Notices by Em :official_verified: (em0nm4stodon@infosec.exchange)

We are entering an era of paywalled news where the poor will only be able to afford reading the headlines, and never the articles.

This isn't gonna help the current state of the world, at all.

Has anyone called it the Department Of Government Enshittification yet?

#DOGE #USpol

Periodic tiny reminder that you do not have to (and actually shouldn't) give your own name to your devices.

Give them their own unique names.

Your privacy will be better for it,
and they'll be happier :neocat_laptop: ✨

#Privacy

People Who Play DnD and Other Table Top RPG :dragon_cool: :d20:✨:

If you do not use it already,
I must tell you how awesome Anytype is for DnD games!

You can use it to:

Create a shared space with your players for documentation and rules :neocat_book:

Create a calendar of your games' schedule to share with your players and keep track of games' summaries and experience points received 📆

Live-share with your players images, names, and other information about the NPCs and creatures they encounter during a game :dragn_head:

Keep a copy of your players' character sheets (or even create one as an object you can update in Anytype) 📜

Create a separate space you keep private for your campaign notes, NPCs, maps, and encounters information and images 🤫

It. Is. AWESOME! :awesome:

All of this while being:

👉 End-to-end encrypted!
👉 Open code!
👉 Available on mobile!
👉 No email nor phone number required!

I also had some interaction with the team and they were absolutely fantastic! 💚

By far the best tool I've ever used for my games as a DM.

I highly recommend it! 👇
https://anytype.io/

#DnD #DungeonsAndDragons #TTRPG #Anytype

New Privacy Guides article 🔐✨
by me:

If you want to keep your password manager local-only, KeePassXC is a great solution!

It's free,
Open-source,
Easy to install and use,
Doesn't require an account,
Works on Linux, macOS, and Windows,
And the team is here! 👉 @keepassxc

Here's how to set it up with a YubiKey: https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/03/18/installing-keepassxc-and-yubikey/

#PrivacyGuides #KeePassXC #Privacy #Security #PasswordManager #Passwords #FOSS

In my life, I have personally witnessed the equivalent of a country President getting kicked out of office by the people *twice*. And I'm not even that old.

Do not underestimate the power of large and sustained protests.

You have that power.

#USpol

After Amazon's news this week,
I feel the need to share this advice from my Privacy Guides article again:

Notify guests if you are
using a smart speaker 🔇

If you are using a smart speaker device in your home such as Amazon's Echo (Alexa), Apple's HomePod (Siri), Google's Nest,

Inform your guests about it when they enter your home ⚠️

These devices have the capacity
to record all conversations, and there has already been instances of accidental privacy invasion reported about this 🔓

Even if you don't mind yourself,
offer your guests to UNPLUG your smart speaker while they are visiting you 🔌

https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/03/10/the-privacy-of-others/#notify-guests-if-you-are-using-a-smart-speaker

#Privacy #SmartSpeaker #Amazon #Alexa #Echo

People always seem weirded out when I tell them I'm not on any corporate social media.

But it's been so long for me, I barely remember how it was there.

I just remember that I feel so much better since I deleted all these corporate accounts and decided to invest all my social media time in Mastodon instead.

I feel like I live in some blissful parallel universe that almost no one else knows about. Anyhow, I live here now :neocat_box:

#Mastodon

The Internet belongs to The People.

Not to corporations,
Not to advertisers,
Not to governments,
And certainly not to "AI" scrapers.

It belongs to us.
Always remember that.

✊🌐

Important Mastodon Newbie Info 🐘:

There are no ads here,
and this is not a corporation.
This is a Federation :geodesic: :sparkles_fiery:

The person(s) taking care of everything needed for you to have an account here is likely doing it solely out of generosity for the community. This even costs THEM money. Not to mention the enormous cost in time!

Support your instance’s administration(s) every way you can. This is important 💚

HOW TO ❓

You can find who does this for you by looking up the About page for your server/instance.

You usually can find this page by adding “/about” after your instance’s name in a browser. Your instance name is what is after your handle name, after the second “@“ (for example, mine is: infosec.exchange/about).

👉 Help financially if you can: Many administrator(s) will have a page setup for donations. If not, you can ask them :yellow_money:

👉 Offer your time to help if you can: Ask if they need support with moderation and such 💪

👉 Do not use Report as a joke. Only Report when necessary 😌

👉 BE KIND! Cheers them up! Say thanks! They are doing this for you 💚

New Privacy Guides article 🔑✨
by me:

If you are using a YubiKey,

you might get in some situations where you need to reset your key to factory default, and/or set up a backup of it on a spare key.

This tutorial will guide you
through each step to reset and back up your YubiKey successfully, with clear instructions and plenty of visual support.

I hope you find it helpful!

https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/03/06/yubikey-reset-and-backup/

#PrivacyGuides #Privacy #Yubico #YubiKey #Security #OTP #OpenPGP #Encryption #MFA

Tiny reminder that it's important
to boost posts on Mastodon!

Liking only will not help a post being seen more. Boosting will! :boost_ok: ✨

Boost the posts you want others to see. Add hashtags to your posts to help others find them.

This is the Fediverse way :mastodon:

#Mastodon #Fediverse

No one is coming to save the US.

YOU will have to do it.

From Adam Conover: No one is coming to save us.

Watch this 👇
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By1Z1nk31iE

#USpol

New Privacy Guides article👇
by me:

What happened in the UK this week is terrible news and a loud warning alarm for the rest of the world.

Governments around the world have been increasingly putting pressure on tech companies to break end-to-end encryption and install mass surveillance systems.

We must push back against this.

Encryption is not a crime.
Encryption keeps us safe 🔐

https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/02/28/uk-forced-apple-to-remove-adp/

#PrivacyGuides #Privacy #Apple #UK #MassSurveillance #E2EE #Encryption #RootForE2EE

Sure, they might have your previous data.

But you know what they *don't* have?
They don't have your *future* data.

It's never too late to start improving your data privacy online. Every small step helps.

#Privacy #HumanRights

I find solving CAPTCHAS quite dehumanizing.

What do you mean the corner of the motorcyclist's helmet isn't part of the motorcycle?! 🏍️

What about the *cables* of the traffic lights? 🚦

Is the reflection of the bus a bus too? 🚍

Are those questions robots ask themselves?

What do you mean try again?!
AM I A ROBOT NOW?!?
:robot_3:

Being kind is being
mean to the oppressor.

Never confound
kindness with passivity.

Never extend your kindness to abusers, oppressors, and exploiters.

Kindness can only serve justice.

Tiny Mastodon Tips for Newcomers :mastodon:

About your Profile Page 👤

If you just arrived here,
before following lots of people, it’s a good idea to complete your profile page.

This will increase the chances of people following you back and/or finding your profile.

1. Write about who you are and/or what you like in your profile bio (you can use hashtags there so people can find you). It’s okay if it’s short, but write something 📝

2. Personalize your profile picture with something you like. Don’t just let the Mastodon default, it makes you look like an anonymous bot. And you are not a bot! (unless you are) 🤖

3. You can write an introduction about yourself in a post and use the hashtag “# introduction” (minus the space). You can pin this to your profile page so it stays at the top. You don’t have to write it right away, but it can help people finding you and deciding to follow you #️⃣

4. Post or Boost (repost) a few posts that you like, so that your profile timeline isn’t completely empty :boost_ok:

5. Then, when your profile looks like a page that represents you, follow people interesting to you. Browse your feeds and hashtags you like to find them. Interact with them. Be kind 💚 Make friends! :ablobsmile:

6. Magic! ✨

#TinyMastodonTip #Mastodon

If someone paints their house blue and you don't like it, it's fine that's your right.

You can even pin a post to your own house expressing clearly that you don't like blue houses if you wish.

But don't post a sign saying you don't like blue houses on someone else's blue house. They clearly like it and it's just rude and unempathetic.

This is also valid for Mastodon posts.

#Mastodon #Fediverse #SocialMedia

Remember FediFriends!

The trolls are here too.
Don't feed the trolls!
Block the trolls 🚫 👍

And also report the trolls when appropriate.

#Mastodon #Fediverse #USpol