An age-old French nightmare — that of growing German military might — is resurfacing in a new form. As Berlin inevitably becomes the EU’s dominant military power, our expert @mijrahman.bsky.social explains how strategic autonomy is now in Germany’s hands: @politico.eu

European strategic autonomy is in German hands

As Berlin inevitably becomes the EU's dominant military power, its billions could either build or blur Macron's vision of European defense.

politico.eu

What a terrible take. As someone who engaged at a policy level with the ePrivacy Directive (& its predecessor 97/66EC), the ePD didn’t ’plaster the online world with pop-ups’. Privacy invading & eroding business models are responsible for that - biz could have chosen a different path

POLITICO Europe@politico.eu · 12mo ago

In a bid to slash red tape, the European Commission wants to eliminate one of its peskiest laws: a 2009 tech rule that plastered the online world with pop-ups requesting consent to cookies.

Great thread from Kevin on the airport cyber attacks - “corporate centipede” and “welcome to 1998” being my favourites ENISA - the EU’s cyber security agency - now saying it’s ransomware www.reuters.com/business/aer...

EU agency says third-party ransomware behind airport disruptions

The European Union's cybersecurity agency said on Monday that airport disruptions caused by problems with automatic check-in systems were caused by a third-party ransomware incident.

reuters.com

Kevin Beaumont@doublepulsar.com · 12mo ago

My thread on the airport check in cyber incident(tm). It's not just 3 airports btw, those are just the ones most impacted as they have the least staff per traveller available. cyberplace.social/@GossiTheDog...

"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits." www.computerworld.com/article/4059...

OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws

In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...

computerworld.com

I wrote a similar piece in Slate last year--granted, it was pre-election but the specter for what an authoritarian regime could do with the massive police surveillance apparatus at its fingertips has been hanging over us for awhile.

You Might Think More Police Surveillance Means More Safety. There Are Several Problems With That.

You cannot protect people from harm if part of what you offer them is a different kind of harm.

slate.com

Matthew Guariglia@mguariglia.bsky.social · 12mo ago

An important piece about the vulnerability we face in a world that is increasingly surveilled and authoritarian. Politicians want to address crime, but this administration will hopefully teach local politicians that surveillance doesn't prevent crime and comes at a much larger cost to residents.

My new piece in @the-independent.com on the UK's tech prosperity deal: The deal does not only leave the UK even more dependent on US tech companies, it also once again shows how out of step the country is with tech sovereignty debates in the rest of Europe. www.independent.co.uk/voices/starm...

Starmer’s tech deal is a national security gamble – and ties us too closely to Trump

The rest of Europe is working hard to move away from dependence on US technology – particularly when it comes to AI, writes Katja Bego. But the UK is moving the other way for quick cash and false prom...

independent.co.uk

jesus christ. transport regulators need to get their acts together.

e.w. niedermeyer@niedermeyer.online · 12mo ago

so, about those Tesla door handles... www.thesun.co.uk/news/3677623...

Although of course disappointing to see that MI6 haven’t done their homework - it’s Tor, not TOR @torproject.org

Ben Collier@susansegfault.bsky.social · 12mo ago

www.bbc.com/news/article... if this seems a bit odd, it’s useful to know that for a long time the most popular site on the so-called Dark Web was Facebook! Lots more about this in my book - Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy available here mitpress.mit.edu/978026254818...

New: Google will meet the EU’s deadline to propose changes to its advertising technology business after a near-€3 billion fine — but won’t include the full breakup the EU and industry rivals have previously pushed for: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Google Readies EU Offer After €3 Billion Fine, Skips Full Split

Google will meet the European Union’s deadline to propose changes to its advertising technology business after a near-€3 billion ($3.5 billion) fine — but won’t include the full breakup the EU and…

bloomberg.com

excited to share that we are following through on our earlier commitments and putting together an independent+neutral organization to house the DID PLC system, includes the directory service

Creating an Independent Public Ledger of Credentials (PLC) Directory Organization | Bluesky

The Bluesky Social app is built on an open network protocol that refers to each user by a unique Decentralized Identifier, or DID (a W3C standard). The most popular supported DID method was developed ...

docs.bsky.app

Why is it here to stay? I have seen no scientific evidence that shows that this is legitimate policing, but I have seen evidence of harms that it is causing and no serious debate on societal and democratic impact in the future policinginsight.com/feature/opin...

Policing facial recognition is here to stay, risks included: What we need is a more honest debate

The recent use of live facial recognition (LFR) by the Metropolitan Police at Notting Hill Carnival brought the new technology back under the spotlight; Dr Asress Gikay, Senior Lecturer in AI…

policinginsight.com

A friendly reminder that use of Clearview AI's tech is highly restricted if not banned in many parts of the world like the EU, UK, Canada, and Australia. It's been repeatedly fined for contravening these country's laws. www.404media.co/ice-spends-m...

ICE Spends Millions on Clearview AI Facial Recognition to Find People ‘Assaulting’ Officers

A new contract with Clearview AI explicitly says ICE is buying the tech to investigate "assaults against law enforcement officers."

404media.co

It's also dismaying that ICANN, which (cl)aims to be globally inclusive, admits it's catering to the US admin's anti-DEI stance. This, despite many calls over the years that it move from USA to a jurisdiction like Switzerland, with a legal framework specifically supporting independent int'l orgs.

A good reminder why the current US administration's anti-DEI stance - & US-based Big Tech's widespread adoption of that - means it's more important than ever to nurture the development of tech & tech companies outside the US, so tech truly can meet the needs of a diverse world.

Social media ban trial data reveals racial bias in age checking software: just how inaccurate is it?

Young people from Indigenous and Asian backgrounds are more likely to be miscategorised as over the age limit and older people as underaged, analysis finds

theguardian.com

"If the EU ends up legislating [about encryption] on a technically incorrect basis, we could be left with a law that neither protects children nor citizens' right to privacy – but instead makes everyone more vulnerable" @moltke.bsky.social writes. www.dr.dk/nyheder/vide...

ANALYSE: Derfor holder Hummelgaards udsagn om kryptering ikke

Justitsminister Peter Hummelgaard (S) hævder, at man kan lave undtagelser i kryptering, og at Apple og Meta kan, men nægter at hjælpe med at fjerne overgrebsmateriale med børn. Begge udsagn modsiges a...

dr.dk

If you had been in Brussels and paid between 800-1200 EUR you might have heard that 👇

Simonetta Vezzoso@wavesblog.eurosky.social · 12mo ago

[Tickets started at EUR 800, no travel expenses for panellists - both a problem for civil society; made clear, EUR 300 were graciously offered, not enough if you come from Southern Europe and need also a room for the night; yesterday late afternoon, also an hotel room was made available: too late]

DCC 2026 -- our annual competition conference bringing together researchers, policy experts and practitioners -- is accepting paper submissions until October 13. Get those fingers typing ...

Knight-Georgetown Institute (KGI)@knightgtown.bsky.social · 12mo ago

🚨Antitrust & digital competition are in the news almost daily – from decisions issued in cases against Google search and ad tech to DMA enforcement actions involving Apple and Meta and new private litigation in multiple jurisdictions. 👇

We need much more stringent rules about when it is acceptable to film people (and we also need the tech execs pushing these products to be brutally exiled from society)

Marie Le Conte@youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 12mo ago

can't really begin to explain the extent to which I do Not want to be filmed without my knowledge by someone wearing smart glasses while out and about

I covered the protests in London against Trump for @wired.com. Protesters aren't convinced by the AI deal from US tech giants: They want to know what the UK is giving them in exchange for up to $45bn in investment and where the power for data centers will come from www.wired.com/story/climat...

Anti-Trump Protesters Take Aim at ‘Naive’ US-UK AI Deal

Thousands marched in London to protest President Donald Trump’s second state visit. Among them were many environmental activists unhappy with Britain’s new AI deal with the US.

wired.com

NEW: Criminals are using "SMS blasters"—a version of cell-site simulators used by police to surveil phones in a certain area—to flood people nearby the devices with scam texts. @mattburgess1.bsky.social reports www.wired.com/story/sms-bl...

Cybercriminals Have a Weird New Way to Target You With Scam Texts

Scammers are now using “SMS blasters” to send out up to 100,000 texts per hour to phones that are tricked into thinking the devices are cell towers. Your wireless carrier is powerless to stop them.

wired.com

In Moldova, authorities estimate the Kremlin will spend €100m — €31 per registered voter — to influence the outcome. In the Czech Republic, Kremlin-linked outlets are pumping out more content each day than the country’s major news outlets combined.

Moscow's interest in this autumn's Czech and Moldova elections

In Moldova, authorities estimate the Kremlin will spend €100m — €31 per registered voter — to influence the outcome. In the Czech Republic, Kremlin-linked outlets are pumping out more content each day than the country’s major news outlets combined.

euobserver.com

After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.

Let’s be clear about what happened to Jimmy Kimmel

Trump’s most brazen attack on free speech yet.

yahoo.com

Jaguar Land Rover joins the list of high-profile cyber-attack victims, with production and services disrupted. Is it time to rethink our approach? 🚨 Prof @ciaranm.bsky.social argues operational resilience–not just data breaches–is the real frontline.👇

Jaguar Land Rover to M&S: our cyber policy blind spot

In the wake of a cyber attack that has halted Jaguar Land Rover’s computer systems and production lines, Ciaran Martin, Professor of Practice in the Management of Public Organisations, argues that…

ow.ly

What if one could automatically monitor what politicians promise and enhance the ability to check, at scale, whether they deliver? Pledgetracker, by @fullfact.org and researchers, tries to retrieve relevant evidence and reduce human verification effort. Read their preprint here: lnkd.in/ec5gHYV9

The headlines — £31bn in investment, new jobs, faster medical treatments — sound almost too good to be true. What are we giving up in return? Me in @theguardian.com on today's US-UK Tech Deal: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The UK’s £31bn tech deal with the US might sound great – but the government has to answer these questions | Matt Davies

The big firms making these pledges are not charities. We know there will be a quid pro quo; we just don’t know what it is yet, says Matt Davies of the Ada Lovelace Institute

theguardian.com

New piece countering hype on terrorist use of Gen AI. Adoption has been slow and its impact minimal, in contrast with criminals (where the impacts have been immediate & significant). But, we should anticipate an increase in adoption, largely in line with broader societal trends in future

GNET@gnetresearch.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Despite widespread warnings, terrorists’ adoption of Generative AI has so far been largely ad hoc and experimental. @davidwellsct.bsky.social contrasts TVE GenAI use with serious/organised crime, and outlines what could shape future adoption. gnet-research.org/2025/09/17/m...

The law, if that matters anymore, says that TikTok must relinquish Chinese control over the algorithm. After nearly a year of delay, China is still going to control the algorithm. www.ft.com/content/550e...

Beijing says TikTok’s US app will use Chinese algorithm

Security hawks have raised fears recommendation code could be manipulated to push propaganda

ft.com

🚨 New CERRE Research 🚨 📘Can the EU reconcile #DigitalSovereignty & #Competitiveness? ✍️ By @zach-meyers.bsky.social This is the first issue paper in a series of forthcoming publications under our newly launched EU Competitiveness Forum. Read it here 🔗 tinyurl.com/sjcf7u86