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Michael Brennan
@brennan_mike
Tech & Society / . Supporting people and organizations building a more equitable internet. Views expressed are my own.
Michael Brennan’s Tweets
Looking for a cool job at the intersection of research, internet infrastructure and community building?! 👇🏻👇🏻
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Interested in supporting a global community of human rights defenders fighting internet censorship?
Our latest job opening is for folks w/ great communication, documentation & outreach skills.
Apply to join our team!
twitter.com/OpenObservator
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I've lost track of the number of times I've re-read and cited 's 'Roads and Bridges: the Unseen Labor Behind Our Digital Infrastructure' over the past 6 (!) years. It was published in 2016 but honestly (sadly) most findings still hold true:
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Thank you for so precisely and powerfully explaining the digital surveillance that pregnant people are increasingly subject to, and which will explode if roe is overturned
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Privacy advocates warn girls’ and women’s digital footprints could be used to prosecute abortion cases
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It's here! The 2022 Big Tech Scorecard is live. See who's on top, who's not, and what it all means for our rights. #HumanRights & #BigTech
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"why don't you drink?" is a lovely question to ask someone who you just met! I'm sure it will lead down a path of relatable and silly stories
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Relatively small teams & and their allies and partners - they're bringing spectacular expertise/savvy/dedication - up against a $12b mercenary spyware industry. is in it but we need to help bring more resources into to this field.
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Read @RonanFarrow's exclusive in @NewYorker about our investigation, and other details on NSO Group and #Pegasus here:
How Democracies Spy on Their Citizens newyorker.com/magazine/2022/ via @NewYorker
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Sometimes a meme just hits so hard and so true you can hardly believe it. This one did it for me. And seeing 100k likes made me feel less alone #ELDENRING
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I just did this after Pia mentioned it to me - feel free to message me if you're considering but have questions/apprehension about direct giving or what the process/experience is like.
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Want to send cash directly to the hands of Ukrainian families? 1kproject.org has already supported 1300 families with 1k grants. Join them: opencollective.com/1kproject.
Powered by Open Collective @opencollect and @o_c_foundation
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You should know that has been helping companies set up Tor onion sites for years, for free, including the one at the . If you haven’t talked to him about this yet, definitely reach out.
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The second most downloaded VPN in #Russia is collecting *tons* of info off devices.
It's really important to remember that VPNs constitute a transfer of trust, from your ISP to a VPN. It doesn't mean that a VPN is safer / more secure / more private than your ISP.
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A quick look into the privacy policy of the second most downloaded VPN app in Russia, it basically collects everything including device IDs and may share 'de-identified' (doesn't mean much) data for any business purpose
mobilejump.mobi/about/privacy.
play.google.com/store/apps/det
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Tidal? Spotify? Apple Music? Just a reminder that you can just stream radio for free. It's like getting a weekly mixtape of the best underground punk. Pretend your crush just gave it to you and enjoy:
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"ISRG's pragmatic, public-interest approach to Internet security has fundamentally changed the web at an astonishing scale and pace,” of the said. We're happy to have their support as we continue building a better Internet!
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Dumb twitter question: My feed is often stacked with "X follows..." "[random topic]" "you might light..." "Y received a reply" - I can get 10 of these in a row before seeing an original tweets from people I follow. Do others have this issue? Can I retrain my feed?
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it me.
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How to Beat the First Boss in Elden Ri—Wait That Was Just a Regular Guy?
hard-drive.net/elden-ring-fir
Am seriously surprised that there are still people who think, let alone say, that sociotechnical infrastructures (which includes people, practices, standards, and institutions) can be neutral.
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🚨 Two new openings 's Algorithmic Accountability Lab!
1) Researcher/Advisor, Tech & Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR)
2) Advocacy Advisor
Thread for a bit more on each one and the lab. We'll also be hiring a couple more roles in the next few weeks.
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Something to feel good about today: received a $1M BUILD grant from to keep doing what it is doing: make the internet more secure on a massive scale. I'm really proud that we are standing behind this amazing work.
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has awarded ISRG a grant of $1 million! The Ford Foundation's support recognizes how the Internet can be a tool to create a more equitable world and that our work can help build it.
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If you are a reporter who needs experienced, real world, road tested advice. Please still to pros like Runa.
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If you’re choosing to stay in Ukraine and report on what’s happening, I’m happy to discuss physical and digital safety with you pro bono. Email me at runa dot sandvik at gmail.
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I wave at the beginning and end of each video call, and I make no apologies.
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Wow! The #PegasusProject has been awarded a prestigious George Polk Award for "Technology Reporting."
Forbidden Stories, who coordinated the project, is deeply honored by this tremendous recognition. Congrats to the 80+ journalists involved in the project and to @AmnestyTech!
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"And one thing people don’t talk about is the prospect of using spyware to plant falsely incriminating data on someone’s mobile phone." 🤯
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Just one week left to apply! Looking forward to reading your applications 🤓
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Applications for @ARTICLE19org's #InternetOfRights Fellowship are now open!
We're looking for advocates to join the 2022-2023 cohort. Help protect #FreedomOfExpression, participate in Internet governance bodies and more.
For more info and to apply: article19.org/wp-content/upl
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Interim learnings and tensions in exploring the intersection between digital rights and climate/environmental justice. Really looking forward to the full report from this spring!
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"[Humanitarian organizations] have the resources of mall cops to protect against the cyber hacking equivalent of Delta Force."
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I know Zoom fatigue is real but shout out to all the people behind the scenes planning and making thoughtful Zoom/digital convenings possible – so much labour, care and maintenance goes into making those spaces happen. 🙏🏽 thank you!!! ✨
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Excellent news: got selected as a member of the Internet Architecture Board ( ) and is becoming the Internet Engineering Taskforce's () Security Area Director !
🥳🎉🔥🖥️⌨️🤓�?�
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When #tech is used to target, endanger and undermine civil society, justice shrinks out of sight.
Learn how our grantee investigates and exposes the weaponization of tech in this interview with . #PublicInterestTech
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Do you have a human rights or open science open source project? Do you want a funded intern to support your project? Apply with !
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Come work with us!
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Hi friends! We are hiring (woot!) Join us on our mission to help communities thrive - We are looking for a Full Stack Dev and a Product Manager to work alongside the Open Source Collective making open source sustainable. opencollective.com/hiring
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