Better is a privacy tool for Safari on iPhone, iPad, and Mac by Small Technology Foundation (@LauraKalbag & @aral). We protect you from tracking on the web.
Cork, Ireland
Joined May 2016
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And our @betterblocker trackers list too! So satisfying 😊
Also love to see @themarkup's Blacklight methodology being used for further online privacy research themarkup.org/blacklight/202…
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New on my blog: 📌 The future of Better Blocker laurakalbag.com/the-future-o…
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New on my blog: 📌 Closing the Ind.ie forum laurakalbag.com/closing-the-…
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“You are building an infrastructure that can be later co-opted in undesirable ways by large multinationals and state surveillance apparatus…”
theguardian.com/technology/2…
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“Some people think that technology is magic, that artificial intelligence will save us,” Vance said. “A lot of the questions and a lot of the privacy concerns haven’t [been] thought of, let alone addressed.”
theguardian.com/world/2019/o…
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“Humans are data and data is money, and this is the business model of many of the technology firms up to the task of ubiquitous computing.”
kotaku.com/the-creators-of-p…
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“Activists and tech critics sometimes use the word complicit when talking about companies that look the other way… Assistive might be more accurate. Providing database and web services—even just email—to a cruel immigration regime assists in the cruelty”
slate.com/technology/2019/10…
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“Platforms *are* societies of intertwined people and machines. There is no such thing as “online life” versus “real life.” We give massive ground if we pretend that these companies are simply having an “effect” or “impact” on some separate society.”
niemanlab.org/2019/10/tech-p…
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“[T]he ‘natural evolution of technology’ was never a thing to begin with, and it’s time to question what ‘progress’ actually means.”
vox.com/the-highlight/2019/1…
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“[A]nonymity is no longer guaranteed. Facial recognition gives police and companies the means of identifying and tracking people of interest, while others are free to go about their business. The real question is: who gets that privilege?”
theguardian.com/technology/2…
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Yesterday I blogged about how I’m starting to post the links I previously posted on @indie / the Ind.ie site to my own site (and on here.)
Also I wrote a couple of reasons why… including how often my work is attributed to @aral:
laurakalbag.com/introducing-…
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“Seventeen dollars for a smartphone sounds like a great deal, especially for people living in poverty who can barely afford rent. But there’s a problem: low-cost smartphones are privacy nightmares.”
fastcompany.com/90408472/che…
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“For decades, the overriding objective of American business and government has been to remove friction from the tracking system, by linking networks, by speeding connections, by eliminating barriers.”
A long, sickening, read.
nytimes.com/2019/10/02/magaz…
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I know, it’s been *ages* but I did a little blocking rules update. Should be back into the regular schedule again now. ☺️
As ever, if you use @betterblocker and you come across any problematic sites, let me know. I will try to get things fixed/blocked/unblocked.
💙 New blocking rules! On the 2nd October 2019, Laura blocked adtech on one site, and blocked five new trackers.
better.fyi/news/
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“Sites that have relied upon opting EU users into ad-tracking cookies in the hopes they’ll just click okay to make the cookie banner go away are in for a rude awakening.”—@riptari
techcrunch.com/2019/10/01/eu…
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“putting computers everywhere is bad for most people. It enables advertisers, employers and cops to exercise more control over us – in addition to helping heat the planet.”
theguardian.com/technology/2…
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“Neighborhoods armed with Ring videos, Flock readers, and NextDoor posts have the power to create networked engines of suspicion, sometimes ill-founded or erroneous, that may embolden residents to take actions they should not.”— @elizabeth_joh
slate.com/technology/2019/09…
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“Feeling anxious? Got lucky last night? Having some health issues? Tell Maya and they’ll let Facebook and others know (oh, and they’ll share your diary too!)”— @privacyint
privacyinternational.org/lon…
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“Now, data collection and artificial intelligence are threatening to turn borders into an underregulated free-for-all.” —Nicole Chi
magazine.areweeurope.com/sto…
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I almost forgot to share photos of the gorgeous printed Smashing Magazine from @smashingmag! Getting all this into 2000 words was a challenge, but I’m happy with the result. Thank you @rachelandrew for the opportunity and @FullCreamMilk for the editing.
ALT Cover of printed magazine titled “Smashing Magazine Print: No. 1: Ethics and Privacy”.
ALT Inside pages of printed magazine showing my essay title page titled “This One Weird Trick Tells Us Everything About You”.
ALT Inside pages of printed magazine showing my essay including the pull quote “In the tech industry we use the terms ‘capturing attention’ and ‘increasing engagement’ as euphemisms for addiction”.