Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Michael Brennan @michaelbrennan.bsky.social · May 6

Funding opportunity! The Spyware Accountability Initiative is giving grants to civil society orgs fighting spyware abuse. Learn more + apply by June 13th at stopspyware.fund/apply #SpywareAccountability #Funding

Apply for funding — Spyware Accountability Initiative

stopspyware.fund

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Reposted by Michael Brennan

Steven Renderos @stevenrenderos.bsky.social · Jan 27

A critical read to understand recent news on AI. The TLDR, it’s not necessary to mortgage the future of the planet to accomplish the promise of AI.

Karen Hao @karenhao.bsky.social · Jan 27

As someone who has reported on AI for 7 years and covered China tech as well, I think the biggest lesson to be drawn from DeepSeek is the huge cracks it illustrates with the current dominant paradigm of AI development. A long thread. 1/

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Reposted by Michael Brennan

Evan Greer @evangreer.bsky.social · Jan 21

"This is unconstitutional," I scream as the facial recognition equipped robot dogs drag me to my cell.

"This goes against everything America stands for!" I shout, as the algorithmic sentencing machine condemns me to death.

"This is not who we are!" I remind the firing squad of child soldiers

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Reposted by Michael Brennan

evacide @evacide.bsky.social · Jan 1

Where is the money being used to buy Israeli spyware company Paragon coming from? American teachers/police/firefighters retirement funds.

Vas Panagiotopoulos @vaspanagiotopoulos.com · Dec 31

Israeli business news media Globes has some additional details about the $500m acquisition of 🇮🇱 spyware vendor Paragon Solutions by 🇺🇸 AE Industrial Partners.

www.globes.co.il/news/article...

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Reposted by Michael Brennan

Ron Deibert @rondeibert.bsky.social · Dec 20

#Apple's notifications to spyware victims have been a game changer. There are plenty of good reasons to criticize Apple, but this is not one of them

techcrunch.com/2024/12/20/w...

Why Apple sends spyware victims to this nonprofit security lab | TechCrunch

Cybersecurity experts, who work with human rights defenders and journalists, agree that Apple is doing the right thing by sending notifications to victims of mercenary spyware — and at the same time r...

techcrunch.com

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Michael Brennan @michaelbrennan.bsky.social · Dec 19

JOBS IN FUNDING OPEN SOURCE: @sovereign.tech is hiring for a bunch of positions including cybersecurity program lead, program managers, technologists, and administration. This is an amazing team funding open source projects with millions of dollars each year. Office (Berlin) and remote options.

Open Positions | Sovereign Tech Agency

The Sovereign Tech Agency is a new organization doing pioneering work in a ground-breaking field with an ambitious mission that has real societal impact.…

www.sovereign.tech

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Reposted by Michael Brennan

Evan Greer @evangreer.bsky.social · Dec 16

we are not paying enough attention to commercially available phone-cracking and spyware being sold to any government who will buy it

Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · Dec 16

Very scary report out of Serbia: Cellebrite is now being used by cops to unlock the phones of journalists they take into custody, and to then infect those phones with tracking malware

www.404media.co/cellebrite-u...

Cellebrite Unlocked This Journalist’s Phone. Cops Then Infected it With Malware

A new report from Amnesty International reveals multiple cases where Serbian authorities used Cellebrite devices to access targets' mobile phones before loading them with spyware.

www.404media.co

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Michael Brennan @michaelbrennan.bsky.social · Dec 13

JOB ALERT: Great position for someone looking to start a career at the intersection of technology, rights & justice! DC-based. Plus you get to work with @harlanyu.bsky.social - www.upturn.org/join/researc...

Upturn Seeks a Research Associate

This position is ideal for someone who is excited about sharp, interdisciplinary research on a range of topics related to technology, policy, and justice.

www.upturn.org

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Michael Brennan @michaelbrennan.bsky.social · Dec 4

This report by @sarahjeong.bsky.social totally transported me to Seoul last night. It's one of those pieces that makes you feel like you now have a foothold of understanding to someplace new and unfamiliar. It's so good, and so funny.

6 hours under martial law in Seoul

On the ground from the protests outside the National Assembly building

www.theverge.com

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Michael Brennan @michaelbrennan.bsky.social · Nov 27

Being able-bodied is temporary for all of us. Let's build a web that is accessible to all - it serves us all. Proud to support the Web Accessibility Initiative with this grant.
www.w3.org/press-releas...

W3C web accessibility work boosted by Ford Foundation core funding

This press release announces our first grant since W3C's newly registered entity as a US public-interest non-profit organization. W3C is the recipient of a major grant from the Ford Foundation toward ...

www.w3.org

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Reposted by Michael Brennan

Mikehausen ⚒️ @mikehausen.bsky.social · Nov 25

West Ham family .... digital rights matter! We're a broad church afterall, so give this geezer a follow 😀

Oh and @michaelbrennan1.bsky.social too if you've got the time 😉

Michael Brennan @michaelbrennan.bsky.social · Nov 25

Found out via clearsky.app that I'm on a bunch of West Ham starter packs which explains a bunch of my followers. I hope you all like digital rights as much as you like football because I don't know shit about soccer!

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Michael Brennan @michaelbrennan.bsky.social · Nov 25

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Lee ⚒️⚽ @westhamusa.bsky.social · Nov 25

Digital rights are better than digital wrongs

Michael Brennan @michaelbrennan.bsky.social · Nov 25

Alright I’ll defer football questions to you, you send tech questions to me!

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Michael Brennan @michaelbrennan.bsky.social · Nov 25

Found out via clearsky.app that I'm on a bunch of West Ham starter packs which explains a bunch of my followers. I hope you all like digital rights as much as you like football because I don't know shit about soccer!

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Michael Brennan @michaelbrennan.bsky.social · Nov 22

brb sending this tweet to every reviewer who said my papers on how security tech failed at-risk communities were not "computer science enough"

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Nov 22

When I was 5, I loved science, which I took to be planets and magnets and chemicals and shit.

Soon I realized science was a collective human activity, and these were just the objects of its attention.

Anyway, whenever I read an OpEd on how science isn't political, I think "Are you 5 years old?"

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Reposted by Michael Brennan

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · Nov 22

When I was 5, I loved science, which I took to be planets and magnets and chemicals and shit.

Soon I realized science was a collective human activity, and these were just the objects of its attention.

Anyway, whenever I read an OpEd on how science isn't political, I think "Are you 5 years old?"

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Reposted by Michael Brennan

Disco Elysium Quotes @discoelysiumbot.bsky.social · Nov 21

ESPRIT DE CORPS - Kim Kitsuragi is a nice guy. Wish he was here right now.

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Michael Brennan @michaelbrennan.bsky.social · Nov 20

"Discover" is my default tab and I'm not ashamed of it!

𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚌 𝙳𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚜 @mdevens.bsky.social · Nov 15

Not a popular opinion but some sort of algorithm is genuinely helpful for taming the chaos of feeds.

Once you start following more than 50-100 people who are regularly posting, your feed starts to turn into an overwhelming stream of content

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Michael Brennan @michaelbrennan.bsky.social · Nov 18

"There’s a high probability that we see big rollbacks on spyware policy," says @stevenfeldstein.bsky.social - A somber read. Still, I have hope for global progress on spyware in absence of US leadership.

More Spyware, Fewer Rules: What Trump’s Return Means for US Cybersecurity

Experts expect Donald Trump’s next administration to relax cybersecurity rules on businesses, abandon concerns around human rights, and take an aggressive stance against the cyber armies of US adversa...

www.wired.com

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Michael Brennan @michaelbrennan.bsky.social · Jul 1

Great idea! @robotcaptain:

Nine photos from the instagram feed of @robotcaptain featuring mostly outdoor landscapes

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Michael Brennan @michaelbrennan.bsky.social · Jan 3

"Proprietary software, installed in my body, led me to no choice but to accept medical treatment that I didn't even need." - a powerful story of just how personal open source can be sfconservancy.org/blog/2023/de...

A Note from Our Executive Director: 2023 and my personal quest for software freedom

Just when I think that I've really grokked the implications of the technology I have woven into my life, I find that life throws completely new challenges my way that make me realize the extent of the...

sfconservancy.org

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Michael Brennan @michaelbrennan.bsky.social · Oct 5

Climate Justice & Digital Rights Fellowship Opportunity! Apply to be a Green Web Foundation fellow (paid, 6 months) and help build bridges across these critical global movements www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/fellowships/...

Call For Applications: Green Web Fellowship - The Green Web Foundation

Work on climate justice and digital rights—apply to be a Green Web Fellow today! ⚡

www.thegreenwebfoundation.org

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