Jake Chanenson

PSA: tips to protect yourself from scams on Signal.

Every major comms platform has to contend w phishing, impersonation, & scams. Sadly.

Signal is major, and as we've grown we've heard about more of these attacks--scammy people pretending to be something or someone to trick and abuse others. 1/

@profhilaryallen.bsky.social stopped by to chat about "Fintech Dystopia" on the podcast this week. It's a bit of a topic shift from my usual privacy/STS focus but the book was just too interesting not to have her on.

newbooksnetwork.com/hilary-allen...

A little bit late on this but I had a wonderful chat with @josemarichal.bsky.social about his new book "You Must Become an Algorithmic Problem." Take a listen here!

newbooksnetwork.com/you-must-bec...

I'm included in this cool edited volume on digital sovereignty in the @openhumanities.bsky.social journal Communication + 1

My contribution is entitled "Data rights reconsidered: Reimagining digital freedom through Lefebvre’s Right to the City" but the entire volume is worth a read.

A VPN is not a tool for anonymity, and while it can protect your location from some companies, there are many other ways companies may track you.

The ebook economy is so outrageous.

I needed the most recent Norton Anthology of American Literature, but my library doesn't have it. So I bought it for $50.

$50 gives you access for 180 days, and you can download 64 discrete "sections." Kate Chopin alone has dozens of sections.

"Add additional information to your Piazza profile Diversity & Inclusion – select one or more (required) Let's harness the power of human difference to help solve some of the world’s hardest problems with employers on Piazza Network. A list of checkboxes follows, labeled as: Female Male Non-binary American Indian or Indigenous Peoples Asian Black or African American Hispanic or Latino Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander White or Caucasian Veteran or served in the Armed Services First-generation college student Living with a disability Member of the LGBTQ community National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Each of the 3 sections above are required by the Piazza Network."

"Add additional information to your Piazza profile" Checkboxes from previous screenshot continue: "- Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) - Society of Women Engineers (SWE) - Women in Computer Science (WiCS) - Prefer not to share" Next, a section titled: "Visa requirement to work in the U.S. (required) - I am a US citizen - To work in the US, I do not require sponsorship for an employment authorizing status or visa immediately, nor in the future - To work in the US, I will require sponsorship for an employment authorizing status or visa in the future - To work in the US, I will require sponsorship for an employment authorizing status or visa immediately - Not applicable / Prefer not to share Next is a field labeled: "Personal email (non-school, example: name@email.com) (required)" "Employers may need to use this to communicate with you as part of the Piazza Network." "Each of the 3 sections above are required by the Piazza Network."

Piazza is a course discussion platform used by many colleges and universities. Piazza requires students to provide the following information when signing up.

From 2017-2019, Palantir Technologies paid Piazza $916,000 for access to this data. www.sec.gov/Archives/edg...

Academia: Self-Infliction Thursday's Child Doesn't Have Far to Go If They Don't Cut it Out Pronto

timothyburke.substack.com/p/academia-s...

First Porn, Now Skin Cream? ‘Age Verification’ Bills Are Out of Control I’m old enough to remember when age verification bills were pitched as a way to ‘save the kids from porn’ and shield them from other vague dangers lurking in the digital world (like…“the transgender”)...

No method of age verification is both privacy-protective and entirely accurate. Introducing these laws is dangerous, and expanding them to things like skincare, dating apps, and diet pills has enormous unintended consequences for your personal data.

I had a great conversation with @daniel-solove.bsky.social about his new book! Check it out here: newbooksnetwork.com/on-privacy-a...

Congress is debating a bill that will lead to weaponized takedown requests of lawful speech with no real safeguards. Tell Congress to vote No on TAKE IT DOWN.

Are you (or someone you know) interested in working at the intersection of privacy and technology? If so, then I've got some great news!

Me, hiding under the bed:

Armed robber:

Me:

Armed robber:

Me:

Armed robber: Interaction design, interface design... they sound very similar, aren't they basically the same thing?

Me: ACTUALLY

Interaction's interactions.acm.org/archive/view...

Inspired me to write the following silly short story

jakec007.github.io/2025-01-12-t...

🥁 Announcing the Public Domain Image Archive! 🥁

We are v excited to share our new sister-project, the Public Domain Image Archive (PDIA), a curated collection of 10k+ out-of-copyright historical images, all free to explore and reuse: pdimagearchive.org @pdimagearchive

gravy_app_list

Here is a list of every app on your phone selling your location data to advertisers, interested unknown 3rd parties, and the US government. Thanks to 404 Media and @josephcox.bsky.social : docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

I'm a cybersecurity professional.

My greatest hits include: "You can't build an e2ee backdoor only good guys can use," "Your digital letters of marquee will not work out the way you think," and "I see you're trying to apply a technical solution to a social problem."

They See Your Photos Upload a photo to find out how much an AI sees.

Instead of working I have been uploading (already public) photos to this delightful site

theyseeyourphotos.com

You should really try this out it is so much fun

I would add also that reading the piece made me think about @hartzog.bsky.social's great book Privacy's Blueprint

He was nice enough to stop by to chat about the book back in 2023 if you want a quick overview newbooksnetwork.com/privacy%C3%B...

Lorrie Cranor wrote up a neat piece in Communications about Notice and Choice

It reminded me that you need to opt-in to Global Privacy Control on Firefox.

Here is a catch-all resource on how to set that up:
globalprivacycontrol.org#download

Check your GPC status: global-privacy-control.glitch.me

A version of the kermit vs darth kermit meme where good kermit tells the online academic that they should grade, while darth kermit tells them they should eat more pie.

Every academic right now

How to make a good talk (and why are academics so bad at this)? Some guidance based on what I think a lot of academics fail to realize about what makes a good talk.

"How to make a good talk (and why are academics so bad at this)?" I wanted to give advice to an undergrad based on what I think is missing from (or wrong about) most advice out there on giving a talk.

Would love to hear people's thoughts on this (especially academics hehe).

Dilemmas in Digital Abuse is published under my name; Cybercrime Scenarios is co-authored with Samuel Won.

Both are open-access materials that you may use/assign/adapt for free under a @creativecommons.bsky.social license!

Or buy paperbacks on Lulu: lulu.com/search?contr...

The image promotes the job opportunity of Executive Director of the California Privacy Protection Agency. The center of the image is a navy blue box with yellow and white letters saying "Join our Team," "Executive Director," "Apply by December 6," and "California Privacy Protection Agency." The center text is surrounded by 4 photos of people in business wear talking to one another and listening to presentations.

Spread the word! The California Privacy Protection Agency is seeking its next Executive Director. Apply by Dec. 6 for an exciting opportunity to lead a dynamic agency at the forefront of privacy protection and policy in California.

calcareers.ca.gov/CalHrPublic/...