Meta might be secretly scanning your phone's camera roll - how to check and turn it off
Some Facebook users have noticed new settings that let Meta analyze and retain your phone's photos. Yes, you read that right.Elyse Betters Picaro (ZDNET)
Some Facebook users have noticed new settings that let Meta analyze and retain your phone's photos. Yes, you read that right.Elyse Betters Picaro (ZDNET)
Please boost for reach among the blind community. Okay y'all, is it just me, or are the Meta RayBan glasses descriptions, even with detailed responses on in accessibility settings, still not very accurate? I mean it feels like they're using Llama 3.1 8B, a small model. Am I going more crazy than I already am? Am I missing some context engineering tricks? Like I don't get it. It said my coffee maker's filter basket was empty when it wasn't, said a cup of coffee was empty when it was about half full, then said the coffee cup was folded when I asked it it was full again, cause speech recognition still sucks I guess and AI can't work around that, and said a washing machine was beside the bathroom counter when it was behind me, across from the counter. Like this isn't me playing a video game, this is normal household stuff.
I am becoming increasingly doubtful of #Telegram's background and direction. #WhatsApp is owned by #Meta and just announced that it will introduce ads. So, it looks like I'm left with #Signal and #Matrix. The former has better UX, but it's centralized and US-based. The latter is a bit clumsy but decentralized and EU-based. Neither is perfect, but they are the closest to it for me.
Apparently, if you have facebook or Instagram installed on your phone, #Meta was able to track your browsing habits and link them to your real identity even if you never logged in on the web, used incognito mode or a VPN. I hope Meta gets hit with every fine in the book.
zeropartydata.es/p/localhost-t…
You just can't finish off Zuckerberg.Jorge García Herrero (Zero Party Data)
As an add on to the post above, if you don't think speaking out against Israel's genocide in Gaza and on behalf of the people being slaughtered there matters, then why is the Netanyahu government working so hard with multi-billion dollar social media companies like Meta to suppress pro-Palestinian speech online?
dropsitenews.com/p/leaked-data…
Leaked Data Reveals Massive Israeli Campaign to Remove Pro-Palestine Posts on Facebook and Instagram
"A sweeping crackdown on posts on Instagram and Facebook that are critical of Israel—or even vaguely supportive of Palestinians—was directly orchestrated by the government of Israel, according to internal Meta data obtained by Drop Site News. The data show that Meta has complied with 94% of takedown requests issued by Israel since October 7, 2023. Israel is the biggest originator of takedown requests globally by far, and Meta has followed suit—widening the net of posts it automatically removes, and creating what can be called the largest mass censorship operation in modern history.
Government requests for takedowns generally focus on posts made by citizens inside that government’s borders, Meta insiders said. What makes Israel’s campaign unique is its success in censoring speech in many countries outside of Israel. What’s more, Israel's censorship project will echo well into the future, insiders said, as the AI program Meta is currently training how to moderate content will base future decisions on the successful takedown of content critical of Israel’s genocide."
As I've noted elsewhere, it's very clear that the pro-genocide Pig Empire establishment used the sham ceasefire Trump supposedly brokered in Gaza as an excuse to reset the discourse and resume the genocide at pace. We've returned to a pre-2024 media environment of silence and minimization of crimes against humanity, particularly in America, and these folks are working overtime to keep you from talking about, and hopefully (for genocidal monsters) thinking about Gaza while Israel attempts to wipe out the Palestinians there before we wake up and realize what's going on.
The only way to fight this, is to keep talking about it, and resisting both the genocide and the US government's support for it. We've been here before and broke through the cone of silence; in fact that's the whole reason the ruling class establishment is trying to rewind the discourse around the genocide in Gaza to a pre-2024 state. We must not let them get away with it by contributing to that cone of silence.
#Fascism #Israel #Gaza #Genocide #Trump #Meta #Facebook #Instagram #Censorship #Imperialism #SettlerColonialism #CrimesAgainstHumanity #Propaganda #Mark Zuckerberg #OnlineCensorship #Zionism #Netanyahu
"For now, the most comprehensive protection against Meta Pixel and Yandex Metrica tracking is to refrain from installing the Facebook, Instagram, or Yandex apps on Android devices."
That's exactly what I do.
arstechnica.com/security/2025/…
#Meta #Yandex #tracking #privacy
Abuse allows Meta and Yandex to attach persistent identifiers to detailed browsing histories.Dan Goodin (Ars Technica)
🚨Only until May 27 🚨
Meta users in the EU - Object now, or Meta will use your data to train Meta AI.
Here's how: 👉 tuta.com/blog/how-to-turn-off-…
Noticed an AI assistant is now in your WhatsApp? Meta’s AI feature is now being rolled out in the EU and you can’t turn it off – but you can stop the AI invasion by opting for privacy-focused alternatives.Tuta
What is my stance on the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses? It's good, helpful, and a more affordable assistive technology device than what's currently available... but it has it's challenges... I have never thought of connecting it to WhatsApp and using ChatGPT with it! Thanks Tim Dixon for sharing lots of insights! ⬇️
timdixon.net/blog/2025/04/blin…
A Blind Meta Ray Ban Review 2025 covering new AI features, WhatsApp bots, and how they support the blind and low vision community.Tim Dixon (TIM DIXON)
You just know you're doing something right when #Meta 's data protection officer talks about your ‘power’ and how she wants the #EU to ban you from doing your work.🤡
Want to help us become even more ‘powerful‘? Click here to find out how: noyb.eu/en/support-us
Source: mlex.com/mlex/artificial-intel…
Original Art: pixiv.net/en/artworks/55975367
In 2010, #AaronSwartz downloaded 70 GB of articles from JSTOR. He faced a $1 million fine and 35 years in prison
➡️ Aaron took his own life in 2013.
#Meta illegally downloaded over 80 terabytes of books from LibGen, Anna's Archive, and Z-library to train its #AI models
➡️ facing no consequences.
Information is power, knowledge is power.
Beware and fight against those who want to keep you ignorant, unaware, and misinformed.
in a deleted article techcrunch confirmed threads would be moving from threads.net to threads.com
zero clue why it was deleted because threads.net already redirects to threads.com as of right now
sooooo yeah!!! new domain to block. check out fedipact.online/why if you're wondering why
Hello Fediverse admins, Meta's platform Threads has now switched to a new domain so it's time to add this to your defederation list:
threads.com
Here's how to defederate a server from the Mastodon admin interface: fedi.tips/how-to-defederate-fe…
(via @TechCrunch at mstdn.social/@TechCrunch/11439… though they seem to have just deleted the article... 🤔 Was this an embargoed announcement?)
EDIT: ...and now the post is gone too. Weird.
#Meta #Threads #FreeFediverse #Zuckerberg #FediPact
An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediversefedi.tips
Is your teenager on Instagram? 🙈 And are they using a Meta Teen's account? 🤔
If so, you should read this 👉 tuta.com/blog/instagram-teen-a…
#Meta #MetaTeens #InstagramTeens #DataPrivacy
Instagram Teen Accounts may help protect from online threats, but that doesn’t mean they’re protected from Meta’s data collection.Tuta
Meta release Llama 4 and faced blowback from the AI community over benchmark optimization.Kylie Robison (The Verge)
#XSF Announcement
Today the #XMPP Standards Foundation publishes an Open Letter to urge #Meta to adopt XMPP for messaging #interoperability.
It’s time for real interoperability. Let’s make it happen.
xmpp.org/announcements/open-le…
#jabber #chat #rtc
#opensource #decentralization #standard #dma
Hey, if you, like me, are a US citizen who's had your books/stories/articles stolen by Meta to train AI, you can submit your name to the class action suit using this easy contact form for one of the law firms involved:
saverilawfirm.com/meta-languag…
The Joseph Saveri Law Firm, LLP filed a lawsuit on behalf of a class of plaintiffs seeking compensation for damages caused by defendant Meta.www.saverilawfirm.com
Today, we're excited to announce the next step in the Project Aria journey: the introduction of Aria Gen 2 research glasses.www.meta.com
#Panoramax - das neue #StreetView!
Vor einigen Jahren wurde #Mapillary an #Meta verkauft. Und auch #Google StreetView möchte vielleicht nicht jeder nutzen.
Mit Panoramax gibt es nun eine #FOSS Alternative. Sie soll dezentral organisiert werden. Dies ist meines Wissens die erste Instanz:
panoramax.openstreetmap.fr
Kleiner Tipp:
Falls man das AdOn #ClearURLs verwendet, kommt man eventuell über die Animation wegen Blockierung von ETags nicht hinaus. Deshalb nutze ich Panoramax als #Firefox-PWA am Desktop.
L'instance Panoramax d'OpenStreetMap France, permet la publication de photos de terrain pour cartographie les territoires.panoramax.openstreetmap.fr
As Facebook Abandons Fact-Checking, It’s Also Offering Bonuses for Viral Content
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Meta decided to stop working with U.S. fact-checkers at the same time as it’s revamping a program to pay bonuses to creators with high engagement numbers, potentially pouring accelerant on the kind of false posts the company once policed.
propublica.org/article/faceboo…
#News #Facebook #Meta #Zuckerberg #Tech #Technology
#WhatsApp shares its metadata with #Meta
They know:
✅ Your location
✅ Your device
✅ Who you're writing
✅ When you write them
✅ How often you write them
✅ Whether they reply
Stop this tracking with a #privacy-first alternatives: 👉 tuta.com/blog/best-whatsapp-al…
What is your favorite?
Review: Lots of messengers are similar to WhatsApp for Android, iPhone and desktop, and some don't ask for a phone number.Tuta
Remember Aaron Swartz, because Zucc won't be getting any jail time for this.
youtube.com/watch?v=bBa5TO_nBJ…
Meta leeched over 80 terabytes of books of off torrents for commercial purposes. Not personal use. They made sure to not seed the books to cover their behinds.
When you do it, it's 30 years in prison, when they do it it's a fine.
#AI #ProfessionalPiracy #Meta #Llama #Ollama
In this video I discuss how Meta/Facebook has been illegally downloading dozens of terabytes of books from Z-library, Libgen, and other sources to train thei...YouTube
Meta staff torrented nearly 82TB of pirated books for AI training — court records reveal copyright violations
"...court records reveal that the social media company used pirated torrents to download 81.7TB of data from shadow libraries including Anna’s Archive, Z-Library, and LibGen. It then used this information to train its AI models."
#tech #news #Meta #AI #books #bookstodon #writers #libraries #media
tomshardware.com/tech-industry…
Did they think they could get away with it?Jowi Morales (Tom's Hardware)
🚨 Welke gegevens van je zou #Meta nog meer allemaal gebruiken om #AI te trainen? 🤔
tweakers.net/nieuws/231648/met…
#WhatsApp heeft al AI in de app...🤷 faq.whatsapp.com/1002544104126…
Zeker zijn dat je privégesprekken en data niet en nooit worden gebruikt? Kies #Signal: signal.org/install
Meta gebruikte naar verluidt ruim 80TB aan illegaal verkregen data om het Llama-llm te trainen. Werknemers van het bedrijf zouden onder meer ruim 35TB aan documenten uit Z-Library en LibGen hebben gedownload aan de hand van torrents.Yannick Spinner (Tweakers)
Via Tom's Hardware: Facebook flags Linux topics as 'cybersecurity threats' — posts and users being blocked
Does this mean that Meta/Facebook is going to also ban mentions of:
What an absolutely asinine thing to do. Linux is incredibly prevalent in the technology landscape today. Yes, #linux on the desktop is a small percentage of the overall devices on the market today. However, linux usage in #embedded, #server, and #appliance applications is to a level where censoring references to it is insanity.
The irony of all of this? Zuckerfaces recent pull back of moderation on Meta's sites.... Meaning it's now okay to bash socially vulnerable populations, spread tons of mis-information on many social and political topics... But linux?"Oh no! That's a #CyberSecurity threat!"
This reeks of political #tomfoolery. I won't be surprised if it's eventually revealed that our new overlords put pressure on #Meta to #censor linux.
tomshardware.com/software/linu…
DistroWatch is one of the largest affected organizations.Mark Tyson (Tom's Hardware)
While I appreciate bringing up the security concerns the existence of alternatives to #FDroid I do not think we have those when it comes to pure FOSS apps without the usual big corporate trackers/libs. #Accrescent lists a few apps and fails to provide relevant information about them (such as requested permissions). E.g. #Qlango includes multiple tracking libraries by #Meta / #Facebook and doesn't look like it is FOSS to any degree. Even while the #FDroid repo is not carefully curated I don't run into traps like these. 🤷
There is a need for a curated and maintained FOSS app repo and currently there is nobody but @fdroidorg providing it. #Obtainium, #Accrescent are mostly option for expert users who exactly know who to trust and what they are looking for. @Kulei @newhinton
Gebruik je #WhatsApp? Dan support je #Meta. #Instagram is ook van Meta.
"Het is dinsdag niet mogelijk om verschillende zoekopdrachten gerelateerd aan politieke tegenstanders van Donald Trump uit te voeren via Instagram."
Wil je werkelijk een bedrijf met zulke ondemocratische praktijken steunen?
Maak de switch je kunt het! Heb je vragen, laat het me weten!
Schakel over naar @signalapp of @matrix
nrc.nl/nieuws/2025/01/21/insta…
#BanWhatsapp #BanMeta #signal #signalapp #matrix #opensource #FOSS
Pixelfed.cz je platforma pro sdílení obrázků, etická alternativa k centralizovaným platformám.Pixelfed CZ
@IzzyOnDroid
Haha, so wahr wie traurig diese Zusammenfassung. 😅😩👍
Somit ist Meta mit dessen Diensten und Plattformen wohl auch in die Kategorie von "Plattform für alternative Fakten und Verteiler von Falschmeldungen" einzuordnen sowie vollendes zu meiden und blockieren.
Diese wichtige Erkenntnis manchen Nutzern und insbesondere bei Familie und Freunde verständlich zu machen sowie konsequent durchzusetzen, das könnte die wahre Herausforderung werden...🤔😭
#Meta
@heiseonline
Einerseits schon sehr amüsant das Meta sich sowie das Geschäftsmodell von Instagram durch Pixelfed bedroht sieht und nun zu solchen unlauteren Maßnahmen greift. 😅😉
Anderseits ziemlich bedenklich in mehr als einer Hinsicht sowie wohl auch rechtlich, das Meta auf Instagram nun Links zu Pixelfed als Alternative sperrt und somit Zensur vom feinsten betreibt. 🖕🤮
#Meta #Instagram #Pixelfed #Alternative #Sperre #Zensur
@IzzyOnDroid