You’re not wrong, but these days the number of members of the public that truly cares (to point of taking action) about privacy is an extreme minority.

Puddle has been wet for a while, infact, it’s practically almost an inland ocean, why do you think we’re funding drone wars? Ai computing? Quantum computers? tactical robotics? Surveilence companies like Pegasus, Blackrock, Palantir, Even our our domestic surveilence is getting a larger check than defense. It’s a very deliberate “funding” of institutions that ultimately give the police an upperhand, not saying that the police are directly funding these institutions, but rather the state, although not much when it comes to anything outside the defense budget.

There’s a reason why privacy advocates are for alternative tech, and that’s because since 9/11, corporations have become “lobbied” for lack of a better word, to include backdoors and implement certain tech to aid a surveilence state, such as the removal of headphone jacks, the endorsement of useless and extremely vulnerable tech that’s more energy wasting, blutooth products (yeah i have a problem with it, everyone should), fingerprint sensors, front and back facing cameras, artificial intelligence (yes even the older models.), and even going as far as to add metadata to photos that give your exact geolocation data.

Don’t even get me started on the invasive software that comes with the tech, like auto generated albums, or auto editing photos, the such, it pisses me off that we let these things happen. Alternative tech makes it much harder to intercept such vulnerable information, ofcourse, it won’t completely stop it, but it mitigates how much they can swipe under your nose.

Not only that, but check upon the “Blue Shield Act,” it explains the motive for corruption within the american institutions of police, hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. It’s the common trope for the kinds of psychopaths that would be okay with doing the job in the first place. If there’s one thing that makes their job easier, it’s definitely going to be you in cuffs staying silent, so why try to steer away from cutting corners? We’re the law, what we say is final. Until it isn’t ofcourse…

But that’s the problem, as you state in your comment above, this abuse of power is shrugged off, almost as if a normal behaviour, expected. It’s digusting to see it even when i grew up around the same mentality. But hey, at least their method clearly seems to be working, we’re practically silent seeing as they still have the confidence to fuck with our lives.

Just remember, it’s final until it isn’t.

I think you can just assume at this point the US government does not care about the constitution or it’s people and will use any means necessary to collect data on those who wish to counter its growing authoritarian nature.

If you go to a protest, only take a burner phone or no phone at all. If you must take your phone, turn it off and Faraday cage it.

The US has become a failed state. Leave if you can. Things will only get worse before it completely implodes.

Just a friendly reminder that China is still much worse than any flawed democracy when it comes to freedom

Reminds me of:

Samsung: “Apple Bad! They removed headphone jack and the charging brick.”

Also Samsung one year later: “sAvE tHe eNvIrOnMeNt 🤡”

Remember, they were really just admiring them 🫠

Where is the “water isn’t really wet” guy!?

Your comment is 8 hours old. He should be here by now!

No fucking way! I’m gonna need about 100 articles about that, all explaining the exact same thing, but slightly too dumbed down to the point that it doesn’t actually tell me anything.

Yes/no.

The data processing capabilities they have will far FAR outweigh anything you can effectively achieve with AI spam at your scale.

Even if you got thousands to participate, it wouldn’t really be all that much.

Remember, these are agencies already doing data processing on social media, meaning they’re already setup to analyze billions of messages a day.

Texting is so low volume it’s almost comical, and people that are trying to poison the well stand out and become easy to filter.

IMSI spoofing is a product of wireless telephony being an ancient (way-pre-internet) technology, and we’re long in an era where law enforcement (or in this case law-enforcement coded) investigators don’t have to obey laws, such as assuring due process, and unreasonable searches disqualifying evidence. Instead they’re hunting political enemies, and every prisoner of the United States is now a political prisoner.

It also means we don’t have to obey the law, and can start using all-frequency jammers in and around protests and ICE actions to level the playing field. (It will also interfere with regular infrastructure, but it’s not like ICE or the current regime gives half a fuck about that.

All-frequency jammers are older tech and easier to build than IMSI spoofers, and are highly illegal since so much of our commerce and communications depend on radio. But the current FTC has also been captured and is failing to do its job.

Any Amateur Radio enthusiast will know how to make a jammer. And current battery technology would assure you could make a handful that are portable and powerful enough to shut down blocks and blocks of municipal communication. This is playing pretty hardball, but then ICE isn’t playing by the rules.

I don’t understand the entire first half of your comment. The only explanation I have for how well received it was would have to be the last two sentences which resonated with people.

You could then troll them even harder by giving them a real threat to scatter over.

“Free Donuts, corner of 12th & Main. Tell no one.”

better be VERY coded language that a jury would agree is innocent in nature and intent.

might be better to have a bunch of gibberish with a few named places.

They might think it’s code and deploy there, and you’re not actually making a legitimate threat they could come after you for somehow.

Yes, but they would probably arrest you instead.

Sure but no phone also works.

Yes, but then you get rid of it immediately. Also, don’t activate it or have it on at home or any other place that can be associated with you. Only do so after paying with cash and at the location where you’re going to use it then dispose of it.

Cory Doctorow wrote a pretty entertaining book on the subject of tech vs politics.

https://craphound.com/attacksurface/

And cover your damn face.

And if you must, leave it off, ideally in a faraday cage/bag.

Can you fix the markdown of the second bullet point?

I know this sounds crazy in 2025, but you can still buy standalone digital cameras. You can even get discreet devices that record constantly.