Esra'a

Founder of Majal.org. Co-founder of the Numun Fund. Board member @ Wikimedia Foundation & Tor Project. Open web and privacy enthusiast.

Org: https://majal.org

Public Key

npub16sd8vehtem6shvdjp9pmtl4qaq28kjsrt9m773fyqj09dy9wwd0qmxpm34

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsdgxnkvm4uaagtkxeqjsa4l6sws9rmfgp4jal0g5jqf8jkjzh8xhspz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds8c8vlv

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub16sd8vehtem6shvdjp9pmtl4qaq28kjsrt9m773fyqj09dy9wwd0qmxpm34

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Last Notes

2024-08-26 21:20:13

"The revised ads, which linked to what UNRWA USA views as deeply dishonest distortions, have run across the US and Europe and continue to appear on Google as of this month despite additional UNRWA USA complaints"
https://www.wired.com/story/israel-unrwa-usa-hamas-google-search-ads/

2024-08-17 00:22:30

Thank you to everyone who has been making submissions to Surveillance Watch, it has been updated with additional companies, sources and investors: https://www.surveillancewatch.io/
#Spyware #Surveillance #Privacy
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/974/026/621/361/141/original/be6c69bd4e5f33b1.mp4

2024-07-26 01:35:33

"A monthslong investigation unpacks a false warning and an Israeli airstrike in the deadliest war for journalists on record."
https://theintercept.com/2024/07/24/gaza-journalists-israel-airstrike-babel-haji/
#Media #Journalism #Gaza #Palestine #Genocide #Israel

2024-07-25 01:26:19

"My faith isn’t a shield or an excuse for destruction. And my presence at Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address would be weaponized as false proof that I support him and his government’s conduct during this war, which I vehemently oppose."
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/netanyahu-address-congress-jacobs-israel-rcna163137
#Congress #Israel #Gaza #Palestine #Genocide

2024-07-20 18:55:10

"Authors have expressed their shock after the news that academic publisher Taylor & Francis, which owns Routledge, had sold access to its authors’ research as part of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) partnership with Microsoft—a deal worth almost £8m ($10m) in its first year."
"Authors claim they have not been told about the AI deal, were not given the opportunity to opt out, and are receiving no extra payment."
https://www.thebookseller.com/news/academic-authors-shocked-after-taylor--francis-sells-access-to-their-research-to-microsoft-ai
#AI

2024-07-12 22:06:37

"OpenAI is reportedly nearing AI systems that can reason."
How much of this "reasoning" is actually being done by exploited, overworked and severely underpaid workers around the world?
This is what makes this effort from @npub1mmf…2mx9 so important: https://data-workers.org/
#AI

2024-07-12 06:13:25

$250m+ in funding down the drain for not just a dumb but actually harmful and deeply problematic pet project:
https://protos.com/worldcoin-misses-its-2023-goal-of-one-billion-users-by-994-million/
#crypto #scams

2024-07-10 05:12:04

"Tesla's self-driving cars seem like a marvel of machine learning. But in reality, the company relies on a small army of human 'data annotators' who continuously improve how the cars drive by reviewing camera footage from thousands of Tesla drivers"
What a shocker 🙀
https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-prioritizes-musk-vip-data-self-driving-2024-7

2024-07-10 01:21:05

Laying off the people that helped you get to where you are and then celebrating profitability shortly after is some kind of achievement indeed 🙄
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/759/094/086/046/049/original/3d601cdea6eb8071.jpeg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/759/094/430/302/969/original/79deb159af5c6083.jpeg

2024-07-09 20:48:29

“A U.S government agency tasked with supporting the nation’s nuclear deterrence capability has bought access to a data tool that claims to cover more than 90 percent of the world’s internet traffic, and can in some cases let users trace activity through virtual private networks”
https://www.404media.co/u-s-nuke-agency-buys-internet-backbone-data/

2024-07-06 05:53:42

"The continuous cycle of mass displacement of civilians in Gaza and people being in survival mode and despair must stop"
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/7/6/israel-war-on-gaza-live-27-killed-in-wave-of-israeli-attacks-on-enclave
#Gaza #Palestine

2024-07-06 05:51:05

"The simple fact is that these AI companies have become gatekeepers to a tremendous amount of very valuable data."
This is the real threat, and not "BUT CHINA!"
https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/05/openai-breach-is-a-reminder-that-ai-companies-are-treasure-troves-for-hackers/
#Privacy #AI

2024-07-05 04:31:06

"Photographers, concept artists and sculptors who spoke to Engadget said that they were frustrated about Apple’s relative silence around how it gathers data for its AI models."
https://www.engadget.com/artists-criticize-apples-lack-of-transparency-around-apple-intelligence-data-131250021.html
#Apple #AI

2024-07-05 01:48:28

More accurate marketing: "take photos of yourself, and then be surveilled with facial recognition forever"
#Meta #Privacy #WhatsApp
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/730/888/750/788/334/original/a25102919f67e3b8.png

2024-07-02 18:06:59

"The sources also expressed concerns that YouTube’s broader approach to managing the conflict has been one-sided. For instance, Hebrew-language videos showing Israeli forces interacting with purported Palestinians in visibly dehumanizing ways have been left up on YouTube"
"We have firsthand experience of YouTube and Google employees telling us that videos clearly inciting violence and racism against Palestinians do not violate the companies policies"
https://www.wired.com/story/youtube-israel-gaza-moderation/
#YouTube #Google

2024-06-29 00:18:50

This shows the strong need for @npub1vwv…cqgs to support those facing challenges connecting safely to the internet:
"Using a VPN to access the internet securely and privately has become increasingly risky. Police have been doing random phone checks, arresting people under anti-terrorism laws if they catch them with VPN apps on their phone."
https://www.accessnow.org/myanmar-vpn-ban/
#Censorship #Surveillance #VPN

2024-06-28 23:18:18

Job opportunity: @npub1gsu…fy6l is looking for an experienced and driven product and visual designer to join the team and take ownership of the user experience and the interface of both the app and the website.
If you're passionate about privacy-first and fully open source platforms and protocols, this is a great remote opportunity for you.
https://dribbble.com/jobs/257375-Product-designer-at-SimpleX-Chat
#FediHire #FediJob #Privacy #Messaging

2024-06-27 13:47:42

50 journalists from 13 different news organizations worked together to investigate the killing of journalists in Gaza and the arrests made in the West Bank, and calls into question the Israeli government's denials about targeting the press:
https://forbiddenstories.org/projects_posts/gaza-project/
#Gaza #Palestine #Media #Press
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/688/420/564/715/475/original/1b54c8df93bfbbb0.webp

2024-06-27 13:10:57

"The institute found that Microsoft censors its Bing translation results more than top Chinese services"
https://restofworld.org/2024/microsoft-bing-chinese-censorship/

2024-06-17 03:36:37

"Before Nakasone left the NSA, he wrote an op-ed supporting the renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the surveillance program that was ultimately reauthorized by Congress in April."
"OpenAI says Nakasone will join its Safety and Security Committee."
😂😵
https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/13/24178079/openai-board-paul-nakasone-nsa-safety
#AI #Privacy #Surveillance

2024-06-17 03:13:49

"Just as surveillance capitalism took over the web, it will take over genAI. Despite multiple challenges, political and legal, around the world, surveillance capitalism continues to be the dominant business model."
http://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/5331/generative-ai-wont-take-over-world-surveillance-capitalism-already-has
#Privacy #AI #Surveillance

2024-06-14 23:27:13

Business Insider's union in a letter to management:
"How are we to make arguments about the impact of our work if we have no insight into how our work is being used by OpenAI?”
"Repeated efforts by unit members have been unable to prompt ChatGPT to link directly to our scoops, even when explicitly instructed to do so."
"OpenAI may be downplaying rather than elevating our works."
https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/06/insider-union-chatgpt-hallucinating-links-business-insider-articles-openai-deal/
#AI #ChatGPT #OpenAI #Journalism

2024-06-13 20:06:26

Mass surveillance tech being marketed as legitimate / useful consumer products should not be normalized. Every other major company and startup is promising to track you for your "convenience."
We need to get better about holding companies and their enablers (VCs, clients, etc) accountable for this repeated and growing abuse.
Our privacy is our dignity.
#Privacy #Surveillance
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/610/627/425/438/252/original/ac5c5676375b95a2.png

2024-06-13 17:44:35

"Almost four out of every 10 journalists covering the climate crisis and environment issues have been threatened as a result of their work, with 11% subjected to physical violence, according to groundbreaking new research."
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jun/05/climate-crisis-journalists

2024-06-12 23:51:47

Meta tried to discredit researchers in one of Brazil's top universities who identified fraudulent ads in its platforms:
"Defaming scientists has become a global strategy of Big Techs in order to try to silence critics in universities."
"In the United States, the social network has gone as far as banning researchers from accessing data after they did something that displeased the company."
https://nucleo.jor.br/english/2024-06-12-meta-tried-to-discredit-researchers-who-identified-fraudulent-ads-in-its-platforms/
#Meta #BigTech #Ads

2024-06-12 20:10:15

I understand the intended design but there is no way my eyes can handle this color contrast while reading and scrolling for an extended period of time. I opted to use Brave's Speedreader to make this article more accessible:
https://www.theverge.com/c/24133822/microsoft-excel-spreadsheet-competition-championship
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/604/976/104/830/563/original/5f847235ffbdceac.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/604/976/312/178/215/original/eb94c0838716817c.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/604/978/714/266/917/original/025f2594344669a3.png

2024-06-11 20:18:32

"Brazil’s Congress should ensure that proposed AI regulations incorporate data privacy protections for everyone, especially children."
That's why @npub1gsu…fy6l wrote about how protecting children's safety requires end-to-end encryption, and how any proposals to undermine it would create detrimental risks that far outweigh any perceived benefits:
https://simplex.chat/blog/20240601-protecting-children-safety-requires-e2e-encryption.html
Full HRW piece on data privacy safeguards to protect children against exploitation:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/06/10/brazil-childrens-personal-photos-misused-power-ai-tools
#Privacy #Encryption

2024-06-09 21:07:47

Global union files complaints against Saudi with the ILO; accuses the Kingdom of complicity in forced labour:
https://www.migrant-rights.org/2024/06/global-union-files-complaints-against-saudi-with-the-ilo-accuses-the-kingdom-of-complicity-in-forced-labour/
#KSA #Migrants

2024-06-08 05:10:27

The Norwegian Consumer Council filed a legal complaint against Meta for training its AI models on user content:
"Meta does not have a valid legal basis to process its users' personal data to train AI models. Additionally, deliberately making it difficult to opt out is, in our opinion, a clear violation of the legal requirements of the GDPR."
https://www.forbrukerradet.no/siste-nytt/digital/klager-inn-metas-bruk-av-personlig-innhold-til-ki-trening/legal-complaint-against-metas-use-of-personal-content-for-ai-training
#Meta #AI

2024-06-07 03:52:39

"We must stop watching Palestinian suffering as a form of emotional tourism. Seeing their pain this way depoliticizes their grievances and turns them into perpetual objects of a hypocritical gaze. Suffering is a political act crying for justice, not a 30-second spectacle of an empathetic discharge."
"If published, I will have to live with a predictable backlash calling me out for violating the imperial instruction of how to be a good Arab."
https://socialtextjournal.org/periscope_article/this-is-a-scream-and-i-dare-you-to-publish-it/
#Gaza #Palestine

2024-06-07 03:34:19

"Questioning the design and dev progress was apparently against company policy."
"Software engineer was fired for questioning if the AI pin would be ready for launch."
"$230 million in funding and $7 million in sales."
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/06/report-humane-ai-pin-did-7-million-in-sales-wants-to-sell-for-1-billion/
#AI

2024-06-07 00:55:57

Folkglory is a website dedicated to sharing and exploring Levantine and Arab embroidery and craft-making traditions:
https://www.folkglory.com/
#Design #Culture #Heritage #Jordan #Palestine
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/572/135/303/969/901/original/e57eb7a7c35c6996.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/572/135/837/393/714/original/fb7ad1095a313df7.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/572/136/225/659/692/original/05a2c5907633ea55.jpg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/572/140/813/214/054/original/b8791385d89204f3.jpg

2024-06-06 20:04:43

"Many of the employees who joined the campaign are on the verge of resigning."
"For a lot of federal employees, this is the first personal action they’ve taken."
https://theintercept.com/2024/06/06/government-federal-employees-biden-gaza-war/
#Gaza #Palestine

2024-06-05 04:44:32

"Student editors at the Columbia Law Review say they were pressured by the journal's board of directors to halt publication of an academic article written by a Palestinian human rights lawyer that accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and upholding an apartheid regime. When the editors refused the request and published the piece Monday morning, the board shut down the law review's website entirely."
https://apnews.com/article/columbia-law-review-israel-article-backlash-da2f924cddec4593b4f17b8baf500969
This is the piece targeted: https://static.al2.in/toward-nakba-as-a-legal-concept.pdf

2024-06-05 03:34:32

This is disturbing on so many levels:
"The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court over its prosecutor's decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli officials related to the war in Gaza."
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-passes-republican-bill-sanction-international-criminal-court-over-2024-06-04/
#Gaza #Palestine #ICC #Genocide

2024-06-05 00:40:38

After @npub1psa…j5uh's piece on Google's database of privacy incidents, we get this news: Google's Privacy Chief is out and will not be replaced: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2024/06/04/googles-privacy-chief-is-out-and-will-not-be-replaced/
More:
https://www.reuters.com/technology/googles-privacy-chief-exit-2024-06-04/
The director of competition law is also departing.

2024-06-04 19:15:19

A zero-day attack on TikTok is spreading via DMs, with lots of official accounts of celebrities and brands compromised:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2024/06/04/a-zero-day-tiktok-hack-is-taking-over-celebrity-and-brand-accounts/

2024-06-04 18:50:27

Zoom founder Eric Yuan "thinks one of the big benefits of AI at work will be letting us all create something he calls a 'digital twin' — essentially a deepfake avatar of yourself that can go to Zoom meetings on your behalf and even make decisions for you while you spend your time on more important things, like your family."
This is getting ridiculous. Comically absurd.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/3/24168733/zoom-ceo-ai-clones-digital-twins-videoconferencing-decoder-interview
#AI

2024-06-04 17:28:17

For anyone still recommending Telegram as a "private" messenger:
New Telegram combolist exposes 361 million emails and passwords.
"Last week, a security researcher sent me 122GB of data scraped out of thousands of Telegram channels. It contained 1.7k files with 2B lines and 361M unique email addresses of which 151M had never been seen in HIBP before. Alongside those addresses were passwords and, in many cases, the website the data pertains to."
https://www.troyhunt.com/telegram-combolists-and-361m-email-addresses/
#Privacy #Security
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/559/038/995/849/706/original/6ad4780e5fac463f.jpg

2024-06-04 16:50:24

New in @npub1gsu…fy6l v5.8:
Private message routing, new chat themes, safely receive files by confirming files from unknown servers, and the much anticipated improved message delivery to reduce battery usage. Also, thanks to volunteers who contributed Persian as an additional language for the UI!
If new to it, give it a try and would love to know your thoughts:
https://simplex.chat/
#Privacy #Messenger
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/558/861/135/984/198/original/923ef11397b2e9c9.jpeg
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/558/861/452/583/116/original/ae948489df7f6b96.jpeg

2024-06-02 20:39:13

- reply

But as the post says, it won't be just relying on paying users to access premium features or larger storage - another revenue source would be via business services for entities needing direct and customized support to integrate with the SimpleX protocol or related resources. It's something that will be tested and iterated over time.
Some nonprofits are increasingly relying on such income sources as well, like Wikimedia Enterprise for customized API integrations.

2024-06-02 19:26:07

- reply

Thank you both for your thoughts! Here is my personal perspective as it relates to VC funds for the consumer app: https://simplex.chat/blog/20240404-why-i-joined-simplex-chat-esraa-al-shafei.html
Worth noting @npub1gsu…fy6l will remain 100% open source with a path towards decentralized non-profit protocol governance: https://simplex.chat/blog/20240323-simplex-network-privacy-non-profit-v5-6-quantum-resistant-e2e-encryption-simple-migration.html#the-journey-to-the-decentralized-non-profit-protocol-governance
More info here, as we're committed to keeping everything fully transparent technically, financially and structurally: https://simplex.chat/blog/20240516-simplex-redefining-privacy-hard-choices.html
Appreciate you both looking into it! 😀

2024-06-02 06:14:40

"The state department falsified a report earlier this month to absolve Israel of responsibility for blocking humanitarian aid flows into Gaza, overruling the advice of its own experts, according to a former senior US official who resigned this week."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/30/stacy-gilbert-us-state-department-israel-gaza-aid
#Palestine #Gaza #Aid #Genocide

2024-06-02 05:17:32

Invasive monitoring of private communications would create detrimental risks that far outweigh any perceived benefits.
@npub1gsu…fy6l signed a joint statement about the dangers of the EU compromise proposal on CSAM because maintaining end-to-end encryption is crucial for protecting privacy and security for everyone, including and especially children:
https://simplex.chat/blog/20240601-protecting-children-safety-requires-e2e-encryption.html
#Privacy #Encryption #Surveillance #Security #EU

2024-06-02 04:04:57

Boeing can't make safe commercial planes with functional parts but they will commit to find more ways to bomb us to smithereens.
https://interestingengineering.com/military/us-air-force-boeing-contract-jdam

2024-06-01 22:19:17

"Actively silencing discussion of Palestinian lives and the ongoing global health disaster is dehumanizing," Smith wrote in a resignation letter to Power, "not only to the people of Gaza, but to the people of the United States who deserve to know the extent to which we are paying for and supporting crimes against Palestinians."
"What happened to me sends a very clear signal to staff: We don’t talk about Gaza."
https://theintercept.com/2024/05/31/usaid-powerpoint-gaza-israel-resign/
#Palestine #Gaza #USAID #Genocide

2024-06-01 04:31:19

"A growing movement of young people who are urging lawmakers to protect children whose parents monetize their images, videos and private lives on social media"
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/29/us/social-media-children-influencers-cec/index.html

2024-06-01 02:13:36

Join the Global Encryption Coalition's Steering Committee in calling on Ministers in the Council of the EU to reject all scanning proposals inconsistent with the principle of end-to-end encryption, including client-side scanning and upload moderation, as it will create serious security and privacy risks with global implications:
https://www.globalencryption.org/2024/05/joint-statement-on-the-dangers-of-the-may-2024-council-of-the-eu-compromise-proposal-on-eu-csam/
#Privacy #Encryption #Surveillance

2024-05-17 16:57:44

Comparison of instant messengers: "SimpleX probably has the best privacy and anonymity of all the messengers compared here"
https://eylenburg.github.io/im_comparison.htm
Follow @npub1gsu…fy6l to keep track of the latest updates and ongoing improvements.
#Privacy #Anonymity #Security #Messengers

2024-05-09 22:53:43

- reply

It gets a bit worse, Telegram has a long-standing relationship with a Saudi organization that's essentially a govt arm in Riyadh, working in direct partnership to analyze and monitor an obscene amount of user data: https://www.saudigazette.com.sa/article/641746/SAUDI-ARABIA/Etidal-Telegram-remove-over-16-million-extremist-contents-in-early-2024
They claim this only targets terrorist groups. I can verify that it absolutely impacts groups run by queer communities in the Gulf, because I was in one such group that was monitored and shut down by Etidal.
Telegram can fuck off into the sunset.

2024-05-05 05:44:43

Disappointed to see The Markup share advice for people to use WhatsApp in its post about preparing your phone for a protest, and that it's coming from "digital security trainers."
Metadata literally kills, and WhatsApp is swimming in it. The metadata they collect includes:
Groups you're a member of, location, personal info (email, phone number, user IDs), contacts and their phone numbers, in-app search history, when you use the app & how often you use it. E2EE alone doesn't guarantee #privacy

2024-04-29 05:08:58

- reply

Well, I wasn't involved in the selection of other Board members. And "guidance" here relates to operationalizing the 501(c)(3) entity so that it can accept donations or potential grants with more ease and to be accountable for them.

2024-04-28 22:44:44

An important thing to clarify on the newly formed Mastodon 501(c)(3) entity: it's not here to make or influence product decisions. It has no legal ability to enforce any such changes. Primary operations will remain led by the Germany-based Mastodon gGmbH, and this won’t change.
The focus of the U.S entity is to provide another vehicle for donations and other forms of support. The Board has no legal "control" beyond this.