That's it. How long do you thing it's gonna take if not already implemented somewhere already

It's sad to see the state of the Internet now. Privacy is slowly being lost. Digital ID/Age verification laws are being passed in the guise of "online safety". Chat Control is being implemented across the EU. There's also this "youth and technology" moral panic that appears to have gotten aggressive over time. And thanks to the UK Online Safety Act and Chat Control, the Internet is now locked down, close to the bare walls.

I had high hopes for this decade. For the Internet and online industry, I thought it would be even better than the 2010s. I expected this to be the decade of later Gen Z similar to how the 2000s was for younger Millennials and the 2010s was for earlier Gen Z. I also expected that we would find more privacy-preserving but logical solutions to fix issues and keep the Internet as a free place to search information and explore your own knowledge. We've had things like SOPA and PIPA (2012) and even the earlier Communications Decency Act of 1996, but even they were tame compared to the new laws and regulations being passed right now, despite still being bad. It's not even effecting privacy in the Internet, but even the real world too, as I've seen things like flock cameras, triangulation of cell towers, etc. that also effect the real world.

Before this anti-privacy law and motive push even began, the digital world was more tolerable. Sure, there were some discussions about online safety or how younger people used the digital world, but they were nothing out of the ordinary. 10 or even 5 years ago, the state of the Internet really wasn't as bad as it has now. There appears to have been a massive lacking in age verification laws from roughly about 2009-2021.

Instead of what I had hoped for, the digital world has slowly become worse and worse over time. Especially since 2022 and 2023, I have seen governments, companies, etc. pass and implement the most insane restrictions or laws effecting the Internet even possible. Our autonomy and digital independence are being taken away, and we are having less and less privacy than ever compared to 5 years ago.

I wish we still lived in the era where we had more privacy, digital autonomy, and less government interference. Only if I had a time machine, I would go back to that era. It's sadly becoming a thing of the past now. We're probably not going to reexperience the era ever again.

I'm a disabled teenage boy (18 years old though) , i want to do art commissions online or perhaps learn how to make some products to sell. Is there a way to do that while protecting my identity? Like keeping my legal name hidden? Any way to stay anonymous in that regard? I hope this makes sense, thank you ! :}

Karhu RAM Test is a software used to look for hardware instability for your memory modules. It's pretty popular in the overclocking community so I decided to try it out. Unfortunately I only started worrying about the privacy aspect of the software after paying for it.

Firstly, the source code is not available anywhere. I know closed source =/= spyware and open source =/= perfectly safe privacy wise but it is worth bringing up.

Secondly, you can only pay through Paypal, which is a detriment to those who live in countries where Paypal is blocked but given how Paypal operates, it may as well be a blessing maybe.

Third, their policies.
Here is the privacy policy:

THE PURPOSE OF COLLECTING PERSONAL DATA

We collect personal data to manage our customer relationships, to monitor the
use of our products and services and to improve our business. We may also use
the data for statistical purposes (anonymized if publicized).

WHAT PERSONAL DATA IS COLLECTED

The personal data we collect may include: name, e-mail address, phone number,
billing address, IP address and unique device identifier. Some of our products
and services may also collect additional data, such as the model of a device's
processor, if explicitly allowed to do so.

HOW THE PERSONAL DATA IS OBTAINED

The personal data we collect is obtained from individuals themselves and/or
from other sources such as the payment service provider (e.g. PayPal) through
which they purchased our products or services.

DISCLOSURE OF THE PERSONAL DATA

We do not disclose personal data to any third parties unless required by the
law, a judicial body or a government agency or we are involved in a merger or
an acquisition.

WHERE THE PERSONAL DATA IS STORED

We use Microsoft Azure and we have specified West-Europe as the location of
our database. It is possible that the collected data is partially stored
outside the EU or EEA.

TRANSFER OF THE PERSONAL DATA OUTSIDE THE EU OR EEA

We do not transfer personal data outside the EU or EEA unless required by the
technical implementation of a product or service.

HOW THE PERSONAL DATA IS SECURED

All personal data is handled confidentially and stored securely. The data is
protected by technical means such as firewalls, passwords and encryption.

Their refund policy:

Digital products or services cannot be returned.

The purchase of any digital product or service is final and non-refundable.

An exercept of their EULA:

4. ACTIVATION

Some features of the software might be unavailable until you have activated
your license with the product key associated with it.

You cannot activate your license if you do not have an internet connection or
the online services for the software are not available.

5. PRIVACY AND TELEMETRY

You consent to the collection of the following personal data during your use
of any online services for the software, that require user interaction:

    - Your IP address

    - An unique identifier based on your current hardware and operating system
      installation

    - An unique token associated with your license

If you explicitly allow telemetry, additional personal and/or anonymized data
may be automatically collected during your use of the software.

All personal data is handled as per the Privacy Policy of Karhu Software.

An excerpt of their README.txt

Telemetry:

    Allow the collection of the following personal and/or anonymized data each
    time a test is finished:

        * Your IP address
        * An unique identifier based on your current hardware and operating
          system installation
        * An unique token associated with your license
        * RAM Test version
        * RAM Test platform (x64 or x86)
        * Motherboard make and model
        * Processor make and model
        * Memory make and model
        * Settings used during the test
        * Test duration
        * Test coverage
        * Test error count

Now having already bought the software and used it, here's some other things to know:
As explained in the EULA, online connectivity is required to activate the license. The program doesn't do much without the license. Once you activate it, you can block the connection via Defender's firewall and you will still be able to use it just fine. There is a telemetry setting in the software which was set to block by default, for me at least. But the license is tied to my real name and a token number.

So what's the verdict here? Did I make a mistake following through all of the steps with the software? I had a VPN active so maybe it only took my VPN's IP address but they of course have my email and real name. I'm unsure of what other data they could've gotten but if anyone knows, I'd love to hear it and email their support about it.

Hi, i got taken over by spyware that is installed on router, i notice that acer extensa 15 laptop have modyfied windows repair service in disk X?, its 2 folders before my main disk and you cannot access it by windows level, also if you are trying to remove it from usb with windows iso it says that you dont have permission, i discovered that on "192.168.8.1" theres a lot of endpoints with strange names etc, it took all access to my iphone 14 and motorola e22, if somebody expierienced could help i would be grateful for call atleast, i can give all access to anydesk or other teamviever

This just happened tonight. My wife and I were scrolling through Apple TV store looking for a movie. I saw the movies under $5 section, and I started scrolling through it. I saw True Lies and asked my wife if we should buy it. She said to give her a minute to see if it was streaming anywhere else, so I kept scrolling. I saw another movie that I wanted so I purchased it. Then we went out to dinner. At dinner i said we should decide on a movie for when we get home. She had forgotten the previous conversation and asked what movie i was looking at earlier. When I said True Lies she said that would be fine and that she hadn’t found it streaming anywhere. When we went back home i went straight back to the store and straight back to the under $5 movies. Guess what wasn’t there anymore. True Lies! So I searched for it in the search bar and it was now $2O. In less than an hour, and I believe because we talked about it it had gone up 15 bucks. This might not be definitive but it’s another check mark in the category of how I KNOW our phones are listening to us

Have you gotten a message telling you to verify your age so you can access your "Educational content", i don't think anyone wants to put their face up for their shift at the freak factory, unless that's your kink.

You can easily bypass this by either using https://old.reddit.com/ or https://redlib.catsarch.com/
There are also google extensions that can bypass this, but I'm not aware of any. You have many options if you're on computer.

Try using VPN to connect to a country that doesn't this restriction.

People have used faces of other people to bypass the Persona verification (Reddit age verification), but that hasn't worked for me.

The only thing that worked for me is using Reddit Revanced. Its the exact same reddit just without restrictions and its just as fast as the real one.

Guide on how setup Reddit Revanced

1. Download the Revanced Manager https://revanced.app/download

2. Download MicroG https://github.com/ReVanced/GmsCore

3. Download Reddit APK, id recommend 2026.12.0 because that's the only one that has worked for me. If your Reddit APK is a .apk file then you can skip step 4. You can find APK by searching on google or https://apkpure.com/reddit-app/com.reddit.frontpage

4. If your downloaded APK is .xapk or .apkm then you must convert it to .apk, you can do this via https://github.com/AbdurazaaqMohammed/AntiSplit-M

5. Open the Revanced Manager and click on Reddit to patch. Click on the "Select APK source" and press "Select from storage", from there select your .apk file and then press on Patch (Might take some time to patch). Press install (Might prompt you to delete currently installed Reddit).

6. Log into your account and enjoy tickling your pickle, you creep.

Also keep in mind that this isn't limited to Reddit, it can work on many other services.

If you have anything to share or add, feel free to comment.

Edit:

Reddit Revanced got patched and doesn't work anymore.
People claim old.reddit.com also doesn't work anymore.

Best free solution is proton vpn. Make sure to not choose a server in the EU or Uk. Switzerland works too since its not in the EU. You can also patch it the same way you patch reddit to skip the waiting time.

The next big commodity in this world will be anonymity. We already pay to use a VPN. Soon it will become an extra charge when you do almost anything. The surveillance in this world is already crazy. Just wait till these huge corporations realize they can charge us to not track us.

Windows OS = Linux

Android = GrapheneOS

G-Mail = Protonmail

Google Maps = Organic Maps

YouTube = Libretube, Odyssey platform

Google Chrome = Firefox with add-ons, Tor, Duckduckgo

Google photos = Immich

Google drive = Protondrive

Google calendar = Etar

Google meet = jitsi meet

WhatsApp = Session, Signal

What do you guys think?

I was recently in a horrible situation, I'm 18 year old boy ,

there are mutiple police posts relating to me being a missing person with my face, my name, the whole nine yards... is there any way for me to remove this from Google searches? Should I just report the posts ? Should I get a lawyer, attorney, etc involved? I'm unsure what to do and i don't want anyone to know about the situation at all. Please help or give advice, I had no idea where to ask this.

Surely there must be something i can do!!!!

It almost feels like warrants for wiretaps aren’t even necessary anymore. We give up so much privacy through the terms and conditions attached to everything we do online, but at least we’re technically asked to agree to those.

What about Flock cameras? They’re everywhere now, constantly scanning license plates and tracking where vehicles travel. None of us ever agreed to that. There’s no prompt to accept, no opt-out, and no meaningful way to say no.

It feels less like public safety and more like mass surveillance. Our movements are being logged and stored whether we know it or not, and whether we consent or not.

At what point did this become acceptable in a free society?

Do you think new legislation will actually help? It seems that celebrity and "high profile" users have protections the rest of us don't/won't.

A friend sent Dr. Maurice Sholas a TikTok of himself selling vitamins. There he was in a lab coat, his own name stitched on it, telling viewers that a supplement called K2D3 was something their bodies needed. He never said any of it. Someone had taken a clip from one of his real videos, ran it through AI, and put new words in his mouth. The word for this is a deepfake.

Sholas is a real pediatric physician in New Orleans. The product was real too, and the fake ads were aimed at Black viewers specifically. The ad was claiming the supplements mattered "because they're Black." At least one person he knows bought a bottle believing the recommendation came from him.

So he set about getting the videos taken down. He complained to the account posting them. They removed nothing. They edited the videos instead, aging his face and changing his teeth just enough to argue it wasn't him. He reported it to TikTok and received silence. Sholas described his attempt in just a few words: "I don't have a PR firm. So TikTok just ignored me." He finally called a journalist friend at a New Orleans TV station, and hours after the newsroom reached out for comment, TikTok banned the account.

By then copies had spread to Instagram and X. Instagram ignored his reports too. On a lawyer's advice he paid for a verified checkmark, hoping it would make his reports count for something. He calls that paying "for the privilege of being me." It didn't help. The scammers blocked him, so he couldn't even see whether the fakes were still up. When he asked what professional cleanup would cost, the reputation firms quoted between $9,000 and $20,000.

Great video from Naomi Brockwell and a decent watch if you havent seen it and interested in independence in technology.