitiveDefederation: discuss, and decide what to do. I've also got some thoughts on how to have the discussion -- and the strategic aspects.

https://privacy.thenexus.today/consider-transitively-defederatiion/

@fediversenews @fediverse #fediverse #fedipact #threads

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • random
  • test
  • worldmews
  • mews
  • All magazines
    •