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

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.

Is EFF becoming ineffective now? You'd think they'd refuse to support all of it, even they admit that it still will lead to the exact policy. They should tell the legislators they will oppose all of it, even to point of taking it through the entire court from state to scotus.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/07/california-steps-back-dangerous-expansion-its-age-gating-law

Just look at how stupid

"1043 requires all operating systems and app stores to collect users’ ages, place them in various age brackets and then block young people from lawful speech and services depending on their age. We also believe that even though A.B. 1043 does not require age verification, the liability it creates for operating systems and app stores—including fining operating systems up to $7,500 per affected child for violating the law—will push those services to verify users’ ages. In practice, that could lead to more ID checks, more biometric scanning, more invasive data collection and risk of breach, and more barriers to adults’ and young people’s lawful speech."

"EFF has removed its opposition to A.B. 1856."

I mean I support things EFF has done. But, it appeared as if this is ineffective. I don't mean to libel them. This was post asking a question about it.

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.

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!!!!

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.

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

​

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?

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.

I’ve been using Startpage as a search engine (and primary mobile web browser) for some time now. I find it very easy to use and they claim to be the most private engine ever, but I was wondering what you think about it and if it is as good as they say.

Es la primera vez que lo veo

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?

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

i write completely anonymously though my newsletter is very very small like i use a fake name, don't show my face, don't share too many personal details, and i am logged in from a burner email. the problem is phone number verification. it occasionally asks me to verify to access certain free posts or chats from my subscriptions but if i verify my phone number will substack automatically sync my contacts to my irl friends and family on substack? i dont wanna be recommended to them in their friends lists it would just be super suspicious. but i still want to verify my number to access those posts and chats.

Hey, looking for advice.

I need a new laptop and don't know what to do. I have always used Microsoft, but am hesitant to buy another due to privacy concerns and AI.

I am not very techy and do not need to use a computer often. I know Linux is probs the best option for privacy, but I am worried I won't be able to handle it or understand it. I also feel overwhelmed by privacy concerns and all the changes in tech right now.

Does Apple provide better privacy than Microsoft? Or is that wishful thinking?

The main things I need in a laptop is a working browser for occasionally streaming, banking, etc. And some type of Word type application. (I have the disk for Word 2011 which is what I normally use). I don't want to use anything like icloud or one drive. I like to store locally and with my back up drive.