If anyone else needs a reason to ditch #discord RIGHT NOW:

• They'll literally #d0x users' #ID info to #Palantir!

pcgamer.com/software/platforms…
todon.eu/@autonomysolidarity/1…
plush.city/@mynameistillian/11…

#InfoSec #OpSec #ComSec #ITsec #Privacy #DataProtection #KYC #doxxing #dox #cyberfascism #SurveillanceState #DataCollection #DataProtection #Privacy #GDPR #BDSG

Autonomie und Solidarität

2026-02-14 07:56:50

Discord's age verification rollout has ties to Palantir co-founder and panopticon architect Peter Thiel

Discord is "experimenting" with an age authentication vendor whosez major investors include Thiel's Founders Fund.

‚Last week, #Discord invited the contempt of its users by announcing it will be rolling out global #ageverification restrictions in March, which will restrict viewable content and communities for users who don't scan either their faces or government IDs and haven't already been determined to be an adult by unspecified prediction algorithms. Approximately nobody thought this was cool.…‘

pcgamer.com/software/platforms…

oh-good-discords-age-verification-rollout-has-ties-to-palantir-co-founder-and-panopticon-architect-peter-thiel

^{www.pcgamer.com}

In case anyone needs some #testing #CreditCard numbers for #API tests:

Here are some from official payment processors' public documentation.

• Obviously these WON'T WORK on any non-testing payment system (blocklisted by the payment processors!) so all one will get is declines and being listed as fraudster on any live payment network.
• So definitely don't hand them to #scammers (obviously if they're stupid enough to accept 4242 4242 4242 4242 they should get jailtime just for being "criminally stupid") and only use them for responsible testing uses as outlined by payment processors.

These are merely documented for reference for ethical development purposes and cases where one needs something for mockups, as these have the optics of realness (and they checkout as legit numbers per algorithm) but obviously no real card would ever be issued and I'd see this as a more ethical way to test things that to use i.e. Wirecard's assigned BINs cuz those may be reassigned to a different card issuer and thus could actually incur fraudulent charges!

• You're all welcome!

#payment #PaymentProcessing #CC #CreditCards #OnlinePayment #development #OpenSource #OpenData #PublicData #OSINT #tech #devs #dev #ITsec #InfoSec #OpSec #ComSec

@dalias @pixelschubsi

Also the blatant dismissal of absolitely basic #OpSec & #ComSec is just flabberghasting.

• It's inherently wrong to put all eggs in one basket and #Signal being not shut down like #SkyECC & #EncroChat makes it just as sus as #ANØM / #OperationIronside / #OperatioTrøjanShield and #CryptoAG / #MINERVA / #RUBIKON.

Only #decentralized, #OpenSource & #OpenStandards can actuall survive long-term and remain #secure.

• Otherwise we'd all gaslight ourselves into ignoring the hard lessions we learned that bought us to the #Fediverse and why we ain't on #Shitter or #tumblr or #BrownSky or #NSAbook (any more)!

It's the same reasons we use #PGPG/MIME & #SSH and not #X400 & #X25!

• Unlike with @signalapp one doesn't has to trust the provider or app. #XMPP+#OMEMO works regardless if you use @monocles or @gajim or do #SelfHosting and only trust code you wrote yourself...

IOW: Think "How can you weaponize Signal?" and see what you csn do just holding key people in contempt...

• And I'm not even talkibg about #Govware - #Backdoors and #MassSurveillance alike #Room651A, but just duely submitted warrants that @Mer__edith will comply with...

The less #info a provider has, the less they can be forced to snitch upon customers.

• So even if you don't give a shit that #CloudAct makes this a "#CantUse & #WintUse" (out of US-centrist privilegue to not comply #GDPR & #BDSG) for many, it's still dishonest.

"#JustUseSgnal!" is a form of dangerous "#TechPopulism" aimed at bamboozling #TechIlliterates who don't know better, abusing information asymetry to pull rank instead of investing the time and effort to *explain "how" and "why" this is indeed a good or bad idea.

• There's a reason why @tails_live / @tails / #Tails doesn't include #Signal and why I'll say it again that XMPP+OMEMO over @torproject / #Tor is the gold standard in terms of #privacy and #security when it comes to #ComSec that isn't #airgapped aka. "Airgapped PGP".

The only ones that have a chance to beat that are @delta / #deltaChat but that's just #PGP/MIME #eMail in a nice UI...

• You may now laugh at me and think my "#TinfoilHat sits too tight" but I'm shure sooner or later I'll be evidenced as correct...

Cassandrich

2025-02-14 01:55:15

@kkarhan @signalapp @monocles Very few systems promoted as Signal alternatives match the cryptographic privacy properties (see: ratcheting, etc.) of Signal.

The claims about "located in the USA" and "Cloud Act" are all nonsense because the only threat to Signal users from this is availability (seizure and shutdown of the server infrastructure), not undetected breakage of privacy properties.

There are presently no systems with superior privacy properties to Signal *and* level of functionality on par with what general public expects. There are a lot (like the XMPP stuff, *sigh*, and Matrix) that are worse in both regards. If you're happy with reduced functionality, Cwtch (and possibly some other similar Tor-based systems) or VeilidChat are stronger, but it's gonna be a while before you convince normies to use them, and in the mean time they're still going to be on insecure shit like WhatsApp, FB Messenger, Telegram, etc...

@agturcz that's not how you fix #TechIlliteracy, espechally since things changed for the better.

@monocles / #monoclesChat & @gajim / #gajim are quite easy, whereas @signalapp / #Signal demands #PII in the form of a #Phone number which is more often than not not legally obtainable without "#KYC" aka. "forced #SelfDoxxing" all whilst being an extremely #centralized, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider solution that falls under #CloudAct ant thus cannot adhere to #GDPR & #BDSG!

• Sorry, but "#TechPopulism" alike "JuSt UsE sIgNaL !" won't fix #TechIlliteracy but rather provide false sense of security to #TechIlliterates when the correct solution is to teach proper #TechLiteracy like @cryptoparty@chaos.social / @cryptoparty@mastodon.earth / #CryptoParty does...

Otherwise we'd only perpetuate the #Enshittification-#Lifecycle as has happened with #AIM, #ICQ, #BBM and so many more...

• Mark my words, cuz I've been proven correct up to this point.

If #Signal and @Mer__edith actually cared, they would've setup their system truly decentralized as an #OnionService over @torproject / #Tor!

#THXBYE #EOD #ITsec #InfoSec #OpSec #ComSec #DigitalSnakeoil #FakeSec

Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦

2025-01-22 00:27:15

@kkarhan I ran and hosted a bunch of XMPP servers a while back. It was a pain to use, and it was easy for users to make mistakes and accidentally send messages in the clear.

You are making people les safe. Last time: please stop doing this in my mentions and replies.

@agturcz @torproject

@ditol @samueljohn
THIS is where I disagree...

You may think it's elitist, but if people are too lazy to learn even fundamentals like how to use #Tails then maybe they should just not do #tech at all?

• Like: We expect people to show at the every least theoretical proficiency in terms of #TrafficCode and #VehicleSafety in +every juristiction I'm aware of* and literally mandated #DrivingLicense|s for that reason.

I'll gladly teach #TechIlliterates but I won't waste my time on people that spread disinfo...

It's 2024: @tails_live / @tails has been out for over a decade and there are a shitload of guides ranging from written documentation to Zoomer-friendly TikTok-Style shorts on how to get started.

• I don't expect people to do #airgapped pffline-PGP but with @thunderbird including #Enigmail and not requiring any external dependencies like the god-awful #GPG4Win stuff's easier than ever.
• Same with #mobile: #Appls like @monocles / #monoclesChat are so easy, I've been able to onboard literal tech-illiterates remotely with few steps and simple instructions.

FOR THE LAST TIME:

*STOP MAKING EXCUSES TO JUSTIFY ESCALATING COMMITMENT TO EVIDENTLY BAD SOLUTIONS!"

• Cuz when push comes to shove @Mer__edith herself would introduce a #Govware #backdoor into @signalapp when faced with indefinite jailtime...

Whereas with #SelfCustody of all the keys as well as #ReproduceableBuilds and real #decentralization, this would be evidently impossible even if all the devs wanted to comply honestly and not just because they could be held at gunpoint.

• #Signal is not your friend. It's merely a tax-exempt "non-profit" corporation, and corporations are explicitly nobodys friend - espechally when they demand #PII like phone numbers for useage.

Compare that to #monocles where you do pay like €2 p.m. but in return get #standard #protocols like #IMAP, #SMTP & #XMPP and can pay anonymously and not have to provide any PII whatsoever!

• And unlike #Signal they ain't dependent on #VC funding and #grant money to keep the lights on.

Make of that what you will, but just like allowing flatearthers to roam freely without caretaker supervision doesn't make the world less round, so won't the facts change about #ITsec, #InfoSec, #OpSec & #ComSec.

• The only reason Signal is still online and not #pwned like #EncroChat is because it's either a Sting op like #ANØM aka. #OperationIronside aka. #OperationTrøjanShield or they have already backdoored their #backend so hard that all their #marketing is just #lies like #Apple...

Because all #centralized, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider solutions are bad, and if they don't even allow for #SelfCustody then they are just a #grift to #scam tech-illiterates that don't know and/or don't care!

#thxbye #EOD