Sunshine
🇨🇦🇪🇺
- 1.45K Posts
- 174 Comments
Sunshine@piefed.catodeGoogle@discuss.tchncs.de•Age-verification partner Yoti is reporting GrapheneOS users to authorities for using GrapheneOS, due to "past security concerns."English
8·3 days agoThese creepers are threatened by the incredibly rare graphene species.
Sunshine@piefed.caOPto
Privacy@programming.dev•Trump Wants to Tap Your Phone. Ottawa Might Let HimEnglish
2·6 days agoAustralia already made a mistake with a similar bill and saw a 22% drop in R&D investment. We can’t afford the same here for both our businesses and our citizens.
I believe Canberra has signed a deal with Washington to allow the American authorities access to Australian data from Australian companies and the Canadian government has been planning on a similar agreement since 2022. It’s bad enough we’re part of the 5 eyes.
Sunshine@piefed.caOPto
transgender@piefed.blahaj.zone•Which Democrats are Supporting Anti-Trans Laws?English
6·7 days ago25 states have the most scummy dems.
The most transphobic dems by state
- Arkansas 56%
- South Carolina 51%
- Arizona 41%
- Alabama 35%
- Tennessee 23%
- Indiana 20%
- Kentucky 18%
- Florida 15%
- Montana & Idaho 13%
- Michigan & Wyoming 12%
- Mississippi 10%
- Georgia & West Virginia 9%
- Texas & New Hampshire 6%
- North Carolina 5%
- Rhode Island 4%
- Wisconsin, Pennsylvania & Oklahoma 3%
- Kansas 2%
- California & Missouri 1%
Sunshine@piefed.caOPto
Privacy@programming.dev•Trump Wants to Tap Your Phone. Ottawa Might Let HimEnglish
2·7 days agoIt is widely known that, since 2022, Canada has been negotiating, behind closed doors, a cross-border data-sharing agreement with the United States under the US Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act—or the CLOUD Act. The agreement is controversial. It would require Canada to change its laws to allow US law enforcement to directly issue demands for personal data held by Canadian technology providers.
Sunshine@piefed.cato
Privacy@programming.dev•Age verificаtion for social media – the beginning of the end for a free internet? | Mullvаd VPNEnglish
2·7 days agoThe big tech social media companies are bad. Their business model is bad; it is based on mass surveillance and manipulation, and they cooperate with governments in mapping entire populations. But age verification is fundamentally the wrong approach to preventing children from using big tech social media platforms. Introducing age verification is based on the state being able to force social media companies to verify their users’ identities. But the big tech social media platforms already know which of their users are children. Their business model depends on knowing this. They know how old users are, who their friends are and what ice cream they like. As age verification is based on coercion of the social media platforms, politicians could instead force them to stop doing the things politicians consider harmful to children, or force them to block children (again, they know who they are) from using their services. But instead, politicians seek to massively invade everyone’s privacy and undermine democratic rights on a global scale. In other words, the latter is the real objective – they do not want to protect children; they want to impose control.
Australia has already introduced a social media age restriction for users under 16. The same applies to Indonesia and Brazil. Age restrictions have been approved but not yet implemented in Denmark, Portugal, and Malaysia. In France, an agreement has been reached, though details are still being discussed. Proposals are on the table in Spain and Turkey. In Germany, the major parties agree on introducing age restrictions, and in Sweden the issue is under investigation. The topic is also being discussed in countries such as the Czech Republic, Greece, Austria, Poland, Canada, Slovenia, and the Netherlands. In April 2026, the European Commission launched an EU age verification app, and one month later Ursula von der Leyen presented plans for EU-wide age restrictions. In the United States, half of all states either have pending legislation or have already introduced laws imposing age restrictions for inappropriate content and/or social media. The number of countries preparing age verification measures is growing rapidly. Updates can be followed on Techpolicy.press.
The consequence of introducing identity verification is therefore that freedom of information is restricted (you can no longer visit regulated websites anonymously) and that you can no longer post anonymously on social media. You cannot be certain that your criticism of the government will not be followed up by the authorities. You can no longer start a digital initiative on a social media platform aimed at gathering people to criticize an authority without facing a significant risk of consequences. Depending on the country you live in, this could even endanger your life. In its current form, social media identity verification removes important tools for activists in countries where criticizing those in power is dangerous.
Broad and arbitrary legislation, along with mandatory ID tagging for every post, hardly provides a strong foundation for freedom of expression. Today, 30 people are arrested every day in the United Kingdom for posting something online that authorities classify as “grossly offensive.” In Germany, police conduct raids on people’s homes for insulting politicians online. One infamous example is the so-called “Pimmelgate,” where a person was subject to a police search after calling a German politician a term for male genitalia. In the United States, authorities are trying to pressure tech companies into revealing the identities behind accounts protesting ICE. Another example is when Canada introduced emergency acts during the 2022 trucker protests and then used social media to identify demonstrators and freeze the bank accounts of people who financially supported the protest.
Restrictions introduced at the national level can be bypassed by changing one’s geographic location digitally, using tools such as VPNs, virtual phone numbers, eSIM cards, Tor and dedicated services. This has already led politicians in several countries to consider introducing identity verification for VPN services (presumably because VPNs are the most common and accessible method of changing digital location).
In the United Kingdom, the House of Lords sent an amendment in early 2026 (regarding the the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill) to the House of Commons, proposing an 18-year age limit for using VPN services. The House of Commons rejected the House of Lords amendment four separate times. However, the House of Commons instead introduced its own proposal, which was passed and has now become law. This agreement grants the government the power to introduce restrictions through secondary legislation, with only limited parliamentary scrutiny. The government has confirmed that it intends to act on this and introduce some form of social media restriction for children under 16. The government has also hinted that it may consider introducing identity verification for VPN usage, effectively joining countries such as China and Russia in opposing VPN services.
The issue has also been raised in France. As Minister for AI and Digital Affairs Anne Le Hénanff put it: “If [this legislation] allows us to protect a very large majority of children, we will continue. And VPNs are the next topic on my list.”
Discussions about VPN restrictions have also occurred in the United States. Utah has gone the furthest by introducing a law making it illegal to circumvent restrictions using a VPN. Within the EU, VPN restrictions have been discussed both under the Going Dark initiative and in discussions related to age verification. In response to a direct question about VPNs as a tool for bypassing age verification, EU Commissioner Henna Virkkunen said in April: “Of course, it’s an important part of the next steps also to look at that it [age verification] shouldn’t be circumvented.”
If VPN providers were to impose an age limit on their service, this would also mean that underage users would effectively lose their right to online privacy. Ironically, one consequence would be that social media companies mapping people’s lives through third-party trackers on websites could continue monitoring young people’s online behavior via their IP addresses without any interference. In other words, politicians would remove one of the protections children have against the very companies they claim to want to protect children from.
As identity verification is now being introduced globally, different parts of the world are implementing it in different ways. Some countries believe the best solution is to impose controls through major app stores such as Apple’s App Store and Google Play. In Australia, Brazil, South Korea, Singapore, and several US states, Apple has already begun introducing identity verification at the App Store level to restrict access to apps containing adult content.
In Brazil, a law implemented in March 2026 states that identity verification must be carried out both at the app store level and within the operating system itself (including open-source systems), or companies distributing these services will face fines of up to $10 million. A similar law has passed in California which will require identity verification at the operating system level starting in January 2027. Open-source systems were initially included, but later removed, while web browsers and websites were added to the scope. Similar proposals exist in states such as Colorado and New York. In April 2026, a federal proposal was introduced that would require OS-level identity verification across the United States.
Abel liked this meme
Sunshine@piefed.caOPto
Privacy@programming.dev•CalyxOS progress report - our test build with Android 16 is hereEnglish
7·1 month agoCalyx will literally save lives from ICE. Keep your phone private from Trump 2.0.
Average family photo in The Yukon.
Sunshine@piefed.cato
Manitoba@lemmy.ca•What do you guys think of Wab Kinew's plan to introduce age verification for social media?English
1·1 month agoHorrible ideal, it will be used to hunt down political dissidents.
Sunshine@piefed.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Canadian Bill S-209 to implement age verification federally has advanced forward.English
5·1 month agoIt looks like a mla has leaked the list to a third party.
Sunshine@piefed.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Canadian Bill S-209 to implement age verification federally has advanced forward.English
4·1 month agoDon’t be a tool.
Sunshine@piefed.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Canadian Bill S-209 to implement age verification federally has advanced forward.English
6·1 month agoRegulate algorithms, beef up moderation and dns filtering is the proper way to protect kids.
Sunshine@piefed.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Canadian Bill S-209 to implement age verification federally has advanced forward.English
13·1 month agoIf we thought the recent explosion of scams was bad enough, oh boy are we in for a rude awakening after this passes.
The leaks of ids and face mappings would be through the roof.
Imagine the chaos those albertan separatists are gonna cause with this and the electoral list.
Sunshine@piefed.cato
Privacy@programming.dev•Utah’s New Law Targeting VPNs Goes Into Effect Next WeekEnglish
4·1 month agoThe commanders, angels and aunts 🤢
Sunshine@piefed.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Canadian Bill S-209 to implement age verification federally has advanced forward.English
81·1 month agoThere’s literally bad actors paying people $33 per letter to sway their representatives in democracies.
Sunshine@piefed.caOPto
Canada@lemmy.ca•Canadian Bill S-209 to implement age verification federally has advanced forward.English
581·1 month agoWe the people need to write to our mps that we oppose this attack on privacy.
Sunshine@piefed.caOPMto
Fairvote Canada@lemmy.ca•When politicians win majorities without a majority of the vote, they can change rules to suit themselves and limit transparency.English
131·1 month agoPrivacy for the elites but age verification for the masses.
Sunshine@piefed.cato
Linux@programming.dev•Linux cryptographic code flaw offers fast route to rootEnglish
11·1 month agoSeal is getting lectured for using microslop.
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Quick get them in and squash China’s 2027 naval invasion plan.