Alexander McIlwraith

@windscribecom @Travelingchicky Also, by the time governments and police are asking for this information, the damage has been done. Something like an 28.34952 mg is worth a pound of cure?

Wall of text warning. I understand that on a surface level, the story they sell you is a good thing. Protecting kids, keeping them off websites they shouldn't be on, stopping predators - I don't think anyone is against all these things. But the fallacy here is that the implementation of all this monitoring means ANYONE could be implicated for ANYTHING the government deems a threat, now or later. It's akin to installing a camera and microphone in every room of your house that records everything 24/7 and is easily accessible by law enforcement at any time. Not just live feeds, but all the archives going back years as well. And on top of that there are intelligence agencies deploying AI tools to scan all the footage to detect any "problematic" behavior. Even if you're not breaking any laws, they are more than free to flag you for this stuff and start building a profile, false positives included. This is the system they are setting up on the internet. Let me give you an example: You want to log into Instagram but they require you to do an ID and face scan. So you do it. Now your friend is a bit of an edgy person and sends you a funny meme criticizing Israel. You find it silly, like the post. Instagram recognizes that and serves you some more edgy memes of this nature. Instagram's algorithm is constantly building a profile on you and flags that you like "Israel critic" content. Not illegal. Nothing to hide. Yet. Legislation is later passed that considers even memes of this nature to be racist and antisemitic, punishable by law with fines or worse. Law enforcement queries Meta for a list of all profiles deemed to fall into this category, Meta hands over your real name proven by your "age-verification check". Now you're on an intelligence agency watchlist. They have probable cause to monitor all your online activity and punish you for one misstep. Say the wrong thing, criticize or make fun of the wrong person, look at the wrong website - all fair game to them. Going back to the cameras in your home, it's like owning a firearm completely legally for years, the AI system flags this to the government. And then firearms are outlawed. You were already flagged so you are now monitored as someone who could pose a risk to the public because you followed all laws in the past. Stuff like this is already happening around the world. And don't kid yourself by thinking the government doesn't drool over the prospect of implementing the same kind of systems that Iran has where they imprison people for using the internet during a nation-wide shutdown. Governments want more control, all of them, for all of history.

We won't be far behind if C-22 passes. In its current state, VPNs would almost certainly require us to log identifying user data. Signal isn't headquartered in Canada so they can just shut off Canadian servers, but our HQ is. We pay an ungodly amount of taxes to this corrupt government, and in return they want to destroy the entire essence of our service to basically spy on its own citizens. Not happening. We'll move HQ and take our taxes elsewhere.

@geofftech I just noticed something: Do you remember The Net (1995, starring Sandra Bullock)? Seems Cathedral Software stole the @TfL Roundel media.giphy.com/media/uOrRRNqK…

I was please to find out my January blog article "3 things you can do when you lack UX research data and support" was featured in the 25 Jan edition of UserWeekly userweekly.com/embrace-the-su…

@GMB loved how someone held the door to let us in this morning. Had to watch it twice. 😁

@kategarraway I'd love to invite you and Derek join us for the HTB's online Carol and Alternative Carol Services on YouTube. The "Walking with..." article said you hadn't been to church since Derek got ill. Online you can join together if you wish! youtu.be/xYJz7A7vJcU

.@financialpost, @nationalpost and now @ Test Post. I’m guessing this wasn’t supposed to make it into my news feed…

@geofftech Hehe that means it’s an Alexander’s going to be buys kind of evening.

@uzmabarlaskar @matthew_d_green And policies can change very quickly.

I’m glad that Apple is feeling the heat and changing their policy. But this illustrates something important: in building this system, the *only limiting principle* is how much heat Apple can tolerate before it changes its policies. reuters.com/technology/aft…

@Go_Royal_ @matthew_d_green You probably could have just stopped at "They won't"

@Snowden @Apple I'm guessing I only see ex-apple employees having signed appleprivacyletter.com because they're also afraid of their livelihoods.

Big: The @Apple #spyPhone scandal grows as its own employees begin to turn against its plan to force over one billion iPhones to begin scanning for digital contraband in iOS 15. Apple describes the new system as "expanding protections for children." reuters.com/technology/exc…

@Brigham_John @Snowden @Apple

@OneVeganHeathen @The_Laureate_ @Snowden @Apple No, they "regret" the "confusion" that it caused... bbc.com/news/technolog… techgadgetguides.com/news/apple-apo…

@MoveUsLeft @Snowden @Apple @apple @AppleSupport For me: iPhone, iPad, macbook, and 2 minis.

@Ashrubbery @Snowden @Apple Probably not. You'll have probably had to agree to it when you accept the EULA and you won't be able to use the device without accepting the EULA.

@Snowden @Apple A search? Without a warrant? Isn’t that illegal?

@thelonetostone @mmmonaghan_ @Snowden @joerogan Those servers are also scanning scanning their servers, your personal device before it's uploaded.

@mmmonaghan_ @Snowden @joerogan no, we instead we chose to not use those products. the apple ecosystem was marketed as safe and private, negating the need to use the aforementioned apps and services. hence the sudden outrage.

Do not shut up about Apple's #spyPhone scandal. We can win this.

@crypto_carsten @matthew_d_green @LindellYehuda @AlexMartin @rossjanderson @sjmurdoch @pwnallthethings You mean this? macrumors.com/2021/08/09/app…

@LindellYehuda @AlexMartin @rossjanderson @sjmurdoch @pwnallthethings One more thing which people don't have on their radar just yet: since Apple controls their App store tightly, using their system might become mandatory for all messaging apps on Apple devices.

@geofftech So I’ve been looking and wondering. Is there a station that is both a request stop AND a least used station and have you done a combo video?

@Cmdr_Hadfield @stiles Mine is not terribly common, yet I share it with an uncle AND his grandson.

How common is your birthdate? Interesting that we can avoid holidays. (details: bit.ly/3f5G7pk @stiles)

@geofftech Just watched your #allthestations documentary. Thanks for all the videos. When riding the rails between London and Edinburgh I've met great people and had a great time.

@ItsUnderstood @AthabascaU If it wasn’t for @AthabascaU I couldn’t have dine my second degree and I likely wouldn’t have started my first!

We have universities in Canada that have ALWAYS delivered their courses via distance - and doing it very well. Can these people (profs and admin) learn from them? I sure did - from the middle of the ocean! @RoyalRoads @AthabascaU