Tag: trust

Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (Mar 2025)

Female newsreader faces a camera with green screen behind her

To quote Buckminster Fuller “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

You are seeing aspects of this with over 200 UK companies committing to the 4 day work week, Pebble smart watch is opensource and the social web foundation and W3C get closer.

Enshittification hit list

Ian thinks: This list of the worst offenders of enshittification, is interesting but I am very surprised to not see cars and dating apps on this list. Something which is regullaryly on Mozilla’s privacy not included lists.

What is mate crime, and is it symptom of our social networking?

Ian thinks: Mate crime is a short term for exploitation by people who are close. It’s increasing and there is a lot of pointers to the less that ideal anti-social spaces we live in now. Isolation is a killer and starved of social contact, we can become easy prey for toxic friendships.

Building AI news anchor with Channel 4

Ian thinks: This is a good short piece about making a AI news anchor. The process is understandable but what got me was the wider impact of this has on general trust of news. Ultimately this all adds up to a lack of trust all around.

Undersea cable wars

Ian thinks: We already know how important undersea cables are but few are fully aware of the ongoing war happening not only in Europe but also across the world including the east China sea. As you can imagine with Taiwan and China.

Spotify’s affect on the music industry and society?

Ian thinks: Back in 2015, I headed up a project which needed 25+ types of music. I worked with students to identify the music; but there was a unreal moment when I needed to explain Spotify does not contain all the music in the world and they should look elsewhere. This interview is a clear reminder of the impact of Spotify and what the alternatives are.

Town squares are not global

Ian thinks: Eli parser’s speech at Vatican is a real detailed one, raising up a lot of the underlying fodder we seem to have forgotten. The line lets have faith, is just perfect

How loneliness is affected by culture and place

Ian thinks: This conversation is full of interesting points from the question of the 3rd place, mental health, etc. But what I found most interesting is the difference in cultures. Its why BBC R&Ds future of social report will go a step deeper. However the notion of online connection as the junk food of connection is quite interesting.

Making better use of doom scrolling time

Ian thinks: I think this is great. Similar to how many others are starting to use the user interface mechanics used to trap and keep people hooked. How many times in the past have you spent time clicking through Wikipedia, learning more as you read more.

Where does the UK stand on AI?

Ian thinks: This is a important question which Rachel Coldicutt uncovers. Our European neighbours have taken a clear stance of safety, while the American oligarchy find this bizarre, and can’t resist telling them during the AI summit. As the UK like the USA refuses to sign a international AI declaration. Is this a clear sign?

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Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (Jan 2025)

The image is a very detailed, black-and-white sketch-like illustration featuring a complex scene of interconnected figures and technology. The artwork portrays various individuals in different environments to represent the relationship between technology and humans. In the foreground, multiple people are surrounded by computer screens filled with data visualisations, charts, and technical information. A woman seated in an armchair appears deep in thought, surrounded by data-filled monitors. Beside her, a man leans over, using a tablet to assist with their inspection of a plant or tree. In the centre, a figure holds a large frame or screen displaying anatomical illustrations, representing the use of AI to analyse medical imagery. To the left, another person is intently observing a computer screen, while a second figure nearby is deeply immersed in analysing data. A woman dominates the right side of the composition, gazing upwards as if in contemplation or envisioning something beyond the immediate scene. The background features more people, including a family holding hands, and other abstract representations of data.
Ariyana Ahmad & The Bigger Picture / Better Images of AI / AI is Everywhere / CC-BY 4.0

 

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed while hearing about the Character.AI courtcase, seeing the Tesla’s crash footage and choose your phrase now before its too late?

To quote Buckminster Fuller “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

You are seeing aspects of this with people turning away from online dating, W3C weighting into the  ethical web principles and could cotton and squid bones soak up our out of control microplastics problem?

Ian thinks: These are my big over arching themes for 2025. There is a lot of resources I could point to but this interview about AI via Tech won’t save us, is a good example of what and why? If you are not thinking and acting on these themes in this year, you need to stop and think why.

Meet the global underclass of digital workers who speak out about AI training

Ian thinks: Mozilla spent a lot of effort raising the voices of the global south works or as the video says global underclass of digital workers, however it is good to see the German broadcaster also covering this important issue. As it never gets enough attention in the AI hype bubble.

Charlie Brooker, Black mirror and the state of Technology

Ian thinks: This interview recorded with Charlie Brooker, is full of nuggets of provocative statements around not only Black Mirror but also his wider thoughts on media and technology (especially around AI). Although filmed a while ago its worth watching ahead of the new season of Black Mirror.

What happens when you swipe smartphones away form teenagers?

Ian thinks: Although this experiment is anything but scientific, its is good to see the reactions and discussion of not just the teenagers but also the parents which took part. Perfectly timed following the Australian social media ban for under 13’s. Also seems to be available on youtube in full.

Is giving aid directly the best way to change poverty?

Ian thinks: I was heavily sceptical of this just by the title. However after watching and going through some of the research was convinced. It goes against so much of what we have been told/seen but in the right environment putting money into people’s hands is far more effective.

Thumbs up to surveillance in the UK?

Ian thinks: Recently news stories about the UK government warming to facial surveillance and recognition is concerning. This news story is a clear reminder the abuse of these systems needs to be taken very seriously when putting any kind of support such systems. If it’s not transparent and audit-able then it’s not in the public interest.

The weaponisation of data and the importance of activists

Ian thinks: Although seen as an annoyance by the mainstream, activist are important to make sense, shine the light of accountable and ultimately change perspective on a rapidly changing world. From Bellingcat to ProPublica from the Open Rights Group to Big Brother watch; OSINT (open-source intelligence) runs through their foundations. Something we all could learn and benefit from.

If you have nothing to hide?

Ian thinks: This video runs through a lot of the nonsense myself and others have said about privacy. Everything from privacy is dead to if you have nothing to hide. I have heard it all over time and the key points of privacy is about anatomy and rights.

Limitarianism, socialism, communism?

Ian thinks: I recently started reading the book by Limitarianism after reading about it, expecting similar arguments in the inequality circles. However Robeyns goes one further with tighter examples & arguments based on many studies. Could this be the next spirit or inner level?

Find the archive here

Smartwatches: after the Pebble on to wear OS

Pebble time and Ticwatch pro

Since the pebble I have been a bit fed up with the selection of smartwatches.

Originally I kickstarted the Bangle JS 2 smartwatch then bought the TicWatch 3 pro, but the battery life just frankly annoyed me so much and sent it back to get the Amazefit GTR 4.

I liked the Amazafit GTR 4 because the battery life was 3-5 days but the setup was something else. It doesn’t run Wear OS but I was fine with this because battery life made a big difference.

There is a review I read after getting the watch which sums up the problems with the watch. I like to hack and customise things but the options were insane. Then to add to this was the apps which included the default Zepp app and another one to pick up on the shortcoming of Zepp. Ultimately there were so many options but some of the basic things I expect were not covered.

Amazafit-GTR4 smartwatch

Replying to messages by voice wasn’t possible, although the watch does support voice commands and even Amazon Alexia integrations. The other thing which got me was the calendaring. With the pebble, the calendar was always up to date and I could trust it to know what’s next. With the Amazefit the calendar only updated when I opened the Zepp app, stop the calendar sync and then re-enabled it again. My calendar changes sometimes hourly so an updated calendar is super important.

In the end I got so fed up with a watch I couldn’t really trust, and finally I made the decision to sell the watch on ebay after reading  reviews about the new TicWatch 5. I decided the reasonable battery life, quick charge, wear OS 3 support was enough to convince me to switch (although I am wondering if wear OS 4 will make it to the watch). Its great to have proper sleep as android support again too.

Ticwatch pro 5

Its still early days but  I do miss some things like the automatic workout stuff, I have no idea what to put diaboloing under in my workouts. But generally if I’m charging the watch every day while in the bathroom, everything should be great.

The fast charge really has made a big difference and makes up for the smaller battery life. I can see this working when away from home due to cheap USB chargers (unlike the Oura). But that element of trust when looking at my notifications, calendar and tasks is something which can’t be underestimated.

Digital legacy the home made version

 

iStorage datAshur PRO 4GB Secure flash USB drive

For a long while since my brush with death, I have been thinking about my digital legacy as most of my stuff is digital. I know its not something most people think about but in the same way most people don’t think about their will till something major happens or its too late.

Digital legacy is in that place right now where there are companies which will do it for you but the trust model seems broken to me. Also they tend to need everything to be in one place/platform rather than the real way people use digital technology today and into the trustless/diy/open future.

With this in mind, I checked out a few different options and the one which came up consistently was Hereditas.

Hereditas, which means inheritance in Latin, is a static website generator that builds fully-trustless digital legacy boxes, where you can store information for your relatives to access in case of your sudden death or disappearance.

For example, you could use this to pass information such as passwords, cryptographic keys, cryptocurrency wallets, sensitive documents, etc.

Herditas is neat and the code is open source allowing anyone to investigate it. But as its alpha software I always felt a bit uneasy about using it for my digital legacy because it felt a bit too barebones (although I did sign up for Auth0).

I looked for alternatives such which also used the method of trustless, zero-knowledge and verification, but found little. So decided to try setting something up myself based on what I already have and use.

It was about the same time the lastpass security breach happened and although I’m not using a online password manager started thinking if there was a way to combine the both in a safe way.

So what did I do?

First I bought these secure USB drives and of course changed the passcode to something long and unique.

Then made a copy of my keepass database (my password manager) on to the USB drive along with my  Letter of wishes, a readme file and other bits and bobs. The database is locked up with a very long and difficult master password. That password is stored inside another online password manager, bitwarden which includes the feature of emergency access. I have already set up family members and close friends using this feature. Meaning only a few selected people can access it once I don’t reject their access request.

Once someone gets access to the bitwarden account, they would still need access to the database file, which is on the secure keys. Then to top that,  keepass has the option of a key file which can look like almost any file including ones on the secure USB stick. Its not elegant but I can’t see many flaws and it works in a simple way which was explained to my family.

I’m still experimenting with this all but been thinking a better option is to use another encrypted filesystem or Certs for the keepass 2nd authentication. Of course that file doesn’t have to even sit on the secure USB drive at all, as I’m considering buying and using more FIDO2 keys and using that instead.

Looking Herditas again, I quite like the idea of a static website on the secure website which could make a better solution that a readme file. It would be great if Herditas could actually run on/offline

Thoughts and comments are welcomed…

Is there a major flaw which I’m missing or is something which could work?

Update Tuesday 24th Jan

There has been some discussion on the fediverse about my post and I wanted to add some more details. Some people have asked why bother and I wanted to address some of them.

The scenario of death is a lot clearer and the death certificate will unlock a lot of things, however its worth noting some EULAs from the likes of dropbox need explicit consent before they will provide access. I’m also using the likes of Google, Facebook, etc’s legacy contact support.

The scenario I alluded to, was when I was in in ICU for 3-4 weeks and my family and friends needed to sort out my life when I was buying a new flat. I was lucky but I could have lost the flat. Yes its unique but a lot can happen when you are temporarily or even permanently out of action. Permanent disability is possible and providing access in a safe way, can make a lot of difference. I also think my thoughts still works in this case too.

Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (Sept 2022)

a group of people walking down a street next to tall buildings, cyberpunk art by Ji Sheng, cgsociety, afrofuturism, concept art HQ
a group of people walking down a street next to tall buildings, cyberpunk art by Ji Sheng, cgsociety, afrofuturism, concept art HQ – via Midjourney

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed seeing the ring door bell show, twitter not taking security seriously and Android stalkerware with a flaw affecting millions.

To quote Buckminster Fuller “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

You are seeing aspects of this with some cameras which can optically not see objects and people. Facebook messager pushed into deploying some-kind of encryption and Chokepoint capitalism look very well timed indeed.

1.5 million people avoided ransomware

Ian thinks: Ransomware is awful and is such a big problem. Interpol and others decided to do something about it, to encourage victims from paying out. The 1.5 million victims helped in a short time is impressive

Side by side, the differences between AI image generators

Ian thinks: Over the last few months, the AI image generation world has gone in overdrive. I found this comparison really intriguing although the story of midjourney speaks volumes.

The privacy and security problems of frictionless design

Ian thinks:: What Tiktok is doing is deeply worrying but it raises the bigger question of usability to avoid user agency and data rights.

Terraform: Stories from the future?

Ian thinks: I’m not usually a reader of Sci-Fi but now Black Mirror is cancelled, I am looking out for the audiobook of this book. Interesting short stories about the future we are slowly walking towards.

Could we ever trust robots?

Ian thinks: This talk from the Thinking Digital Conference in Newcastle, made me chuckle but highlights a lot of the problems with the future dreams of robots around the home. Its worth checking out the rest of the conference videos too.

In machines we trust?

Ian thinks: MIT’s podcast about the automation of everything is a good listen. Well thought out and I’m looking forward to the next season in this ongoing question about trust and machines.

The future is bright for open podcasting

Ian thinks: I am still fascinated and still impressed the podcasting industry is holding tight against the larger players. Innovating together and for the benefit of all, a great example of the public focused future.

What can be learned from Netflix’s downturn?

Ian thinks: Everyone has been beating up on Netflix recently, but I found this summary sensible, logical and raises questions about the multipliers of tech companies.

Have you ever considered the term social warming?

Ian thinks: For a long time, I have thought about a term which sums up the downsides of social media/networking. In the book Social Warming: The dangerous and polarising effects of social media, I feel Charles Arthur has found the perfect term.

Find the archive here

Public Service Internet monthly newsletter (Dec 2021)

Morpheus with agent smith

We live in incredible times with such possibilities that is clear. Although its easily dismissed how Google & Deepmind used patients data without permission, how aesthetics has dominated technology reviews and comparing social media’s effects to alcohol.

To quote Buckminster Fuller “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

You are seeing aspects of this with seeing the EU’s first steps in creating a Interoperable Market, the open source approach to solar power and the understanding technology won’t solve the coming climate collapse.

The metaverse is a zoo and a silicon valley surveillance dream

Ian thinks: I have many thoughts about the metaverse, but there is so much about the matrix which is apt for Silicon Valley’s metaverse, Agent Smith says “I hate this place, this zoo, this prison, this reality, whatever you want to call it.” While Morpheus says “What is the Matrix? Control.” Both fitting.

The absolute importance of trust and accountability

Ian thinks: As more and more of public services go online, the absolute importance of trust and accountability needs to be established. We can’t leave it to private enterprises as you see with meta, to provide trusted services

Rushkoff & Javis’s invite to redesign the internet

Ian thinks: I like the idea of the course, the reading list is very good. With such heavy weights I’m keen to see what may come from it?

What comes after the social feed?

Ian thinks: Its good to see some early positive public research about aspects of social we all take for granted. Look forward to further development.

The goldmine of data on our phones

Ian thinks: The EFF’s latest podcast on what the police and malicious actors do with the data on our phones once they have it for a short while is quite something to hear and think about.

Is Venture Capital as harmful as we suspect?

Ian thinks: The Freakonomics give a balanced view on venture capital. I’m less positive but also hopefully with some of the details in the podcast.

Can crypto provide wealth to black communities or is it all a trap?

Ian thinks: I’m personally deeply conflicted about crypto but very concerned at how its being pushed as a way to rebuild generational wealth within the black community. Especially by the community its self. Crypto and the Neo-liberalism narrative doesn’t seem to fit neatly.

Whats the difference between Sky, Whatsapp, Anom, Signal, etc?

Ian thinks: Sky suing the US Government is a interesting point of reference, but also begs the question of whats ok and not in the encrypted messaging future.

The enemy in the home breaking relationships?

Ian thinks: The amount of IOT device in our home and their impact on our homes and human relationships is a ongoing concern, with no little good outcome on the horizon. On a similar branch Stacey outlines her problems with her IOT home.

 

Find the archive here

In lieu of trust at the top…

There was something which John Ashton said at the end of his video for Double Down News.

He mentions during the first nation wide lockdown in the UK, people supporting each other with pick up of community shopping, lists of help on different social sites, etc, etc. The trust between each other and the NHS was high.

As we went into the second national lockdown, all eyes were looking to the top. Rather than looking at each other for support. I think part of this comes from the formulation of the tiers which seemed to turned people against each other, in lieu of any transparency from the top. There was a lot of finger pointing from Tier 3 Liverpool at Tier 2 Manchester back 2-3 months ago for example.

Its clear countries where the government are more trusted seem to be doing much better in their R number rates. But in lieu of this, we need to work together to make it work for ourselves and our communities.

I recently saw a great example of this with the total mess of lorries trying to get into Europe. Its the kindness of people and communities which can make the difference.

Apple and their form of privacy

Apple's smug new iPhone ad says privacy matters, just ...

Ummmm right…

I get Apple are more private about data than others like Google (which pings Android phones so much people are suing for data charges) but there is something about misplaced trust with Apple which always bugs me. These latest adverts and recent news stories say it all.

Downloads outage down issues which is all around Apples Gatekeeper privacy and Apple’s latest OS update Big sur network traffic bypass.

Of course this is all clear reasons why I’m very much in the open source camp. Maybe I won’t understand the code, but someone will and can inspect it or track down the issue without signing an NDA. I urge for people to not blindly trust. Always look out for open code, zero-knowledge security, no logging, transparency, etc

Can the government be trusted to honour any promises?

Boris Johnson

In short No!

To doubts that the government can be trusted to honour promises to maintain post-Brexit workplace, environmental and food standards must now be added very real concerns about its continued adherence to international human rights law – meaning, specifically, the European convention on human rights. Such prospective backsliding is foolish, damaging and wholly unacceptable.

The issue came to the fore last week after Michel Barnier, the EU chief negotiator, revealed that the UK “informs us that they do not wish to commit formally to applying the ECHR”. Downing Street later claimed that the government continued to support the treaty, which the UK joined in 1951, but did not want its membership to form a legally binding part of a future EU-UK trade agreement.

I commented this is awful time to be reconsidering trade deals in the middle of a potential worldwide pandemic. Don’t even get me started about all the other sneaky things which are happening.

Do I trust this government with any of this and so much more? Do you? Just as I’m reading about how the data (could) indicates the downfall of the UK.

In an article published by TruePublica, we showed how every twenty years there is a natural cycle of economic and political change – and linked it to generational forces alongside new technologies. The Father-and-son cycle that Turchin talks of is the same as our own research. The sons of fathers change the world and it takes 40 years for the really big change to come along. In our research, we predicted that right now, Britain is only halfway into a period of political and economic upheaval.

So where is Britain in the criteria of PSI? The boxes in all of its questions are ticked. A crisis has occurred, the government reacted incorrectly, the masses have demanded change, and a member of the elite, a populist is promising the world. Additionally, Britain is being emersed in heavy national debts costing nearly a £1billion a week just to service the interest charges and now has nothing in reserve to soften the blow of anything unexpected like, say, another recession – one perhaps caused by Brexit. And the people are in trouble too. Household debt is on the cusp of a historic explosion – forecast to double in just four years to completely unsustainable levels. Could the coronavirus, more flooding or Brexit be the spark?

How about basic human rights?

Twitter is now somewhat back for me… for how long?

cawbird on linux

I pretty much stopped using twitter after the change to their streaming API which broke my Linux client Corebird, meaning the only way to refresh the timeline is to close the app and start it again. Yeah crazy stuff!

On top of this my client on Android, Plume only gets direct messages a few times a day and there’s other messed up things happen which just cause all types of problems.

I refuse to install the twitter app because I’m pretty peed off about Twitter and to be frank I was using Mastodon to connect to twitter in the Indieweb POSSE way.

Then today I saw there is a fork of Corebird called Cawbird. I installed it and its working (currently). However I don’t trust Twitter to not mess with things making it impossible for such a linux app to work without constant changes.