Paying for #Kagi search instead of using the "free" #Google search would now seem like a bargain for Elvira Schadlow, don't you think?

It cost her $11,000 because she picked the first search result, the one Google was paid to prefer over the hotel's official site.

Have you ever been fooled by a Google search result?

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/travel/travel-scams-airlines-hotels.html?unlocked_article_code=1.aVA.hmRD.LzbZIcJU3rhu

tl:dr Don't even think of using the #TeleGuard app. Never ever. Use #Signal, #Matrix, or #XMPP/#Jabber

https://www.404media.co/a-secure-chat-apps-encryption-is-so-bad-it-is-meaningless/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter

Jury rules Meta stole your menstrual data ...

with emphasis on "stole". Why does anyone still use Meta applications?

https://tuta.com/blog/meta-guilty-flo-app-controversy

#Privacy #CyberSecurity #Meta

My Pixel 10 warned me that there was a rogue connection made on my phone.

A concerning thing happened today while I was walking through my building. I have a #Pixel 10 Pro XL phone, which may be the first phone to give warnings when the phone connects to a rogue cellphone tower or IMSI catcher. The OS cannot block it; it can only tell you that someone read information, and it presents an alert. It says,

"Your data may be at risk. Device ID accessed. At 6:57 PM a nearby network recorded your device's unique ID (IMSI or IMEI) while using your T-Mobile SIM. This means that your location, activity, or identity has been logged."

I didn't ever get an alert before walking through the building, but this time, during a 30-minute walk through the building, I got about 8 alerts, ranging between 1 and 3 minutes apart.

Using this information from repeated connections, someone can follow my movements and location; they can identify it's me because the IMSI number is unique to my phone, so it can be an indication that someone was collecting all the cellphone information in the area, most likely law enforcement.

It can also mean that I was connecting to a rogue cell phone tower, not just an IMSI catcher, and it was an attempted Stingray attack, likely also law enforcement. If successful, they can try to see and hear what I'm doing on my phone, as my phone won't know that it's a fake cellphone tower.

Be aware that a rogue tower will try to negotiate your phone's connection down to a 2G connection, which is unencrypted, providing them with access to everything that you are doing and saying. Please go into your phone's settings and disable 2G!!

It's been believed for some time that this technology has been used by law enforcement secretly and consistently. This is creepy and unnerving.

Turning off the phone, by the way, doesn't stop an IMSI catcher. Your phone still responds. You need to keep the phone in a Faraday bag if you're really concerned.

It's a good thing that phones are now starting to inform people that they are being watched and that people will begin to see how much of an issue this is. You can assume that your local law enforcement knows where you are all the time.

#CyberSecurity #LawEnforcement #PoliceAbuse #Privacy #surveillance

I just received this #scam email targeting hear-me.social users, trying to get them to log in using a malicious link so their accounts can be stolen.

I hope nobody would be fooled by this.

I will never send an email asking anyone to sign into their accounts and provide a link to do so. I will never provide a link to the login page.

My email address is made public so they are probably only targeting those who have posted their email addresses.

Other #MastoAdmin take notice, as I'm sure other instances are being targeted.

#HearMeSocial #Mastodon #scam

#Bluesky is no longer available to Mississippi residents.

#Mississippi’s HB 1126 requires platforms to introduce age verification for all users and get parental consent for anyone under 18. Penalties for noncompliance are up to $10,000 per user.

Sites have to collect and store sensitive information from all its users, in addition to the detailed tracking of minors. This is too much of a burden.

It is uncertain if the law applies to small self-hosted sites. The law only says it pertains to platforms that provide social interaction services.

Because of this, hear-me.social, feddit.online, and my-place.social will no longer permit registration or logins from IP addresses coming from Mississippi. Feddit.online already restricts traffic from both the UK and France due to similar laws that I cannot comply with, as NSFW communities can be accessed.

https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/22/bluesky-blocks-service-in-mississippi-over-age-assurance-law/

#Privacy #AgeVerification

Never ever ever never ever use a free #VPN (except Proton VPN, but it will be slower if you don't pay) or a VPN from some unknown company. Pay some money!!, or you WILL get scammed and robbed.

"FreeVPN.One, a Chrome extension with over 100,000 installs and a verified badge on the Chrome Web Store, is exposed by researchers for taking screenshots of users’ screens and exfiltrating them to remote servers.

... it has been capturing full-page screenshots ... logging sensitive visual data like personal messages, financial dashboards, and private photos, and uploading it to aitd[.]one, a domain registered by the extension’s developer."

https://cyberinsider.com/chrome-vpn-extension-with-100k-installs-screenshots-all-sites-users-visit/

#CyberSecurity

We can now add #Switzerland to the list of things that aren't like they used to be.

"Switzerland plans surveillance worse than US"

https://tuta.com/blog/switzerland-surveillance-plan

#privacy