Everyone should read this story. The dystopian future is already here. What will the next generation look like?

“When both students and teachers are performing for unseen audiences, something essential is lost. The classroom becomes less a place of learning than a stage.”

Politico: I’ve Been Teaching for 15 years. I’ve Never Been Afraid in the Classroom — Until Now https://www.huffpost.com/emtry/classrooms-under-surveillance-recording-lectured-higher-education-threat_n_6a26d101e4b009b22c86ab49 @politico #education #surveillance #socialmedia

@mttaggart

I think people react more to flock cameras because they are relatively big (thus appear menacing).

The cellular radio hidden by the manufacturer inside your car... not so much. If the cams/mics are small, then people don't seem to care.

The psychology around this is interesting, though seldom explored.
#surveillance #iot #flock

Push back on the surveillance state before the door closes and we're all locked in.

#surveillance #privacymatters

"The US corporation Palantir suffered a significant defeat before the Zurich Commercial Court. In a legal dispute against the online magazine "Republik" and the investigative journalism collective WAV, the company lost on 22 out of 23 points. The court thus largely rejected the demand for a comprehensive retraction. "Republik" published the verdict and previously submitted legal documents on its website on Friday .

The starting point for the written proceedings was a months-long investigative report, jointly conducted by "Republik" and WAV, which was published in December . The journalists were able to trace how the corporation had attempted to acquire Swiss federal agencies as clients over seven years – both through formal channels and behind the scenes. Despite attempts to make oversight at the World Economic Forum, the security policy "Shangri-La Dialogue" in Singapore, and an offer to test services free of charge during the COVID-19 pandemic, no government contract was ever finalized.

Palantir specializes in data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) and counts both companies and governments among its clients. Palantir was co-founded by German-born tech billionaire Peter Thiel, a key supporter of US President Donald Trump. Palantir CEO Alex Karp recently published a "manifesto" containing fascist undertones and a call for greater power for Big Tech corporations."

https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1200371.umstrittener-us-ueberwachungskonzern-palantir-blitzt-jetzt-auch-vor-gericht-in-der-schweiz-ab.html

#Switzerland #Palantir #PressFreedom #Media #News #Journalism #Surveillance #BigTech

"WEI wasn't an effort to level the playing field between apps and the web – it was a race to the bottom, an attempt to make the web as enshittogenic as the app hellscape.

Public outrage to WEI killed the project, but Google's commitment to augmenting its illegal commercial lockdown efforts with technical lockdowns never ended. Now, Google has rolled out an experimental "reCAPTCHA Mobile Verification" that uses an app, your camera, and your device's TPM or secure enclave to produce an attestation about your Android device:
(...)
This will make it much easier for the apps and other services you interact with to block your device if you run an Android alternative, or if you install a mod that overrides the actions of Google's stock Android:
(...)
This is a terrible idea – it's every bit as bad as WEI was. In an age in which Big Tech is ever-more tied to authoritarian governments, redesigning our devices to tell strangers things we don't want them to know isn't just shortsighted, it's inexcusable."

https://pluralistic.net/2026/06/12/compelled-speech/

#Google #Surveillance #Android #Privacy #reCAPTCHA #TPM

California Legislature in standoff with DMV over sharing driver license data with other states

"The California Legislature wants to stall plans to share information about California drivers — including more than 1 million immigrant license holders who lack federal authorization to live in the U.S. — with a little-known nonprofit agency made up of motor vehicle administrators across the nation."

https://calmatters.org/economy/technology/2026/06/dmv-data-sharing-california-budget/ #USpol #Fascism #Surveillance #California