Rowenna. 2 ‘n’s. Ro-WEN-na.

The Data Fairy is not some cosy plump granny figure with wings and a sparkly wand who comes to your aid when you’re in trouble.

It’s a mindless, ruthless digital golem engineered to reap, pillage and corral; by and for the interests of oligarchy.

Stop collaborating with your own disempowerment.

I have an idea for a machine that can solve all our problems…

…I call it ‘The Global Exterminator’

Cry Freedom - I was just a kid when I saw it and it opened my eyes to the harshness of the world outside my cosy middle class UK bubble

If you think the open web is a danger to kids, wait till you hear about sugar

Listen, we are in a terrible and difficult time where the horrors can often feel overwhelming. Lean into the things that bring you joy. If that means that sometimes you're wringing that last drop of dopamine out of watching bad people suffer as the result of their poor choices, you do you.

"Knowing what to know" is such an important part of information literacy - we can't know everything, so we need to be choosy. GenAI tools are getting better at information processing, but they are no good at knowledge management. What's important? What's useful? What's an interesting anomaly?

I reckon the number of MPs who suddenly discover they have to declare themselves in order to access their favourite porn sites will do the trick on its own….😆

Let's be crystal clear about what this law actually accomplishes: It makes it harder for adults to access perfectly legal (and often helpful) information and services. It forces people to create detailed trails of their online activity linked to their real identities. It drives users toward less secure platforms and services. It destroys small online communities that can’t afford compliance costs. And it teaches an entire generation that bypassing government surveillance is a basic life skill.

Didn't Take Long To Reveal The UK's #OnlineSafetyAct Is Exactly The Privacy-Crushing Failure Everyone Warned About www.techdirt.com/2025/08/04/d... by @mmasnick.bsky.social

(Masnick is a well-known US commentator on tech and civil liberties, and a Bluesky board member.)

#censorship #surveillance

The greatest danger of AI is that it offers an illusion of competence to those who are unable to evaluate the reliability of its outputs.

It’s becoming a Dunning-Kruger Singularity.

Outsourcing thinking to software that cannot think, is the pinnacle of human stupidity.

Regulation exists because it’s usually easier, faster and cheaper to put people in harm’s way than to protect them.

It’s written in the blood of all those who needed, but weren’t covered by the obligation of legally-enforceable protection.

THIS, ALL DAY LONG

I want to see the DPIA for this

(….bet there isn’t one, but there definitely *should* be)

#IrregularVerb of electoral reform

-I get my fair share of democratic power

-You do things MY way

-We stand against the forces of darkness

-Those Bastards Over There are gaming the system

Call me mean, but if you’re having to ask a predictive text engine how to treat your partner like a human being, perhaps you’re simply not ready for a relationship.

This; the Data Fairy cannot differentiate between a 17yo and an 18yo - all it can do is play statistical odds with cultural norms.

Basically, forcing minors, young adults and outliers to join a commercially-farmable database of contact info and browsing habits.

That’s not ‘safety’

Yes, because I am bloody minded about this bullshit. Check every single tab on a cookie tool and specifically check for a "legitimate interests" tab, because they will all be on by default, and there could literally be hundreds of them. And fuck the ICO for never tackling this abusive bullshit.

Yeah well, as someone who is active in LGBTQ spaces, I’m gonna have to verify just to maintain access to those communities. Because cisheteronormativity perceives the existence of queerness as inherently & intentionally sexually provocative

I could totally buy that entire shop’s stock.

And you’re right, I thoroughly disapprove of eating puffins, they’re almost endangered, FFS!!!

I just had a look at KMS’s privacy info - it says that the entire corporate group (Epic Games) can make use of your AV data as long as they can come up with a plausible justification.

That’s a hell no from me

Internet regulation is entering its hall pass era Sweeping new age verification laws in the U.K. and U.S. aim to protect children—but critics warn they could undermine privacy, harm vulnerable users, and end the last remnants of online anonymity.

A good summary of why the UK’s age verification law is excessive, draconian and dangerous.

www.fastcompany.com/91370158/int...

Register your objection to the UK’s hostile surveillance regime here

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/72...

See y’all over on Mastodon, I guess

(@missiggeek@freeradical.zone)

How To Remove Meta AI From All Your WhatsApp Chats No more blue circle — here’s what you do.

Turn off Meta’s AI feature in WhatsApp

If like me you have family that insists on using WA to communicate, you may have noticed Meta foisting its shitty Data Fairy on you all.

Here’s how to make it fuck off

www.forbes.com/sites/zakdof...

Haha good disguise!

That’s usually been entwined with religion (‘divine right of kings’ and all that) but yeah, distinct parallels

Religion.

Worship enforced by threats of disadvantage and exclusion.

Intangible rewards promised for some time in the nebulous future.

Pointing out flaws and disadvantages is heresy, met with punitive response.

Used to reinforce asymmetric power dynamics to the advantage of those with power.

folks doing “the engine powering the aesthetic of fascism that’s getting increasing purchase in eliminationist spaces actually has some great use cases—you’re a fool for not using it and i will be canceled for saying this” are perhaps my least favorite today.

Not this time, there’s so much awesome stuff at Bletchley Park now it took all day to get round! Love the new interactive displays, they’re excellent

A brilliant day out at Geek Mecca; Bletchley Park. Fascinating how much of the tech we take for granted today originated from those hallowed huts

Ofcom head says age checks are ‘really big moment’ for children’s online safety Melanie Dawes says rules will protect children from harmful content but campaigners are unconvinced

The thing about age verification is that interfamily device security is generally a mess. Everyone knows everyone's passwords, people share devices. The main thing age verification will do is make lots of money for age verification vendors www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Personally, I’m in favour of tending towards compassion, altruism, collectivism and individual dignity; but those things don’t scale up effectively ☹️