The Nexus of Privacy

Activism makes a difference: the SCREEN Act unexpectedly fails in committee! https://thenexusofprivacy.net/activism-makes-a-difference/ But KOSA advances, so we really do need to keep the pressure up. @fight@mastodon.fightforthefuture.org's https://www.badinternetbills.com/ is still a good way to contact your Senators. @general #KOSA #ageVerification #fediverse #organizing

This post focuses on activism for this Wednesday's Senate Commerce Committee markup of KOSA, the SCREEN Act and a couple of other bills, and explores a few ways we can have an impact. Turn up the volume: more calls and emails to the SenateGet the word out in the ATmosphere and the fediverses (and everywhere else too)Find a way that works for you to follow the ongoing battles over KOSA and other bad internet billsExperiment with different tactics Speaking of calls to the Senate, if you have't contacted your Senators yet about this vote, please do.  And if you've already contacted them once, please do again! @fight@mastodon.fightforthefuture.org's https://www.badinternetbills.com/ makes it easy @general @fediverse

"The S is for surveillance": fighting KOSA and bad internet bills in the ATmosphere and the fediverses https://thenexusofprivacy.net/the-s-in-kosa-is-for-surveillance/ The first post in this series was at a fairly high level.  Now, let's shift from theory to practice. Thanks to Anthony Moser for the framing help! @general @fediverse #KOSA #ageVerification #fediverse #USpol

The time is right: Organizing against the surveillance-industrial complex in the ATmosphere and the fediverses https://thenexusofprivacy.net/the-time-is-right/ If we organize, we can have a big impact in the linked fights against different aspects of the surveillance-industrial complex #fediverse #surveillance #organizing @general

@ret@furry.engineer Whatever talking points work!  In the US, libertarians and even some conservatives are against age verification laws -- https://cei.org/coalition_letters/cei-joins-taxpayers-protection-alliance-coalitions-letter-opposing-asaa-and-kosa-online-regulations/ is a letter a bunch of mainline conservative orgs recently sent to Congress.

@ret@furry.engineer It's certainly worth submitting evidence -- great suggestion!  That said, the whole framing of this is that the OSA didn't go far enough and needs to be enforced more vigorously.  It's still an opportunity to push for reform (and potentially even getting rid of it), but making progress is going to take some serious organizing to get a very loud outcry so that MPs start to see political costs.

Hi!  I've now migrated my account here from @thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange (which still has my full posting history), so seems like a good time for a new introduction. The Nexus Of Privacy looks at the connections between technology, policy, strategy, and justice.  As well as privacy, that also includes  decentralized social networks, including the ATmosphere as well as the fediverse. https://thenexusofprivacy.net/ See the newsletter's About and About Me, and my personal account at @jdp23@neuromatch.social for more.  I'm also in the ATmosphere at @thenexusofprivacy.net and @jdp23.thenexus.today I've written about decentralized social networks since 2010. A few highlights Lessons (so far) from Mastodon for independent social networks (2017)Mastodon, a partial history (DRAFT) (2022), and the 2024 followups Mastodon, two years later,  A tale of two prototypes, and A faux "Eternal September" turns into flatnessA (partial) queer, trans, and non-binary history of Mastodon and the fediverse (2023)Don't tell people "it's easy", and seven more things Kbin, Lemmy, and the fediverse can learn from MastodonShould the Fediverse welcome its new surveillance-capitalism overlords? Opinions differ! and Embrace, Extend, and Exploit: Meta's plan for ActivityPub, Mastodon and the FediverseMastodon and today's ActivityPub Fediverse are unsafe by design and unsafe by default, Blocklists in the fediverse, It's possible to talk about The Bad Space without being racist or anti-trans – but it's not as easy as it sounds, and Steps towards a safer fediverse, four parts of a series-in-progress on Golden opportunities for the fediverse -- and whatever comes nextStrategies for free fediverses, a work-in-progress for those who want to build fediverses that reject Meta – and surveillance capitalism more generally5 things white people can do to start making the fediverse less toxic for Black peopleI for one welcome Bluesky, the ATmosphere, BTS ARMY, millions of Brazilians, Black Twitter, and sex worker Twitter to the fediverses!"Decentralization" and erasure: Blacksky, Bluesky, and the ATmosphereBluesky and The Battle of WormtongueIf not now, when? Mutual aid and organizing in the fediverses, the ATmosphere, and whatever comes next , Notes (and thoughts) on organizing in the fediverses and the ATmosphere, More notes on Organizing, Mutual Aid, and Activism on decentralized social networks, and Notes on genocide prevention and other kinds of organizing, mutual aid, and activism on social networks, all from spring 2025.  The October 2025 Fediforum slides and session notes and my undelivered February 2026 un-workshop presentation lists on Legislative Activism in the ATmosphere and the Fediverse have updates #introduction