My mate Leon La Grey just dropped a video on the push for age verification at the operating system level, using Colorado’s SB26 051 as the example. The idea is that your device would capture your age (or birth date) at setup, then apps can request an “age bracket” signal via an API.

That is a huge shift. It moves age checks from a single site or app to the device itself, which raises obvious privacy and surveillance questions, even if it’s sold as “for the kids”.

Watch Leon’s breakdown here: https://youtu.be/sZHoqjzXds4?si=jrc9DhFtkYzyL_DO

#Privacy #AgeVerification #DigitalRights #SelfSovereignty #OnlineSafety #Surveillance #OpenSource #Linux #TechPolicy #BeItMeNotYou

If you've felt the internet getting tighter lately, you're not imagining it. More age gates, more Identity checks, more tracking, more friction, and less Room to exist online.

I've put up a new piece: "Internet Privacy And Control: Why Privacy Is Dying". It's a straight, human breakdown of what's driving it (data extraction, policy drift, pressure on encryption, VPN scrutiny, platform gatekeeping), plus practical steps you can take without going off grid.

Read it here: https://www.beitmenotyou.online/post/internet-privacy-and-control-crisis

What part worries you most right now, age verification, encryption, or the slow shift from ownership to "licensed access"?

#privacy #surveillance #digitalrights #encryption #chatcontrol #onlinesafetyact #vpn #internetfreedom #freedomofspeech #selfhosting

New blog post is live: Device Privacy Lockdown: Lock Down Your Devices and Regain Control.

If you feel like your devices are quietly leaking more than they should, thisone'ss for you. I walk through a practical "lockdown" you can apply across everything you own:

• iPhone and iPad: Lockdown Mode, sensible privacy switches, 2FA
• Android: Lockdown, Play Protect, permission hygiene, Privacy Dashboard
• Computers: full disk encryption (BitLocker, FileVault, LUKS), firewalls, updates
• Router: change admin password, WPA3, split guest and IoT networks, disable WPS, firmware updates
• A quick checklist: VPN, password manager, tracker blocking, backups

Read it here: https://www.beitmenotyou.online/post/device-privacy-lockdown

What's the one setting you keep meaning to check, but never do?

#Privacy #DigitalSovereignty #OpSec #CyberSecurity #SelfHosting #TakeBackControl

We're transitioning from Discord to Stoat: https://stt.gg/k369GFr6

Discord's recent changes have really chipped away at the experience and vibe, and many of you have said the same. We want a place that feels familiar, but gives us more control over how our community works.

Stoat lets us build that kind of space. Join, set up your account, and say hi. Let's make this feel like home again.

#Stoat #OpenSource #Privacy #Community #Gaming #Creators

New Autonomous Airwaves episode is live: The Great Crypto Capture: How regulation and institutions tame DeFi.

DeFi was built to route around gatekeepers. So what happens when the gatekeepers show up with rulebooks, licences, and a PR team?

In this episode I dig into the “crypto capture” problem: where consumer protection ends, where permissioning begins, and what it means for builders and everyday users who just want open finance.

Listen here: https://www.beitmenotyou.online/podcast/episode/352994ca/the-great-crypto-capture-how-regulation-and-institutions-tame-defi

What’s your take, can we get sensible rules without losing the whole point of DeFi?

#DeFi #Crypto #Bitcoin #Web3 #Regulation #SelfCustody #DigitalSovereignty

Have you ever wondered how we arrived at a point where nearly every online move can be tracked? Modern surveillance didn’t start with smartphones. In 1844, the British Post Office was caught opening private letters. Then came wars, the Cold War, the 2013 leaks, and now apps and platforms turning your life into a data stream (surveillance capitalism).

The pitch rarely changes: “safety”, “security”, “anti fraud”, “trust”, “it’s for the kids”. Friendly labels, permanent infrastructure.

I wrote a short journey from past to present, plus practical ways you can push back (better defaults, real encryption, and building your own corner of the internet with self hosting and decentralised tools).
https://www.beitmenotyou.online/post/modern-surveillanceand-privacy-erosion-a-journey-from-pastto-present

#Privacy #Surveillance #MassSurveillance #Encryption #SelfHosting #Decentralisation #DigitalRights #ChatControl #CivilLiberties #SelfSovereignty #OnlineSafety

New blog post is live: Children of the ’90s: Millennials and Digital Control Today.

We grew up with an analogue childhood and an early internet that felt open and a bit wild, then watched it harden into tracking, algorithms, and walled platforms. Now stack in stagnant wages, the housing squeeze, mental health strain, plus CBDCs, digital IDs, and the “own nothing” subscription economy.

Are Millennials the first truly troubled generation, or just the first to see the control systems forming in real time?

Read it here: https://beitmenotyou.online/post/children-of-the-90s-millennials-and-digital-control-today

#Millennials #DigitalControl #DataPrivacy #Surveillance #HousingCrisis #WageStagnation #MentalHealth #CBDC #DigitalID #Bitcoin #SelfSovereignty #BeItMeNotYou

New video is live: demystifying Bitcoin.

If you’ve heard the hype but still feel like, “ok… but what is it actually?”, this one’s for you.

I break down the basics in plain English, what Bitcoin is, how it works without a bank, and why people care.

Watch here: https://youtu.be/BGbvZ2EZo6A?si=NsBJ3NjcVm1tAe2q

What part of Bitcoin still feels confusing to you?

#Bitcoin #Crypto #Privacy #SelfSovereignty #Decentralisation #DigitalFreedom

New Autonomous Airwaves episode is live: Zero-Knowledge Proofs, Privacy Without Trust.

Zero-knowledge proofs let you prove a claim without revealing the underlying data. That idea is about to reshape how we do privacy, identity, audits, voting, and even AI.

In this episode I cover: • How ZK proofs actually work (minus the maths headache)
• zk-SNARKs vs zk-STARKs, what changes and why it matters
• Scalability and privacy in blockchains
• Hardware acceleration and specialised ZK chips
• Tooling like Leo and Noir, plus the security footguns you need to respect

Listen here: https://pod.link/1803236881

#AutonomousAirwaves #ZeroKnowledge #ZK #ZKProofs #zkSNARKs #zkSTARKs #Privacy #Web3 #Blockchain #DigitalIdentity #SelfSovereignty #BeItMeNotYou

Been a bit quiet lately, sorry about that. I’ve been moving a few things around behind the scenes.

I’m not using ActivityPub for now, my hosting just is not strong enough yet, and the places I joined were not the right fit for the kind of content I share.

I’ve got a new home base now: https://beitmenotyou.online

That’s where the blog posts live, plus groups, and more features on the way.

I’m away on holiday in March, and when I’m back there’ll be some new kinds of content coming to the podcasts and videos too, keep an eye out.

I’ll be back to regular posting towards the end of March. If you want to support the growth, join the site and groups and tell me what you want to see added next. What would make it genuinely useful for you?

#BeItMeNotYou #Blog #Podcast #Video #DigitalSovereignty #Privacy #SelfCustody #Decentralisation #Web3 #Linux #SelfHosting

Classic music raised me. The Eagles, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin. Then Ren arrives, and you realise there are still artists willing to stare straight at the mess and put it in a song.

Vincent's Tale is Ren at his best: narrative songwriting about trauma, consequences, and a society that pushes people until something breaks. The newest chapter, "Starry Night" (premiered 29 January 2026), carries that Van Gogh energy: darkness, beauty, and art as a form of survival.

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTn_bhTVr2U

If these themes hit you too, I write about the same pressures (privacy, control, modern life, the UK mood) over on my blog: https://beitmenotyou.online

What Ren track pulled you in first?

#Ren #VincentsTale #StarryNight #UK #Storytelling #UndergroundMusic #IndieMusic #Art #Culture #MentalHealth

Why is Starmer in China, and what’s really being negotiated behind the polite photo ops? This video goes digging past the surface story.

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dczRlXSEB-E

#UKPolitics #China #Geopolitics #ForeignPolicy #Trade #DigitalRights #Sovereignty