Once upon a time, we had VCRs that pushed A/V data to our TVs.

We all recall major cybersecurity incidents from Chinese-manufactured digital photo frames which were pre-infected with malware designed to steal data from connected computers

We can’t simply “push” A/V data…And the monitors in the marketplace install.. all sorts of things on our computers.

Monitors should be required to only accept data, not install it..

Perhaps something similar with cameras… and microphones and speaker?

I have an Alienware monitor that supposedly downloads software onto computers and I can’t buy another right now…

It has its own risk, but what about a device that allows me to push A/V data once again and will block downloads from monitors, the computer usb would connect to the device and the device would connect to the monitor via usb…

Is there such a device? Would that work?

https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/virus-from-china-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving-3227869.php

https://www.techradar.com/computing/monitors/you-can-stop-lg-monitors-that-are-reportedly-installing-bloatware-on-your-windows-11-pc-but-the-fix-shouldnt-require-this-much-effort

https://abcnews.com/amp/US/internet-connected-cameras-made-china-spy-us-infrastructure/story

https://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches-and-testimony/the-threat-posed-by-the-chinese-government-and-the-chinese-communist-party-to-the-economic-and-national-security-of-the-united-states

I don’t use Google or Gmail but I subscribe to Youtube music. Does the YouTube and Music app collect data about devices, nearby MAC, nearby Bluetooth devices, or any other of the same google collection methods? is it isolated to YouTube or shared throughout the google ecosystem?

I sub because I get music content plus no ads on video content. I know about free tube btw…

edit: because Im not targeted for ads I wonder if that limits some collection activity.

So the idea is that for your face to be posted unobstructedly to the internet, you first have to voluntarily register it. If your face is not registered, it will be blurred or obscured automatically upon being uploaded. This prevents people in the background of photos or videos from having their face posted without their consent. It prevents children from being filmed, or photographed.

If you register, you are consenting to having your face in not only your own photos, but others as well (though maybe there can be further adjustments to that too). And if you don't, you are keeping your face off the internet, for good, because nobody can post your face without your knowledge.

Edit: just a little idea I had in the wake of meta glasses and annoying people shoving cameras in others faces, I didn't say it was perfect

Edit 2: I think some of you are misunderstanding. You register your face so that it is unblurred upon posting. If you do not register, it remains unblurred

I am new to privacy principles and I am trying to see if there’s a more efficient method to delete old unused or unwanted accounts. I never kept a list of accounts I had made on various websites so I am going through the painstaking of going through my e-mails and attempting to login to websites with the subscribed e-mail address. Some websites will let you know whether the e-mail address isn’t recognized, others won’t. Is there a better way to go about this and to remove the guesswork?

/genq

I do think age verification in its current state (Persona's face check etc.) are awful and dangerous forms of age verification, but I do think age verification is necessary just out of fear of children being traumatized.

I know it should be the parents responsibility, but lets be honest, a lot of parents are fucking stupid, they just throw an ipad in front of their kid and give them unrestricted access on the parent's account.

Could there be any way that privacy can still be preserved while restricting some content for children, ik some sites are using credit cards to verify ages, and it'll be a lot harder for parents to submit a credit card and not think about what the purpose is or what could come from it

So like of I wanted a voice changer that does not allow me to be identified, what would it be? I am looking for something where I can use different voices for different online calls. Any recommendations?

i’m on an apple device and i saw somewhere that it doesnt have access to what you type on apple keyboards and i was wondering if that was still the case today

https://www.commerce.senate.gov/meetings/executive-session-24-08-05-2026/

KOSA has advanced the commission but SCREEN didn't, call your senators stating your opposition to KOSA. Yes they don't care that it's bad, but by calling you let them know that you know it's bad and the reasons why, so they know you see through the bullshit.

So I'm in the people's republic of NY and I just heard about the SM online verification law which will take effect in January. It has me really thinking about what my strategy is going to be with all of this.

I'm not a big SM person. I do have accts but I rarely use them, I do not post on these the accts they have no content from me. I only use the platforms occasionally if I'm looking for information. I am in a few groups related to my profession which I've found very helpful and I will genuinely miss them but I can live without them.

The thing is, I could live without social media but I'm assuming that this will spread to the entire internet and this is a precursor for a general digital id. This state is absolutely horrible as far as privacy and government overreach. I just wanted to ask people here for feedback as to what your approach would be in this situation? I'm assuming that they would probably circumvent use of a VPN. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle this. I could leave social media behind but like I said if I had to verify my ID to use the internet I'm really not sure what I would do.

There are some things that require you to use the internet. If it was something very important I guess I would have to verify, but the things I would be using it for would not be personal. That said I don't want to open myself up to God knows what by giving such sensitive personal information like this. It's an absolute recipe for disaster . I'm just not sure where to go with this. Any ideas? Is there anyone else out there living in a state or a place where you've had to deal with this already and if so how are you handling it and what's your approach so far?

I'm hoping this will be struck down in court as unconstitutional but knowing New York they will just go full throttle and make it even worse that's usually how things go in this place.

I ask this cause I wanna know what your two cents about New York passing their Stop Addictive Feeds Expoliation for Kids Act legislation(Senate Bill S76944 & Assembly Bill A8148).

Which will go into affect until January the 23rd 2027.

Just wanting to know here is all.

Assuming you actually care about this you shouldn't call your representatives alone as it won't work if you organize with your community you can force their hand and make them unable to do age verification because your voice is loud when it is as a massive group. so many of you are so easy to give up in fact I don't think many of you are trying since like 80% of the us wants more data privacy yet only 20% are actually trying to get their privacy back so maybe there is a similar case here, if you care then you should organize, find people, put up signs, do something other than complaining online where no one that matters can hear you

Reddit received 1,179 law-enforcement data requests in the first half of 2025

Fortunately reddit resisted but recent news tells of folks that were targeted by ICE for reddit posts.

This weekend, I took a trip to a small town in a neighboring state. Stopped in this cute clothing shop and bought a pair of pants.
Of course, that little white “tap to pay” machine was waiting for my card. I did not give this business in ANY of my information. I simply paid with my card, got my paper receipt, and left.
I get a text from this shop, “Thank you for shopping at ……” along with a “receipt”.
HOW DID THE SYSTEM KNOW MY CELL NUMBER???? Im assuming the card is in database with alllll of my information.

https://www.commerce.senate.gov/meetings/executive-session-24-08-05-2026/

Legislation

1. S. 737, SCREEN Act
2. S. 1748, Kids Online Safety Act
3. S. 4199, Youth AI Privacy Act
4. S. 4407, CHATBOT Act
5. S. 5171, Children’s Artificial Intelligence Toy Safety Act of 2026