#mozilla-foundation

[autolenaphilia]

It's funny how clearly uninformed a lot of criticism of Mozilla and its browser Firefox is. Like people say "it's just another corporation, out to make profit, just like Google." And that ordinary users promoting Firefox are just giving them free advertising.

It's in basically any post criticizing Mozilla, including on this site. Like using tumblr search I quickly found a post that was largely positive, but argued that Mozilla operates "under capitalist incentives" And outside tumblr I found a blog post out on the interwebs that criticized Mozilla and outright wondered "I don't know if Mozilla's business model ever made sense, it makes a lot more sense if it's something closer to a nonprofit rather than a commercial entity."

Well, let's research the Mozilla Corporation, see what that business model actually is. Let's begin that research by going to the wikipedia article, and read the two introductory paragraphs. And it turns out that it's "a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation", which is a non-profit.

"The Mozilla Foundation will ultimately control the activities of the Mozilla Corporation and will retain its 100 percent ownership of the new subsidiary. Any profits made by the Mozilla Corporation will be invested back into the Mozilla project. There will be no shareholders, no stock options will be issued and no dividends will be paid. The Mozilla Corporation will not be floating on the stock market and it will be impossible for any company to take over or buy a stake in the subsidiary."

Turns out that it is not just "closer to a non-profit", it is literally a non-profit. Turns out you only needed two paragraphs on wikipedia to learn that, the most basic online research possible, which basically every post I found criticizing Mozilla failed to do.

This is entirely different from any other entity calling itself corporation, which is all about creating profit or money for its shareholders, the "capitalist incentives" spoken about earlier.

If you read further into that article, you will learn that the Mozilla corporation literally only exists separate from the foundation for tax and legal purposes, but it's still a non-profit operation.

This makes it reasonably immune from the enshittification process I've written about before. there is no incentive to fuck over the experience for end users for the sake of shareholder profits, like what tumblr is doing right now.

It means that Firefox is an exemption to the rule that "if something is free, you are the product", because there is no product to produce profits for shareholders, it's a charitable endeavour for a free and open internet, as laid out in the Mozilla manifesto.

This doesn't mean non-profits make corruption impossible, there is plenty of corruption in non-profit foundations. But unlike actual capitalist corporations, it doesn't have the greed and corruption built in. And if you are going to criticize Mozilla and Firefox, which it does sometimes deserve, you should have your basic facts straight before doing so, if you expect me to take you seriously.

[netscapenavigator-official]

The Linux Foundation choosing to financially support Blink (Chromium) over Gecko (Firefox) is certainly a choice.

I've criticized a lot of Mozilla's actions in the past as they fight to break even, but if I was the financially struggling backbone of an entire niche desktop platform, and said platform decided to give copious amounts of time and money to my anti-consumer rival (who is very much trying to monopolize me into non-existence) then I'd probably turn into the joker, too. Damn.

[trashpandaqc]

a tour of art and music spaces in Web VR, recorded this May - 1 week before Mozilla shut down their hosting for Hubs

[gigisluigi]

Euki: safe period tracker

People are concerned that data from period-tracking apps could be used to penalize women so much so that: "going back to paper calendars and dropping these apps that don't care about your privacy" is a common sentiment.

Now, that's valid, but I don't think it's the solution, it's inconvenient and not that safe anyway. So enter: Euki

It was created by an international non-profit organization: "Women Help Women" and has privacy in mind, it doesn't collect ANY personal data. And if you don’t believe me the Mozilla Foundation reviewed it for privacy and it got their approval.

The app has added info from contraceptives to pregnancy in an easy-to-digest way and it shouldn't be a surprise as "Women Help Women" is dedicated to reproductive freedom.

[businessbigwigs]

Data Privacy and Your Drive

Data privacy in the automobile industry is terrible, reveals a recent study by the Mozilla Foundation. The study reveals that cars have poor data privacy, with many major manufacturers admitting they may be selling personal information collected from their vehicles. What’s even more alarming is that half of these manufacturers are willing to share this data with government or law enforcement…

[odinsblog]

🗣️ This is for all new internet connected cars

A new study has found that your car likely knows more about you than your mom. That is disconcerting, but what’s even more so is what is being done with your information. It’s all about the Benjamins. Our private information is being collected and sold.

The Mozilla Foundation, a non-profit that studies internet and privacy issues, studied 25 car manufacturers. And it found every manufacturer sold in America poses a greater risk to your privacy than any device, app or social media platform.

Our cars are rolling computers, many of which are connected to the internet collecting information about how you drive and where. New cars also have microphones and sensors that give you safety features like automatic braking and drowsy driver detection. Those systems are also providing information. Got GPS or satellite radio? Then your car likely knows your habits, musical and political preferences.

Did you download your car’s app which gives you access to even more features? Well that also gives your car access to your phone and all the information on it.

The study found that of the 25 car brands, 84% say they sell your personal data.

And what they collect is astounding.

One example the study sites is KIA’s privacy policy. It indicates the company collects information about your sexual activity. I initially didn’t believe it until I pulled KIA’s privacy policy and read it. And it’s right there in black and white. It says it collects information about your “ethnicity, religious, philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation, sex life, or political opinions.

And it says it can keep your info for “as long as is necessary for the legitimate business purpose set out in this privacy notice.”

Translation: Nissan can keep your information as long as they want to. And more than half of the manufacturers (56%) say they will share your information with law enforcement if asked.

(continue reading) more ↵

[dark4web]

Подключенные автомобили — это «кошмар конфиденциальности», говорит Mozilla Foundation

New Post has been published on https://dark4web.com/podklyuchennye-avtomobili-eto-koshmar-konfidenczialnosti-govorit-mozilla-foundation/

Подключенные автомобили — это «кошмар конфиденциальности», говорит Mozilla Foundation

Увеличить / Производитель вашего автомобиля может собирать данные о вас из самых разных источников. Гетти Изображения Сегодня Фонд Mozilla опубликовал…

[bye2k]

banners featuring the original design for mozilla, netscape and the mozilla foundation's former mascot

[bitbybitwrites]

ShadowDragon sells a tool called SocialNet that streamlines the process of pulling public data from various sites, apps, and services. Marketing material available online says SocialNet can “follow the breadcrumbs of your target’s digital life and find hidden correlations in your research.” In one promotional video, ShadowDragon says users can enter “an email, an alias, a name, a phone number, a variety of different things, and immediately have information on your target. We can see interests, we can see who friends are, pictures, videos.”

The leaked list of targeted sites include ones from major tech companies, communication tools, sites focused around certain hobbies and interests, payment services, social networks, and more. The 30 companies the Mozilla Foundation is asking to block ShadowDragon scrapers are ​​Amazon, Apple, BabyCentre, BlueSky, Discord, Duolingo, Etsy, Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, FlightAware, Github, Glassdoor, GoFundMe, Google, LinkedIn, Nextdoor, OnlyFans, Pinterest, Reddit, Snapchat, Strava, Substack, TikTok, Tinder, TripAdvisor, Twitch, Twitter, WhatsApp, Xbox, Yelp, and YouTube.

[sentientballofpeas]

@artemis-dawn8 I heard you were making a list of gimmick blogs? Anyways, here's some more. (Sorry) (part 1)

@bronzong-detector

@randomcryptidencounter

@tag-list-manegment

@the-scrimblifier

@sm64mario

@girl-detector-detected

@medievaljournalist

@jiji-is-blog

@dadquestions

@daily-your-did-it

@tdorcs

@patricia-nixon-official

@nixon-official

@the-daylight-detector

@post-dragonifier

@definetly-eggo-waffles

@gimmickygimickblog

@kasaneteto-official

@theincrediblytalentedziggy

@post-licker

@dyktvideogamesfx

@colormush

@youtubeminuscontent

@minecraft-out-of-context

@assigning-pokemon

@the-everything-remover

@kyubeys-contract

@gimmick-blog-reviewer

@the-frightening-ghoul

@the-anon-scp-confessions

@amen-break-detector

@miku-detector

@its-target-official

@hells-corprate-officail

@ilookforbubbles

@keke-is-blog

@is-it-the-ides-of-march

@spell-unlocked

@girl-detector-detector

@girl-detector-detector-detector

@dissapointed-by-lack-of-soup

@is-the-post-relliable

@picrew-chainer

@i-say-waa

@penguin-detector

@vowelremover

@worm-on-a-blog

@broadway-official

@tomscottnumber

@for-real-the-sky

@snackgenerator

@lxde-official

@haiku-bot-human-version

@thebabycup

@silly-poll-blog

@jet2-official

@crab-thief

@the-gimmick-pharmacists

@animal-families-tournaments

@diogenes-is-it-a-man

@horse-detector

@identifying-uk-trains-in-posts

@we-love-garlic

@a-silly-poll-side-blog-yay

@google-maps-unofficial

@starmod

@another-gimmick-therapist

@the-gimmick-doctor-real

@rathalloffame

@fool-counter

@shattered-moon-crystalis

@weezer-detector

@reactionimagesdaily

@place-an-ice-cube-on-a-burger

@into-the-timeloop-i-went

@cactus-detector

@detector-of-things

@vote-to-note-ratio

@om-nom-detector

@foreign-planet-chaldeas

@gimmick-unremover

@the-great-old-one

@ratligion-official

@baba-is-blog

@animal-vegetable-or-mineral

@alphabetizing-posts

@your-fave-as-owl

@saltwater-spotter

@the-planet-vulcan

@ask-the-rat

@mother-of-evil-chaos

@tagswoman

@asexual-official

@snailifier

@real-hellstar-remina

@fakenewsfactcheck

@oxygen-officially

@lead-official

@atlanta-city-official

@new-update-s-today

@saivior-pallas-official

@rooksbury-real

@official-rhode-island

@silly-detector

@o-s-t—d-e-u-c-h-l-a-n-d

@contextfreepatentart

@curse-of-gimmick

@in-real-life-moon

@real-yucous-ghe

@through-bats-eyes

@diomena-daughter-of-callisto

@the-real-chipotle

@the-gimmick-cryptozoologist

@useless-catalanfacts

@newsverse-camera-crew

@vortexlabs

@official-crab-posts

@hedgehog-detector

@foxpost-generator

@actually-gort

@phicton-of-grandeur

@mozilla-firefox

@the-gimmick-carpenter

@true-blue-straya3

@ogle-official

@doctor-for-spaceverse-gimmicks

@the-ghost-of-a moons-light

@amalthea-moon-of-jupiter

@whale-shark-detector

@blue-marble-earth

@incomprehensible-deity-of-void

@de-haj-theve

@empire-russia-real

@koenigreich-preussen-real

@denmark-norway-real

@polish-hungarian-cw-real

@a-literal-rat

@major-tom-official

@dude-the-ancient-dragon

@apollohour

@actual-god

@samephotoofswslink

@bell-detector

@wildcard-completionist

@squiddo-but-everywhere

@officially-7-eleven

@spinning-dial-official

@official-blahaj-posts

@o70-anon

@red-rotary-dial

@gimmick-explainer

@polls-everyday

@irrelevant–wikipedia-articles

@why-ask-eve

@satan-official

@post-detector

@jeopardy-evil

@telangana-official

@achievement-g3t

@civillisation-updates

@the-actual-catacombs

@just-a-gravastar

@wormed-hole

@the-narrator-news-network

@the-newest-official

@the-scp-news

@wikipedia

@the-evil-lgbtq-foundation

@girl-detector

@official-norway

@the-officialest-news

@autism-detector

@the-official-news

@windows11-official

@therealgodofficial

@the-gimmick-demonn

@miranda-moon-mira

@brown-dwarf-lover

@added-context-readers

@heraldryandemvlemwars

@things-that-are-not-true

@the-real-new-york

@the-identifier

@decontextifier

@nebula-police

@council-of-nebulae

@aussieaspecforces

@museum-place-of-guys

@the-trappist-1-h

@oort-could-official

@mh-a-day

@scattered-disk

@vocabulary-altering-posts

@the-real-nether

@planet-cubed

@notadwarf

@dysnomia-of-eris

@official-romania-account

@the-mage-of-the-hanged

@shadowbanned-stupid

@gaia-bh1-a

@officially-estonia

@stella-the-bartender

@gaia-bh1-b

@your-fave-had-a-divorce

@centrum-1894b

@milkblackoutpoetry

@the-incorrect-dictionary

@kepler-22b-research-labratory

@network-rail

@polyduces-of-saturn

@haumea-of-wizardry

@cute-simile--gimmick

@spaghetti-o-detector

@i-say-your-mom

@thegimmickexplorer

@unofficial-oviraptors

@femboy-community-notes

@i-assign-dnd-alignments-to-posts

@tethys-for-real

@4-vesta-official

@prospero-official

@neuro-officially

@the-elders-realm

@does-this-require-cynobacteria

@thecoffeeanon

@british-rail

@posts-from-anon

@snomba-has-blog

@snomchievment-unlocked

@posts-without-the-letter-e

@sol-lll-official

@encedalus-totally

@official-graveyard-posts

@hate-anon-but-better

@shitty-sheep

@goo-glart-official

@randomalienencounter

@the-sniffer

@sniffer-of-gimmicks

@achievement-achievement-unlocked

@gimmickthiefthiefthiefthiefthief

@space-is-tasty

@primium-the-planet

@centers-for-disease-control

@inevitable-decay

@voices-of-amora-elzin-and-marisa

@the-ancient-night

@the-universe-itself

@british-rail-official

@meecrosoft-word-art

@national-rail

@the-rain-official

@exoplanet-iras-here

@karl-marx-official

@65803-didymos

@rosette-nebula-real

@helium-5-raidioactive

@helium-3-real

@oganesson-real

@i-hate-same-pic-rick-roll

@youareanidiot-official

@polonium-official

@6th-element

@flourine-9th-element

@officially-plutonium

@bat-detector

@official-answer

@the-asteroid-ida

@official-artifact-stealer

@6-hebe

@hellsite-detective

@umbriel-official

@libra-official

@the-astral-thief

@thephantomrickroller

@the-rat-detector-couple-the-1st

@the-little-bear-in-the-stars

@whiny-bitch-detector

@gliese-436-red-dwarf

@official-planet-of-internet

@ariel-the-imoral-girl-of-magic

@the-ringless-saturn

@idontrateyourposts

@helium-real

@the-delaware-official

@copper-official

@fish-detector-the-second

@thepersonofthewatervase

@which-is-the-very-best

@the-astral-twins

@iapetus-totally

@chixulub-impactor-official

@alhena-gemini

@new-caledonia-anarchy

@the-5th-gas-giant-official

@definetly-not-an-orange-lollipop

@theendlesseris

@is-silksongg-released-yet

@the-official-vine

@pintrest-officila

@cute-aggression-official

@autismswagsummit

@tree-un-detector

@trappist-1-f

@duck-detector

@best-tournament-blog-bracket

@orca-detector-detector

@the-cervantes-system

@ask-time-itself

@the-blahaj

@moon-detector

@detector-detector-squared

@lightkepler

@quaor-official

@the-j1407b

@unofficially-arkansas

@pluto-offical

@the-sol-sun-fr

@x-dot-com-unofficial

@hungry-hungry-blackhole

@blatentmisinformation

@unofficial-saturn

@pea-detector

@the-assigner-of-gimmicks

@constelation-crux-official

@certified-door-posts

@the-friendly-neighbourhood-anon

@flute-official-2

@flute-official

@chapel-hill-nc-real

@totally-durham-nc

@the-grammar-ruiner

@cat-thievery

@dark-matter-official

@the-dwarf-planet-eris

@im-canis-minor

@i-give-olms-to-people

@the-star-mimosa

@truly-pluto

@nutopia-official

@gimmickverse-animation

@totally-the-moon-oculus

@really-a-vampire

@mitros-and-situ

@the-actual-ocean

@all-turtles-are-magenta-actually

@anonymous-real

@the-universe-devs

@real-zoozve

@legit-moth

@sclera-officially

@everyone-must-enjoy

@platonic-solid-finder

@brainfuck-official

@vitreous-officialy

@40-eridani-stars

@axolotl-detector

@irl-loading-screens

@autism-official

@snailspng

@gimmick-knight

@europa-official

@detector-detector

@i-am-a-hammer-head-shark

@list-of-not-ominous-threats

@totally-texas

@northern-fail

@totally-the-real-pices

@isitfridayyet

@useless-polls

@mid-maryland

@wed-bed-behead-your-fave

@the-grammar-fixer

@east-germany-official

@official-stopandshop

@thequeryqueen

@autismfaceinc

@out-n-in-official

@theworseshitpostcaligrapher

@lorax-official

@the-real-dragon-god

@republic-of-cascadia

@irespondbees

@therapist-for-spaceverse-gimmick

@redundant-ominous-threats

@law-of-ominous-threats

@the-real-apple-mail

@gimmick-cannibals

@yeah-im-scorpio

@luxembourg-real

@things-that-are-weezer-blue

@welsh-dragon-official

@hygeia-official

@i-squish-your-fave

@alternia-official

@same-pic-of-a-goose-everyday

@official-state-of-idaho

@totally-etsy

@hoodies-official

@the-bible-translated

@the-haunted-forest

@the-fake-yahoo-mail

@utah-official

@officialscpfoundation

@the-name-gifter

@pokemonbattletournament

@the-smile-foundation

@small-potato

@overstimulation-da-emotion

@not-a-mothman

@official-level-5

@pressxtosetfree

@the-prophet-gimmick

@reallybadblackoutpoems

@totally-legit-brazil-blog

@relevant-mtg-cards

@i-eat-random-stuff

@the-gimmick-secret-agent

@unofficially-grammarly

@the-maybe-real-05-council

@opposum-detector

@the-name-stealer

@planet-of-cataclysm

@post-antonyms

@god-for-real

@other-german-confed-majors

@discord-real

@givingyouarandompathogen

@is-it-super-effective

@official-macula

@trumpet-official

@the-actual-las-nevadas

@wind-turbines-official

@the-real-uranus

@annoying-uwu-anon

@doyoulikethis-videogame-song

@whereisgem

@angry-inc

@idaho-official

@new-york-unoficial

@community-notes-real

@polish-lithuanian-cw-real

@mississippi-official

@officially-monaco

@timefromimage

@useless-walesfacts

@i-eat-your-thumbs

@shark-detector

@keytar-official

@solar-panel-official

@obviously-mojang

@algeria-realy-official

@microbes-in-hats

@hasglavebockenburntdownyet

@sillylittleanon

@the-film-theory

@officially-hungary

@actually-the-ussrs-ask-blog

@tenessee-officially

@rick-roller

@french-horn-official

@not-really-kansas-city

@temporarily-moon-two

@mumbai-official

@stitchposts

@starry-unofficial

@real-boeing-757

@organic-blazing

@the-last-ominous-threat

@05-council-unofficial

@anti-gimmick-thceif

@satan-official-account

@definitley-circle-k

@promise-anon

@officially-lowes

@the-gimmick-criminal

@the-real-planet-x

@the-moon-called-cyst

@spider-colon-3-corp

@official-wales

@gimmick-spy

@kahoot-official

@slurps-soup

@olympia-official-thx

@earth-glitches-always

@i-detect-rickrolls

@country-pride-flags

@the-analyzer

@stare-inc

@official-spellcasting-posts

@iris-gemini-home-entertainment

@solar-system-developer

@suspicious-salmon-handler

@officially-gender

@iku-spotted

@the-greek-chorus

@ratethepost

@gimmick-thief-thief-thieft-hief

@wholesomepostarchive

@official-water-detector

@iris-ghe

@the-void-anon

@the-paper-star-anon

@the-real-atlus-for-real

@official-lichtenstein

@nostalgianemojis

@distress-corp

@the-velvet-room-real

@reverse-poster

@happyinc

@totally-the-uac

@mammalidentifier

@archive-of-days

@mary-bell-radiation-authority

@thevoidofficial

@blog-blocking-service

@the-bitey-anon

@the-paperstar-anon

@the-pointing-anonv2

@scp-trading-card-game

@leprechaun-stealerofgold

@the-gimmick-hospital

@ethics-snom

@the-enchanting-table

@the-gimmick-judge

@firefox-unofficial

@the-gimmick-defence-attourney

@the-real-atlantic-ocean

@scp--096

@scp-05-council

@scp–294

@real-chicago

@real-norwayantarcticterritories

@theprovinceofaspecofficial

@the-magic-vending-machine

@the-missing-gods

@thelostcity-atlantis

@seemingly-random-rants

@the-gimmick-executioners

@galapagos-islands-notreal

@santi-the-theory-guy

@i-am-official-spider

@the-economy

@i-cover-things-in-sand

@officially-triton

@scp-or-dread-power

@voice-in-the-shadows

@kharak-the-skeleton

@evilorcadetector

@orca-detector

@gt-live

@the-gimmick-police

@desmos-calculator

@sirius-a--star

@totally-manilla-phillipines

@really-the-lunar-capital

@sunnyd-seltzer-real

@heavens-angels-official

@the-dust-among-the-stars

@the-official-netherlands

@the-same-moss-everyday

@officialcalifornia

@totally-callisto

@baby-france-very-official

@city-of-london-official

@definitely-zen-browser

@gimmickblog-posts

@covering-posts-in-brachs

@official-bulgaria

@identifying-cellphones-in-posts

@ask-wakling-mushroom

@officially-taurus-2

@official-asexual-posts

@cat-face-inc

@green-anon-real

@ancient-greece-official

@realm-of-clouds

@skull-company

@ancient-india-officially

@cracker-barrel

@arizona-official

@depot-of-homes

@loss-detector

@goose-detector

@washington-official

@official-margate

@disability-submarine-fleet

@thetimelooper

@the-official-church-of-santa

@the-gimmick-oracle

@the-eastern-orthodox-church-3

@sleep-finder

@the-pope-official

@mischief-colon-3-inc

@city-of-chicago-il-real-trust

@earth-updates-today

@skanetrafiken-official

@the-void-unoffical

@actually-titan

@spongebobheritageposts

@im-jesus

@queen-eliz-2

@theme-song-giver

@same-pic-of-fire-everyday

@soverign--state-of-britan

@the-state-of-california

@x3-inc

@stare-into-the-abyss

@evil-apple-mail

@wildoshaviolations

@frown-inc

@neutral-inc

@real-ikea-bag

@radamanthusofficial

@embarrased-inc

@smileinc

@class-dojo-officially

@gimmick-irs

@unofficial-finch-app

@fake-news-real

@mozilla-thunderbird

@greenland-official

@evilmathsuggestions

@actually-cuba

@gimmick-chemist

@email-ensemble

@obviously-luxembourg

@doyoulikethissong-poll

@saturn-official

@finding-lemon-in-posts

@definitely-minnesota

@soviet-state-of-new-york

@iceland-the-official

@proton-mail-official

@the-kingdom-of-sweden

@tomboy-hooters-official

@the-evil-yahoo-mail

@the-real-yahoo-mail

@where-is-moon-big

@gensokyo-officially

@totally-malaysia

@the-real-mexico

@multiverse-anon

@temmie-da-anon

@ocprompts

@tamrockets-wobuffet

@your-fav-isnt-divorced

@musical-posts

@hitboxesonstockimages

@destiel-news-network

@arkansasbutreal

@giant1v1poketourny

@text-colourer

@gimmickbloghunter-hunter

@gimmickbloghunterhunter

@thesaurus-official

@is-this-shakesperean-accurate

@britishcolumbiannosecandy

@ask-paranoia-duo

@whataburger-possibly-official

@city-of-boston-real

@unofficialirs

@i-study-anons

@pizza-hut-official

@thegendertheif

@almost-correct-quotes

@dailypokemoncrochet

@your-dewey-decimal-number-is

@crab-misinformation

@the-nevada

@michigan-the-state

@god-of-s2upid

@evergladesofflorida

@cleveland-city

@columbus-official

@south-dakota-unofficial

@literally-just-a-fish

@canada-official

@the-danny-devito-ifier

@truncated-decachoron

@secretly-a-puca

@lets-play-tag

@reassurance-bucket-everyday

@fuck-garlic

@official-olm-posts

@the-official-uk-of-britan

@europe-official

@radiation-detector-official

@macys-official

@the-ussr-actually

@idaho-official

@evil-maryland

@washington-official-2

@actually-czechoslovakia

@the-russia

@estonia-officially

@officially-latvia

@france-the-third

@newlondon-dweller

@characters-with-garlic-bread

@lubin-official

@lightbulb-the-great

@totally-normal-seal

@secretly-a-goose

@rhode-island-real

@locibarpulo-offical

@official-michigan-posts

@sussex-official

@rate-my-reptile

@therickrolldetector

@im-coles-trust

@isetpostsonfire

@australia--official

@identifying-planes-in-posts

@real-karakalpakstan

@greyhound-official

@fistfulls-of-cilantro

@the-hugger

@chess-rook

@jesus-official

@i-am-the-long-finned-pilot-whale

@the-very-unofficial-ussr

@judas-officially

@an-ordinary-phillipines-official

@the-austro-hungarian-empire

@totally-ironland

@fake-post-archive

@unofficially-screaming

@austria-hungary-bosnia-real

@mythicinc-official

@identifingbirdsinposts

@the-all-consuming

@localairport

@random-askbox-shit

@kentucky-unofficially-official2

@scrubthedaddy-official

@free-post-store

@crabslist

@officially-bavaria

@cat-spotted

@identifying-horses-in-posts

@illinos-no-more-wasps

@the-biter-anon

@searszofficial

@thekingdomofserbscroatsandslovenes

@north-dakota-unofficial

@the-us-navy-official

@hawaii-official

@the-real-liquid-death

@invisible-man-official

@montanaofficial

@fistfulls-of-basil

@marioheritageposts

@am-i-a-crab

@totally-czechosolvakia

@manjaro-official

@official-saxony

@otter-of-chaos-official

@pokemon-cards-hourly

@aromantic-navy

@daily-grian

@tree-detector

@queerslurheritageposts

@biblepercent

@the-real-aromantic-fbi

@homestuck-word-counter

@words-in-the-bible

@quebec-official

@similar-blog-showdown

@argentinium-47

@pdf-official

@diogenes-totally-real

@miku-spotted

@officialtinder

@real-minnesota-state

@the-ottoman-empire-for-real

@the-gimmick-scientist

@the-republic-of-california-fr-fr

@the-real-virginia

@drawing-prompt-s

@beepostsdaily

@louisiana-official

@subway-for-real

@woolworths-the-official

@neru-spotted

@wittywords

@scp-foundation-country

@your-gimmick-has-been-stolen

@the-united-states-justice-system

@jesus-christ-official

@the-real-nevada

@new-mexico-official

@in-n-out-burger-unofficial

@ifitwasediblewouldyoueatit

@bit-sad-innit-bruv

@pngblog

@real-britishantarcticterritories

@theveryofficialgermany

@anti-timeloop-police

@this-much-pink

@the-official-italy

@the-gimmick-reaper

@new-jersey-official

@british-museum-unofficial

@aro-culture-is

@described-posts

@lake-michigan-officially

@kansas-official

@kidnaps-you

@journeys-official

@totally-china-squaredd

@the-only-ontario

@in-the-bible

@hellsite-protiens

@icelandic-slwnderwoman

@the-m-e-a-t

@the-real-o5-6

@a-cats-blog

@i-am-the-crab

@scpfoundation-site19

@aldi-official-australia

@the-first-bank

@south-carolina-detector

@cantheykillmacbeth

@not-in-the-bible

@name-a-man-everyday

@twopartposts

@denmarklandia-official

@real-lego-batman

@quote-tournament

@jesus-holding-your-fave

@in-n-out-officially

@south-carolinia-official

@whereistherealsquiddo

@gay-detector

@replacing-vowels-with-oob

@blue-official

@yourdndstories

@the-memory-restorer

@virginia-official

@rickroll-reviewer

@actual-jesus

@guess-that-ship

@lexicorp-industries

@divinemadnessdetector

@were-these-words-in-the-bible

@attention-anon

@kingdom-of-asgardia-real

@official-san-marino

@the-empire-of-atlantium

@our-arospec-experience

@the-aroace-defence

@unofficially-joann-fabric

@canado-with-a-blog

@official-planet-pluto

@a-weal-wist-of-ominous-thweats

@thingycolonthree

@gimmick-blog-predator

@aztec-empire-revived

@favevostagepoll

@og-or-shiny

@outfitpolls

@i-give-worms

@scromble

@the-gimmick-returner

@the-disempunctuationer

@everyday-pi-posts

@flametexting-posts

@official-otter-detector

@wattpad-official

@flagwars

@ukraine-official

@general-assembly

@the-hypnotist

@defs-bjs-guys

@daily-keyboardsmasher

@corvid-detector

@periodiccompletionist

@fish-identifier

@earth-fan

@post-store

@definetly-west-virginia

@mizoram-unofficial

@maharshtra-official

@gimmick-therapistx3

@totally-india

@is-this-trans

@loading-screen-tips-occasionally

@arewebeholdingaman

@gimmickblog-taxonomist

@will-it-forehead

@colour-of-the-sky-collector

@destiel-news-channel

@trans-army-real

@communist-usa-real2

@state-of-conneticuit-official

@state-of-florida-official

@evilamtrakofficial

@official-canibalism-posts

@magical-girl-official

@totally-california

@texas-real

@powehi-the-blackhole

@certifiedsexed

@a-new-found-land

@mikufigureoftheday

@have-you-seen-this-animal

@putting-exit-door-in-places

@randomly-generated-posts-machine

@real-california-republic

@whereispealescentmoon

@nintendo-3ds-official

@where-is-orionsound

@the-chilli-pepper-venus

@official-sc

@would-this-pokemon-be-a-friend

@peeled-pokemon

@front-facing-pokemon

@who-do-i-know-this-man

@blorbo-gerrymandering

@old-posts-archive

@thehighaspeccouncil

@kde-plasma-official

@lenovo-real

@lfs-official

@god-of-stupid

@officialdragonposts

@lfthcs-daily

@biglots-official

@parentheses-posts

@totally-china

@offbrand-hunger-games

@card-of-the-day

@wouldyouratherpollsgalore

@i-give-mangos-to-people

@anonpolls

@heraldic-shields

@the-official-aro-archers

@northern-manitoba

@totallyrealcops

@color-palletes

@aroace-spec-empire

@the-real-moon-god

@drinksomefuckingwater

@maryland-official

@city-of-baltimore-official

@your-fav-is-divorced

@rotating-donuts-blog

@the-taggerrr

@not-an-ant

@hands-you-a-spatula

@kiki-or-bouba

@silly-signs

@damp-pit-of-worms

@paintdoktahwho

@linuxmint-official

@wayland-official

@debian-official

@statistical-distr-of-polls

@same-pic-of-mercury-everyday

@croissantanon

@same-pic-of-venus-everyday

@same-picture-of-europa

@mary-the-5th

@steamos-official

@todays-xkcd

@the-ocean-herself

@green-water-anon

@latinare

@mbta-unofficial

@mbta-official

@real-life-england

@trans-detector

@massachusets-official

@pigeonfinder

@variouspolltournaments

@theultimatejackoff

@would-you-punt-them

@todaysbird

@marylandaccountx4

@deneb-the-star

@marinebiologyshitposts

@i-give-you-a-fish

@the-shitty-planet-earth

@are-we-there-yet-daily

@not-a-trampoline-daily

@themostrandompolls

@kobold-sanctuary-buss-island

@bear-detector

@medici-official

@evil-google-slides

@out-of-context-tags

@fishslingeranon-official

@tf2heritageposts

@orion-in-the-sky

@the-speedy-planet-mercury

@certifiedlibraryposts

[amalgamasreal]

Updated Personal Infosec Post

Been awhile since I've had one of these posts part deus: but I figure with all that's going on in the world it's time to make another one and get some stuff out there for people. A lot of the information I'm going to go over you can find here:

https://www.privacyguides.org/en/tools/

So if you'd like to just click the link and ignore the rest of the post that's fine, I strongly recommend checking out the Privacy Guides. Browsers: There's a number to go with but for this post going forward I'm going to recommend Firefox. I know that the Privacy Guides lists Brave and Safari as possible options but Brave is Chrome based now and Safari has ties to Apple. Mullvad is also an option but that's for your more experienced users so I'll leave that up to them to work out. Browser Extensions:

uBlock Origin: content blocker that blocks ads, trackers, and fingerprinting scripts. Notable for being the only ad blocker that still works on Youtube.

Privacy Badger: Content blocker that specifically blocks trackers and fingerprinting scripts. This one will catch things that uBlock doesn't catch but does not work for ads.

Facebook Container: "but I don't have facebook" you might say. Doesn't matter, Meta/Facebook still has trackers out there in EVERYTHING and this containerizes them off away from everything else.

Bitwarden: Password vaulting software, don't trust the password saving features of your browsers, this has multiple layers of security to prevent your passwords from being stolen.

ClearURLs: Allows you to copy and paste URL's without any trackers attached to them.

VPN: Note: VPN software doesn't make you anonymous, no matter what your favorite youtuber tells you, but it does make it harder for your data to be tracked and it makes it less open for whatever public network you're presently connected to.

Mozilla VPN: If you get the annual subscription it's ~$60/year and it comes with an extension that you can install into Firefox.

Mullvad VPN: Is a fast and inexpensive VPN with a serious focus on transparency and security. They have been in operation since 2009. Mullvad is based in Sweden and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for payment methods that allow it.

Email Provider: Note: By now you've probably realized that Gmail, Outlook, and basically all of the major "free" e-mail service providers are scraping your e-mail data to use for ad data. There are more secure services that can get you away from that but if you'd like the same storage levels you have on Gmail/Ol utlook.com you'll need to pay.

Tuta: Secure, end-to-end encrypted, been around a very long time, and offers a free option up to 1gb.

Mailbox.org: Is an email service with a focus on being secure, ad-free, and privately powered by 100% eco-friendly energy. They have been in operation since 2014. Mailbox.org is based in Berlin, Germany. Accounts start with up to 2GB storage, which can be upgraded as needed.

Email Client:

Thunderbird: a free, open-source, cross-platform email, newsgroup, news feed, and chat (XMPP, IRC, Matrix) client developed by the Thunderbird community, and previously by the Mozilla Foundation.

FairMail (Android Only): minimal, open-source email app which uses open standards (IMAP, SMTP, OpenPGP), has several out of the box privacy features, and minimizes data and battery usage.

Cloud Storage:

Tresorit: Encrypted cloud storage owned by the national postal service of Switzerland. Received MULTIPLE awards for their security stats.

Peergos: decentralized and open-source, allows for you to set up your own cloud storage, but will require a certain level of expertise.

Microsoft Office Replacements:

LibreOffice: free and open-source, updates regularly, and has the majority of the same functions as base level Microsoft Office.

OnlyOffice: cloud-based, free

FreeOffice: Personal licenses are free, probably the closest to a fully office suite replacement.

Chat Clients: Note: As you've heard SMS and even WhatsApp and some other popular chat clients are basically open season right now. These are a couple of options to replace those. Note2: Signal has had some reports of security flaws, the service it was built on was originally built for the US Government, and it is based within the CONUS thus is susceptible to US subpoenas. Take that as you will.

Signal: Provides IM and calling securely and encrypted, has multiple layers of data hardening to prevent intrusion and exfil of data.

Molly (Android OS only): Alternative client to Signal. Routes communications through the TOR Network.

Briar: Encrypted IM client that connects to other clients through the TOR Network, can also chat via wifi or bluetooth.

SimpleX: Truly anonymous account creation, fully encrypted end to end, available for Android and iOS.

Now for the last bit, I know that the majority of people are on Windows or macOS, but if you can get on Linux I would strongly recommend it. pop_OS, Ubuntu, and Mint are super easy distros to use and install. They all have very easy to follow instructions on how to install them on your PC and if you'd like to just test them out all you need is a thumb drive to boot off of to run in demo mode. For more secure distributions for the more advanced users the options are: Whonix, Tails (Live USB only), and Qubes OS.

On a personal note I use Arch Linux, but I WOULD NOT recommend this be anyone's first distro as it requires at least a base level understanding of Linux and liberal use of the Arch Linux Wiki. If you game through Steam their Proton emulator in compatibility mode works wonders, I'm presently playing a major studio game that released in 2024 with no Linux support on it and once I got my drivers installed it's looked great. There are some learning curves to get around, but the benefit of the Linux community is that there's always people out there willing to help. I hope some of this information helps you and look out for yourself, it's starting to look scarier than normal out there.

[utopicwork]

11/5/2024

[meret118]

Do you hate google? Do you hate the internet spying on you and profiting off you? Please help Mozilla if you can.

[autolenaphilia]

Why enshittification happens and how to stop it.

The enshittification of the internet and increasingly the software we use to access it is driven by profit. It happens because corporations are machines for making profits from end users, the users and customers are only seen as sources of profits. Their interests are only considered if it can help the bottom line. It's capitalism.

For social media it's users are mainly seen by the companies that run the sites as a way for getting advertisers to pay money that can profit the shareholders. And social media is in a bit of death spiral right now, since they have seldom or never been profitable and investor money is drying up as they realize this.

So the social media companies. are getting more and more desperate for money. That's why they are getting more aggressive with getting you to watch ads or pay for the privilege of not watching ads. It won't work and tumblr and all the other sites will die eventually.

But it's not just social media companies, it's everything tech-related. It gets worse the more monopolistic a tech giant is. Google is abusing its chrome-based near monopoly over the web, nerfing adblockers, trying to drm the web, you name it. And Microsoft is famously a terrible company, spying on Windows users and selling their data. Again, there is so much money being poured into advertising, at least 493 billion globally, the tech giants want a slice of that massive pie. It's all about making profits for shareholders, people be damned.

And the only insurance against this death spiral is not being run by a corporation. If the software is being developed by a non-profit entity, and it's open source, there is no incentive for the developers to fuck over the users for the sake of profits for shareholders, because there aren't any profits, and no shareholders.

Free and Open source software is an important part of why such software development can stay non-corporate. It allows for volunteers to contribute to the code and makes it harder for users to be secretly be fucked over by hidden code.

Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird are good examples of this. There is a Mozilla corporation, but it exists only for legal reasons and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the non-profit Mozilla foundation. There are no shareholders. That means the Mozilla corporation is not really a corporation in the sense that Google is, and as an organization has entirely different incentives. If someone tells you that Mozilla is just another corporation, (which people have said in the notes of posts about firefox on this very site) they are spreading misinformation.

That's why Firefox has resisted the enshittification of the internet so well, it's not profit driven. And people who develop useful plugins that deshitify the web like Ublock origin and Xkit are as a rule not profit-driven corporations.

And you can go on with other examples of non-profit software like Libreoffice and VLC media player, both of which you should use.

And you can go further, use Linux as your computer's operating system.. It's the only way to resist the enshitification that the corporate duopoly of Microsoft and Apple has brought to their operating system. The plethora of community-run non-profit Linux distributions like Debian, Mint and Arch are the way to counteract that, and they will stay resistant to the same forces (creating profit for shareholders) that drove Microsoft to create Windows 11.

Of course not all Linux distributions are non-profits. There are corporate created distros like Red Hat's various distros, Canonical's Ubuntu and Suse's Opensuse, and they prove the point I'm making. There has some degree of enshittification going on with those, red hat going closed source and Canonical with the snap store for example. Mint is by now a succesful community-driven response to deshitify Ubuntu by removing snaps for example, and even they have a back-up plan to use Debian as a base in case Canonical makes Ubuntu unuseable.

As for social media, which I started with, I'm going to stay on tumblr for now, but it will definitely die. The closest thing to a community run non-profit replacement I can see is Mastodon, which I'm on as @autolenaphilia@chaosfem.tw.

You don't have to keep using corporate software, and have it inevitably decline because the corporations that develop it cares more about its profits than you as an end user.

The process of enshittification proves that corporations being profit-driven don't mean they will create a better product, and in fact may cause them to do the opposite. And the existence of great free and open source software, created entirely without the motivation of corporate profits, proves that people don't need to profit in order to help their fellow human beings. It kinda makes you question capitalism.

[indecisiveavocado]

I saw a post about period tracking apps being in danger and they recommended a particular app that wasn't made for it. Which is fine and all, but I'd like to recommend a different one: Euki.

It's made by a nonprofit org and it has a ton of features:

ZERO (yes, zero) personal data collection--it all stays on your device.

According to their privacy policy, "The App does not collect, and is not capable of collecting, any user information." (The downside is if you forget your optional PIN, that's it.)

You can set a PIN. Better yet, if you're being forced to open it and you don't want to, you can enter "0000" and it shows a fake screen!

You can regularly delete data, or do it all at once.

It's bilingual in English and Spanish

It offers period prediction features, a customizable calendar, appointment and medicine reminders, reliable information, and links to other orgs

It's free.

But don't trust only me (and Euki). Trust this peer-reviewed paper in the Public Library of Science; Our Bodies, Ourselves; Consumer Reports; Mozilla; the Vagina Privacy Network (a collaboration between a reproductive health org and the EFF); or Feminist Campus' Callie Wixon (Feminist Campus is a project by the Feminist Majority Foundation).

Get it: https://eukiapp.org. It's available on Android and iOS.

[ranidspace]

i found out that a year before being bought out and shut down, netscape open sourced their code, and founded the fucking mozilla foundation.

firefox is netscape's child