My wife and I recently moved our phones to Virgin, because it's cheaper and uses the same carrier as the expensive service we were paying for. I live in a rural area and service sucks so I want to enable wifi calling so I can make and receive calls at home. I've been trying for a couple of days and it keeps failing with this error message. My wife decided to try, just in case it was some issue with my phone, and she rushed through and accepted everything, including the consent to collecting data for advertising that I had declined - hers worked straight away! Now I don't want to try consenting to find out if that's why mine won't work because I'm in the mood for a fight with them. I know I won't win, but I'm curious to see where it goes.

Cross-geposted von: https://feddit.org/post/33699418

Since Meta launched its AI-powered Ray-Bans, which can record video and audio as well as make calls, there’s been a growing privacy backlash against the specs, with many dubbing them “pervert” glasses after they were reportedly used to film people without their consent. (...)

Never one to miss an opportunity to take a public swipe at big tech, the alternative search engine DuckDuckGo has now launched a new range of glasses in collaboration with the San Diego firm Knockaround (...)

The twist: with their permanent offline mode, zero cameras and mics, no AI or electronics of any kind, the “California cool” Paso Robles have been hailed as "the world's most innovative anti-surveillance sunglasses," AKA "Normal F***ing Sunglasses” according to Knockaround’s website.

Snapchat’s automated system flagged a private DM to three contacts and triggered an FBI alert in under 60 minutes, ending her teaching career

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1305860/google-search-testing-sign-in-to-verify-searches-are-human

Google Search is testing asking searchers to sign in to verify they are humans and not bots conducting the searches.

Google will stop showing you search results, as you click through the pages, and say "Sign in to verify you're a human and see more results."

Source: Search Engine Roundtable

On May 9, 2025, a deputy with the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office in Texas queried Flock Safety’s nationwide license plate reader network. The reason entered into the search log, according to documents obtained by 404 Media: “had an abortion, search for female.” That single query swept across 83,000 cameras in 6,809 law enforcement networks — including cameras in Washington and Illinois, states where abortion is legal and protected. A small-county Texas deputy, hunting for a woman suspected of self-administering an abortion, had just searched a surveillance apparatus stretching from Spokane to Springfield. No warrant was required for the search.

It's not my event, but if you care about privacy (and in the area), I'd really appreciate it if you showed this guy some support. He's putting in a lot of work on the ground to organize folks.

https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/07/google-play-age-signals-api-safer-experiences.html?m=1

Yea so I have some aquariums / hydroponics that I'd like to measure the energy use as well as control individually with timers. Probably looking for a combination power bar with a wall outlet meter.

I see lots of power bars that have 1 timer for 4 outlets, but none that let me control outlets individually.

Meanwhile all the outlet meters I'm seeing have apps and give me spyware vibes.

Not categorically against "smart" stuff, but I'm hesitant to use anything with wifi connectivity that isn't "privacy community approved."

I already have mechanical timers Looking for upgrade suggestions.

Cross posted from https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/73088538

Cross posted from https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/73088538

Not all information need to be shared..!
@privacy

It's 2026 and 1 billion people still use "123456" as their password. I wrote a blog about how we can securely use the Internet safeguarding our emails and passwords

https://text.tchncs.de/czars-blogs/h1-style-font-size-50px-not-all-information-needs-to-be-shared

Recent reports have raised alarm about the use of PatronScan, an ID-checking and face-scanning system, at multiple LGBTQ+ bars in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood. Much of the attention has focused on reports that the system photographs patrons as they enter venues and questions about whether those images are used for facial recognition