The Nexus of Privacy
- 5 things white people can do to start making the fediverse less toxic for Black peopleprivacy.thenexus.today 5 things white people can do to start making the fediverse less toxic for Black people
Anti-Blackness – is a long-term problem in the fediverse. Now's a good time to start changing that.
Here's the list:
- Listen more to more Black people – and amplify their voices
- Think before you post
- Call in, call out, and/or report anti-Blackness when you see it
- Support Black people and Black-led instances and projects
- Approach it intersectionally
The full article goes into detail, and also has links to anti-racism resources and appendices with a list of common mistakes to avoid and blocklist resources for moderators.
Thanks to everybody who gave feedback on earlier drafts!
(Update, 8/19: I changed the wording on #2 to match changes in the underlying article)
- Ah, Lemmy: Racism and Denial in the Threadiverse (DRAFT)privacy.thenexus.today Ah, Lemmy: Racism and Denial in the Threadiverse (DRAFT)
Fediverse discussions about racism in the fediverse frequently provide examples of racism in the fediverse
- Examples of racism on Lemmy?
In 4 things white people can do to start making the fediverse less toxic for Black people (DRAFT!) and its cross-posts, quite a few people said things like "maybe racism is a problem on Mastodon, but I don't see it on Lemmy." Then again, plenty of comments in the various threads were in fact examples of racism on Lemmy, so one takeaway is that at lot of people don't see racism even when they're looking at it. And helpful commenters pointed out some of the other patterns of racism on Lemmy. ... but that wasn't really the thrust of that discussion.
So I wanted to ask more generally, what are some of the examples you've seen of racism on Lemmy? Quotes and links are great, but also feel free just to describe examples or call out more general patterns!
- 4 things white people can do to start making the fediverse less toxic for Black people (DRAFT!)
Feedback welcome! Here's the TL;DR list
- Listen more to more Black people
- Post less – and think before you post
- Call in, call out, and/or report anti-Blackness when you see it
- Support Black people and Black-led instances and projects
Other suggestions?
- Presenting our DIY Dead Man Switch @ DEF CON 32www.buskill.in BusKill goes to DEF CON 32 - BusKill
Join BusKill at DEF CON 32 for our presentation titled "Open Hardware Design for BusKill Cord" in the Demo Lab
We're happy to announce that BusKill is presenting at DEF CON 32.
What: Open Hardware Design for BusKill Cord When: 2024-08-10 12:00 - 13:45 Where: W303 – Third Floor – LVCC West Hall
| [!BusKill goes to DEF CON 32 (Engage)](https://www.buskill.in/defcon32/) | |:--:| | BusKill is presenting at DEF CON 32 |
What is BusKill?
BusKill is a laptop kill-cord. It's a USB cable with a magnetic breakaway that you attach to your body and connect to your computer.
| [!What is BusKill? (Explainer Video)](https://www.buskill.in/#demo) | |:--:| | Watch the BusKill Explainer Video for more info youtube.com/v/qPwyoD_cQR4 |
If the connection between you to your computer is severed, then your device will lock, shutdown, or shred its encryption keys -- thus keeping your encrypted data safe from thieves that steal your device.
What is DEF CON?
DEF CON is a yearly hacker conference in Las Vegas, USA.
| [!DEF CON Documentary](https://www.buskill.in/defcon32/) | |:--:| | Watch the DEF CON Documentary for more info youtube.com/watch?v=3ctQOmjQyYg |
What is BusKill presenting at DEF CON?
I (goldfishlaser) will be presenting Open Hardware Design for BusKill Cord in a Demo Lab at DEF CON 32.
What: Open Hardware Design for BusKill Cord When: Sat Aug 10 12PM – 1:45PM Where: W303 – Third Floor – LVCC West Hall
Who: Melanie Allen (goldfishlaser) More info
Talk Description
BusKill is a Dead Man Switch triggered when a magnetic breakaway is tripped, severing a USB connection. I’ve written OpenSCAD code that creates a 3D printable file for plastic parts needed to create the magnetic breakaway. Should anyone need to adjust this design for variations of components, the code is parameterized allowing for easy customization. To assemble a BusKill Dead Man Switch cord you will need:
- a usb-a extension cord,
- a usb hard drive capable of being attached to a carabiner,
- a carabiner,
- the plastic pieces in this file,
- a usb female port,
- a usb male,
- 4 magnets,
- 4 pogo pins,
- 4 pogo receptors,
- wire,
- 8 screws,
- and BusKill software.
| [!Image of the Golden BusKill decoupler with the case off](https://www.buskill.in/defcon32/) | |:--:| | Golden DIY BusKill Print |
Full BOM, glossary, and assembly instructions are included in the github repository. The room holds approx. 70 attendees seated. I’ll be delivering 3 x 30 min presentations – with some tailoring to what sort of audience I get each time.
Meet Me @ DEF CON
If you'd like to find me and chat, I'm also planning to attend:
- ATL Meetup (DCG Atlanta Friday: 16:00 – 19:00 \| 236),
- Hacker Kareoke (Friday and Sat 20:00-21:00 \| 222),
- Goth Night (Friday: 21:00 – 02:00 \| 322-324),
- QueerCon Mixer (Saturday: 16:00-18:00 \| Chillout 2),
- EFF Trivia (Saturday: 17:30-21:30 \| 307-308), and
- Jack Rysider’s Masquerade (Saturday: 21:00 – 01:00 \| 325-327)
I hope to print many fun trinkets for my new friends, including some BusKill keychains.
| [!Image shows a collection of 3D-printed bottle openers and whistles that say "BusKill"](https://www.buskill.in/defcon32/) | |:--:| | Come to my presentation @ DEF CON for some free BusKill swag |
By attending DEF CON, I hope to make connections and find collaborators. I hope during the demo labs to find people who will bring fresh ideas to the project to make it more effective.
- Fork it! It's time for a Mastodon hard forkprivacy.thenexus.today Fork it! It's time for a Mastodon hard fork
An opportunity to improve safety, the Mastodon ecosystem, and fediverse software development
- It's time for a hard fork of Mastodon (DRAFT)
This is a work in progress, so feedback very welcome! And, if please check out the Mastodon poll about interest in a fork
Contents:
- Intro
- There's a lot of low-hanging fruit
- Safety is an especially good area to focus on
- It's not as easy as it sounds ...
- But it's not like it defies the laws of physics!
- What about funding?
- Make sure there are funded leadership and project roles for Black, Indigenous, Muslim, trans, queer, and disabled people as well as others who have been marginalized in Mastodon's development history
- Let a thousand forks bloom!
- Clever conclusion! tbd
As the tbd in that last bullet implies, the conclusion isn't written yet. Like I said it really is a work in progress!
- Eight tips about consent for fediverse developersprivacy.thenexus.today Eight tips about consent for fediverse developers
An opportunity? A minefield? Both!
If you're a developer working on a fediverse app or service and want to get it right – or just don't want to be the center of the next firestorm – here are a few suggestions.
- Federal privacy legislation update: the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA)privacy.thenexus.today Federal privacy legislation update: the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA)
Expect a fierce legislative battle!
Big news in DC: a new bipartisan, bicameral proposal for a "compromise" federal privacy bill, the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA). At this point, take it all with a grain of salt; in 2022, the initial draft of the bill was promising, but it got weakened substantially by the subcommittee and then weakened further by the committee. I haven't read the discussion draft yet so don't have any strong opinions on it.
- How to block Threads on Mastodon
Should the Fediverse welcome its new surveillance-capitalism overlords? Opinions differ! If you're one of the fediverse influencers who sees Threads arrival it as "historic" and "a glimpse of the future" ... well, you might want to skip this post.
But if you're one of the many many people on the fediverse who doesn't want to deal with Threads, read on!
- Steps towards a safer fediverseprivacy.thenexus.today Steps towards a safer fediverse
Part 5 of "Golden opportunities for the fediverse -- and whatever comes next."
The good news is that there are some straightforward opportunities for significant short-term safety improvements. If fediverse funders, developers, businesses, and "influencers" start prioritizing investing in safety, the fediverse can turn what's currently a big weakness into a huge strategic advantage.
Contents:
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It's about people, not just the software and the protocol
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It's also about the software
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And it's about the protocol, too
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Threat modeling and privacy by design can play a big role here
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Design from the margins – and fund it!
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- Business is business: Snap, Microsoft, and X endorse the anti-LGBTQ+, pro-censorship KOSA billprivacy.thenexus.today Business is business: Snap, Microsoft, and X endorse the anti-LGBTQ+, pro-censorship KOSA bill
What's important is *looking like* they're trying to protect children -- even though KOSA would actually harm kids
If you're in the US, https://stopkosa.com and EFF's page make it easy to contact your Senators and ask them to oppose #KOSA.
- Steps towards a safer fediverse (DRAFT)privacy.thenexus.today Steps towards a safer fediverse
Part 5 of "Golden opportunities for the fediverse -- and whatever comes next."
There are some straightforward opportunities for short-term safety improvements, but this is only the start of what's needed to change the dynamic more completely.
This is a draft, so feedback welcome!
- Instances in the free fediverses should consider "transitive defederation" from instances that federate with Metaprivacy.thenexus.today Instances in the free fediverses should consider "transitive defederation" from instances that federate with Meta
Part 7 of Strategies for the free fediverses. As the first post in the series discusses, the "free fediverses" are regions of the fediverse that reject Meta and surveillance capitalism, and these strategies position the free fediverses as an alternative to Threads and "Meta's fediverses". Join the...
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.
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.
(Part 7 of Strategies for the free fediverses )
- The free fediverses should work together with people and instances in Meta's fediverses and on Bluesky whose goals and values alignprivacy.thenexus.today The free fediverses should work together with people and instances in Meta's fediverses and on Bluesky whose goals and values align
Part 6 of "Strategies for a free fediverse"
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:
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A key principle of organizing is meeting people where they are.
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Moderation on decentralized networks is a shared challenge.
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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.
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Meta's fediverses, Bluesky, and the free fediverses are all vulnerable to disinformation.
(Part 6 of Strategies for the free fediverses )
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- The free fediverses should make it easier to move between (and create) instancesprivacy.thenexus.today The free fediverses should make it easier to move between (and create) instances
Part 5 of Strategies for 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.
(Part 5 of Strategies for the Free Fediverses )
- The free fediverses should support concentric federations of instancesprivacy.thenexus.today The free fediverses should support concentric federations of instances
Part 4 of Strategies for the free fediverses
Here's how Kat Marchá 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 and helps address scalability of consent-based federation.
- What fediverse apps and software, support quote posts today?
What fediverse apps and software, support quote posts today?
Here's a great thread by @polotek about quoted posts.
https://social.polotek.net/@polotek/111699960916060256
What fediverse software platforms or apps supports quoted posts today (sometimes implemented as a link, a screenshot, or a reply)?
@thenexusofprivacy@lemmy.blahaj.zone #fediverse #mastodon #quoteboost
- The free fediverses should emphasize networked communitiesprivacy.thenexus.today The free fediverses should emphasize networked communities
Part 3 of Strategies for the free fediverses
The "free fediverses" are regions of the fediverse that reject Meta and surveillance capitalism. This post is part of a series looking at strategies to position the free fediverses as an alternative to Threads and "Meta's fediverses".
- It's possible to talk about The Bad Space without being racist or anti-trans – but it's not as easy as it soundsprivacy.thenexus.today It's possible to talk about The Bad Space without being racist or anti-trans – but it's not as easy as it sounds
Part 3 of "Golden opportunities for the fediverse – and whatever comes next"
- Blocklists in the fediverseprivacy.thenexus.today Blocklists in the fediverse
Part 2 of "Golden opportunities for the fediverse – and whatever comes next"
- Don't tell people "it's easy", and seven more things Kbin, Lemmy, and the fediverse can learn from Mastodonprivacy.thenexus.today Don't tell people "it's easy", and seven more things Kbin, Lemmy, and the fediverse can learn from Mastodon (UPDATED)
The fediverse has always grown in waves, and it looks like the next one's in progress.
- Should the Fediverse welcome its new surveillance-capitalism overlords? Opinions differ!privacy.thenexus.today Should the Fediverse welcome its new surveillance-capitalism overlords? Opinions differ! (UPDATED for 2024)
Block Meta or "trust but verify"?
Originally written June 2023, updated December 2023 after Threads launched