Apple's encryption capitulation: They put the gun on the mantelpiece in Act One, they don't get to be surprised now.

mamot.fr/@pluralistic/11406487…

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Cory Doctorow

2025-02-25 13:57:37

The UK government has ordered Apple to secretly compromise its security for every iOS user in the world. Instead, Apple announced it will disable a vital security feature for every UK user. This is a terrible outcome, but it just might be the best one, given the circumstances:

bbc.com/news/articles/cgj54eq4…

--

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

pluralistic.net/2025/02/25/sne…

1/

Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row

Customers' photos and documents stored online will no longer be protected by end-to-end encryption.

^{Zoe Kleinman (BBC News)}

Hey look at this

* The Coup Has Failed prospect.org/politics/2025-02-…

* There Is No AI Revolution wheresyoured.at/wheres-the-mon…

* Tesla Is More Vulnerable Than You Think hamiltonnolan.com/p/tesla-is-m…

4/

#20yrsago iPod acoustic hack: what it means web.archive.org/web/2005030101…

#15yrsago Golden-age computer manual encourages you to break DRM, rants against EULAs ironicsans.com/2010/02/they_do…

#15yrsago ACTA leak: Now we know who is against transparency – USA, Korea, Singapore, Denmark web.archive.org/web/2010022707…

#10yrsago Grim meathook future, Singapore style antipope.org/charlie/blog-stat…

#10yrsago Billboards tell the stories of professionals who can’t afford London anymore dazeddigital.com/artsandcultur…

5/

#10yrsago Don’t argue about vaccination with Rob Schneider if you value your sanity web.archive.org/web/2015022107…

#10yrsago Yahoo security boss faces down NSA director over crypto ban arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20…

#10yrsagoTory MP says astrology would improve NHS health outcomes theguardian.com/politics/2015/…

#5yrsago New podcast about the history of Gopher and adversarial interoperability pluralistic.net/2020/02/25/plu…

#5yrsago Private equity looters underperform the S&P 500 pluralistic.net/2020/02/25/plu…

6/

#5yrsago Bloomberg's Plan B: buying the DNC pluralistic.net/2020/02/25/plu…

#5yrsago Cops' qualified immunity pluralistic.net/2020/02/25/plu…

#5yrsago Russian Multiplication pluralistic.net/2020/02/25/plu…

7/

Yesterday's threads: How an obscure advisory board lets utilities steal $50b/year from ratepayers; and more!

mamot.fr/@pluralistic/11405851…

8/

Cory Doctorow

2025-02-24 11:01:36

Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: How an obscure advisory board lets utilities steal $50b/year from ratepayers; and more!

Archived at: pluralistic.net/2025/02/24/sur…

#Pluralistic

1/

Pluralistic: How an obscure advisory board lets utilities steal $50b/year from ratepayers (24 Feb 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

^{pluralistic.net}

My last nationally bestselling novel was "The Bezzle," an ice-cold revenge story of high-tech finance crime starring the forensic accountant Martin Hench.

us.macmillan.com/books/9781250…

Signed copies from Chevalier's Books:

chevaliersbooks.com/product-pa…

--

My latest nonfiction book is "The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation" from Verso Books:

seizethemeansofcomputation.org

Signed copies available from Book Soup:

booksoup.com/book/978180429124…

Both are national bestsellers!

9/

Book details - Macmillan Publishers

New York Times bestseller Cory Doctorow's The Bezzle is a high stakes thriller where the lives of the hundreds of thousands of inmates in California’s pris...

^Macmillan

Upcoming appearances:

* #NYC: Picks and Shovels with John Hodgman, Feb 26
eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow…

* #PennState: Picks and Shovels, Feb 27
bellisario.psu.edu/assets/uplo…

* #Doylestown, PA: Picks and Shovels at the Doylestown Bookshop, Mar 1
eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow…

* #Baltimore: Picks and Shovels with Maximillian Alvarez, Mar 2
redemmas.org/events/cory-docto…

* #DC: Picks and Shovels with Matt Stoller, Mar 4
loyaltybookstores.com/picksnsh…

10/

Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

* #Richmond, VA: Picks and Shovels with Lee Vinsel, Mar 5
fountainbookstore.com/events/1…

* Virtual: With Great Power Came No Responsibility: How Enshittification Conquered the 21st Century and How We Can Overthrow It (Indiana University), Mar 7
events.iu.edu/mediaiub/event/1…

* #Austin: Reclaim, Reframe, Reimagine, Mar 7
schedule.sxsw.com/2025/events/…

* #Austin: Tensions in Creative Labor & Generative AI, Mar 8
schedule.sxsw.com/2025/events/…

11/

Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

* #Austin: The Next 25: A Conversation About the Future of Open, Mar 8
classy.org/event/creative-comm…

* #Austin: Fediverse House, Mar 10
about.flipboard.com/fediverse-…

* #Austin: Picks and Shovels at First Light Books, Mar 10
thethirdplace.is/event/cory-do…

* Europa Park: Cloudfest, Mar 17-20
cloudfest.link/

* Virtual: Picks and Shovels at Imagine! Belfast, Mar 24
eventbrite.co.uk/e/cory-doctor…

12/

Recent appearances:

* The Culture Show
wgbh.org/podcasts/the-culture-…

* Picks and Shovels with Yanis Varoufakis and David Moscrop (Jacobin)
youtube.com/watch?v=xkIDep7Z4L…

* Forthright Radio
forthright.media/2025/02/14/co…

13/

You can follow these posts as a daily blog at pluralistic.net: no ads, trackers, or data-collection!

Here's today's edition: pluralistic.net/2025/02/25/sne…

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14/

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel *Picks and Shovels*.

Catch me in NYC TOMORROW (Feb 26) with JOHN HODGMAN:

eventbrite.com/e/cory-doctorow…

And at PENN STATE on THURSDAY (Feb 27):

bellisario.psu.edu/assets/uplo…

More tour dates here:

martinhench.com

Mail-order signed copies from LA's Diesel Books:

dieselbookstore.com/picks-and-…

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