If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Sign Up To Keep Reading This post is for Reclaim The Net supporters. Gain access to the entire archive of features and supporters-only content. Help protect free speech, freedom from surveillance, and digital civil liberties. Join Already a supporter? Login here If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Top 10 Must-Have F-Droid Apps for Privacy, Security, and Productivity appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. A heavily criticized federal ID program, Real ID, is set to become mandatory for domestic air travel in the US on May 7, 2025. Once in effect, the federal scheme will ban adults from domestic flights unless they have replaced “traditional” state-issued IDs with Real ID. And the mandate will also extend to citizens’ ability to access some federal facilities. The origin of the legislation goes back to 2005 and the REAL ID Act, which was explained by the Department of Homeland Security as standardization of the issuance of ID cards, driver’s licenses, and similar forms of identification. Starting in the spring of 2025, travelers will no longer be able to use “traditional” driver’s licenses, although passports are an option. That means that for adults in the US without a passport (and according to the State Department, only less than half have it), getting REAL ID or Enhanced ID will be the only options – but the latter will still not be accepted in domestic air travel, only for crossing sea or land border with Mexico and Canada. Rights groups like EFF sum the situation up as the US government forcing states “to turn your driver’s license into a national ID” – with dire consequences for privacy, on top of monetary costs. And, according to EFF, the declarative goal – improving national security – will not be achieved at all. This organization compares Real ID and the single national database housing people’s data to the creeping undermining of privacy and expansion of surveillance that happened in comparable past scenarios. “Remember the Social Security number started innocuously enough but it has become a prerequisite for a host of government services and been co-opted by private companies to create massive databases of personal information,” EFF writes, urging state legislators to “resist” implementing REAL ID. The ACLU expressed similar concerns regarding surveillance and privacy, but also financial and administrative burdens that come with the scheme, announcing that it has joined those states that are opposed to the law and are seeking to get it repealed. “By definitively turning driver’s licenses into a form of national identity documents, REAL ID would have a tremendously destructive impact on privacy,” ACLU said on its website, noting that these concerns have held back full adoption in many states. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Federal Real ID-Compliant Licenses or ID Cards Will Become Mandatory for US Domestic Air Travel appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Google has found itself yet another election to “support.” After the company made announcements to this effect related to the EU (European Parliament) June ballot, voters in the UK can now also look forward to – or dread, as the case may be – the tech giant’s role in their upcoming general election. A blog post by Google UK Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy Katie O’Donovan announced even more “moderation” and a flurry of other measures, most of which have become tried-and-tested instruments of Google’s censorship over the past years. They are divided in three categories – pushing (“surfacing”) content and sources of information picked by Google as authoritative and of high quality, along with YouTube information panels, investing in what it calls Trust & Safety operations, as well as “equipping campaigns with the best-in-class security tools and training.” Another common point is combating “misinformation” – together with what the blog post refers to as “the wider ecosystem.” That concerns Google News Initiative and PA Media, a private news agency, and their Election Check 24, which is supposed to safeguard the UK election from “mis- and dis-information.” Searches related to voting are “rigged” to return results manipulated to boost what Google considers authoritative sources – notably, the UK government’s site. As for AI, the promise is that users of Google platforms will receive “help navigating” that type of content. This includes the obligation for advertisers to reveal that ads “include synthetic content that inauthentically depicts real or realistic-looking people or events” (this definition can easily be stretched to cover parody, memes, and similar). “Disclosure” here, however, is still differentiated from Google’s outright ban on manipulated media that it decides “misleads people.” Such content is labeled, and banned if considered as having the ability to maybe pose “a serious risk of egregious harm.” And then there’s Google’s AI chatbot Gemini, which the giant has restricted in terms of what types of election-related queries it will respond to – once again, as a way to root out “misinformation” while promoting “fairness.” This falls under what the company considers to be “a responsible approach to generative AI products.” But as always, AI is also seen as a “tool for good” – for example, when it allows for building “faster and more adaptable enforcement systems.” If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Google Tightens Influence on UK Elections with New “Moderation” Tactics appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Zelensky Accuses China of Tanking Peace Talks

The male passenger who jumped off the largest cruise ship on Sunday plunged to his death after falling 90 feet and hitting the water. The New York Post reported that the cruise ship's staff knew what transpired before the man hit the water.The passenger jumped from the fifth level of Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas on the first day of the week-long journey. The report mentioned that each deck on the ship is about 20 feet, which means the man fell approximately 90 feet into the water. The passenger has not yet been identified. 'We knew what had happened literally seconds after he hit the water.'After the man dropped into the water, the ship was stopped for around two hours so a recovery effort could be completed, according to WFLA. According to crew members, the man was soon transported in a van to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner's Office.The police arrived on the scene and took statements from those who witnessed the tragic event. They also obtained surveillance footage of the incident.The man jumped from the ship on May 26, which set off the overboard detection system. The onboard staff immediately took action, according to a security team member.“We knew what had happened literally seconds after he hit the water," one source said. "The protocol is that we’re supposed to immediately make visual contact to see if we can spot him."“It’s the captain’s call whether to stop and turn around, and he did,” he added.After the security team was notified of the incident, they prepared a rescue boat and went out to retrieve the man.The ship includes what is called a Category 6, which Royal Caribbean notes as the "largest waterpark at sea." The ship can hold up to 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members, per WFLA. Following the incident, a spokesperson for Royal Caribbean issued the following statement: “The ship’s crew immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard and launched a search and rescue operation. Our Care Team is actively providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones during this difficult time. For the privacy of the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share.”One source indicated that the man was likely not alive when the rescue team pulled him out of the water.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

If you’ve been waiting for the arrival of delightful action roguelike Shoulders of Giants on Steam, you can take a look at it in its new, upgraded Unreal Engine 5 form courtesy of a new prologue playable as a free Steam game. First launched in 2023 via the Epic Games Store, the co-op game blends Risk of Rain-style action with a dash of Hades and a cast of Star Fox-style animal companions. It's preparing to arrive on the Valve store soon, and you can play through the first act in a standalone form right now. Continue reading Risk of Rain style roguelike gets free prologue ahead of Steam launch MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Best roguelike games, Best co-op games, Best indie games

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