#privacywashing — Public Fediverse posts

#introduction

We Build Networks is for a more convivial future on the Internet.

We are based in Tucson, AZ. We run colocated network resources, share them, and teach people things on them.

We do not, and will never, accept donations from Alphabet/Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, X/Twitter, or any individual or organization with a history of privacy or other human rights abuses.

Every organization claiming to stand for #privacy should make the same commitment. #privacywashing

For #ageverification to truly be #privacy preserving, it shouldn't only ensure that services can't get any unnecessary data. It should also ensure that the state (including govt departments private companies acting on behalf of the state) can't get any unnecessary data, such as information about which sites you verify with. The latter, privacy towards the state, doesn't seem to be taken into account in the #eudiwallet design, as far as I can tell.

#EUDI #eidas #privacywashing

Ich muss einmal etwas positiv erwähnen – gerade da ich das oft andersherum erlebe, also entweder Seiten, denen #Datenschutz völlig egal sind und die mit unseren personenbezogenen Daten maximalen Profit als primäres Businessmodell als oberstes Maxime machen oder solche, die #PrivacyWashing betreiben

https://www.justboys.at/ beschreibt sich als "safe by design" und da war ich erst skeptisch. Und ja, es ist nicht alles perfekt, aber nahezu. Was mich besonders beeindruckt hat,

1/

#privacy #DSGVO

“My fear is that W Social is just another for-profit Big Tech startup that happens to be based in the EU. We don’t need that. We don’t need more European surveillance capitalists and people farmers. We need ethical alternatives working for the common good.”

– Yours truly, in @_elena’s excellent exposé on W Social.

https://blog.elenarossini.com/w-social-public-institutions-and-the-theater-of-european-digital-sovereignty/

Do read the article to the end, especially noting the bit about the composition of their board of advisors, which includes an ex-Google AI lead and an ex-Paypal Chief [Violate Your] Privacy Officer who now works at Tools for Humanity (Sam Altman’s “Sci-fi dystopia? Hold my beer…” identity farming startup that wants to scan your eyeballs).

#WSocial #EuropeWashing #PrivacyWashing #BigTech #peopleFarming #surveillance #capitalism #EU #ATProto #fediverse

Surprise: @protonprivacy wants us to add tracking links to our website. That is an odd suggestion coming from a “privacy” company. Should we take their bribe?

We get a lot of weird suggestions by e-mail but only one company (#nordvpn) tried to bribe us before: https://fedifreu.de/@switchingsoftware/114223190053914164

#proton #protonmail #protontracking #tracking #affiliateMarketing #pricacy #privacywashing

When you hear that someone is a “privacy professional”, you know two things about them:

1. That they work in the field of privacy
2. That someone pays them to do that

So ask:

Who is paying you?

(Always follow the money.)

Based on the answer, you’ll know whether their job is to protect your privacy or to find ways of legitimising their employer’s business model that’s predicated on violating your privacy.

Also, ask yourself: who has the most money?

Then you’ll know who can afford to hire the largest number of “privacy professionals.” Hint: trillion-dollar corporations are called trillion-dollar corporations for a reason.

(Wait a minute, am I really saying that most “privacy professionals” are hired to help corporations violate your privacy, not protect it? That’s a yes.)

Finally, have a little read up on “revolving doors” to understand that for some of these “privacy professionals”, a job is just a job and they will happily flip between the two because, really, it’s all just a game to some people when you have a certain level of privilege.

I was once censured by the Nordic Privacy Arena – a conference that “aims to be part of the privacy professional’s journey” where I was presenting a keynote – for criticising the keynote by a Facebook employee (a lawyer who was a “privacy professional”). What was that Facebook employee’s previous job, you ask? Oh, he worked at the French data protection office (CNIL). And that, kids, is what we call a revolving door.

(Last year, Nordic Privacy Arena had four speakers from Google as well as a speaker from Capgemini – whose US subsidiary has a contract to provide surveillance and tracking services to ICE* – and Salesforce**. Not to mention a representative from the Irish Data Protection Commission. You know, the folks who enforce GDPR to the extent that they’re sued by @noybeu to do so. If you don’t know how corrupt Ireland is on this, read the excerpt from the Facebook whistleblower’s book, Careless People, that I quote in this post: https://ar.al/2025/03/21/careless-people/)

And none of this is going to change if we continue with the framing of “data protection”. We must make this whole business model illegal.

We must go beyond GDPR to GDMR: General Data Minimisation Regulation.

https://ar.al/2018/11/29/gdmr-this-one-simple-regulation-could-end-surveillance-capitalism-in-the-eu/

* https://www.surveillancewatch.io/entities/capgemini
** https://dpforum.se/nordic-privacy-arena/nordic-privacy-arena-2026/

#CPDP2026 #CPDP #NordicPrivacyArena #dataProtection #privacyWashing #institutionalCorruption #revolvingDoors #usefulIdiots #privacy #humanRights #GDPR #GDMR

Photo of “privacy professionals” having fun at #CPDP2026 sponsored by Google, Microsoft, and TikTok.

This is why you’re fucked.

#CPDP2026 #CPDP #privacyWashing #institutionalCorruption #usefulIdiots #privacy #humanRights #GDPR

RE: https://eupolicy.social/@ilumium/116605748081603331

Big Tech loves to sponsor so-called “human rights” and “privacy and data protection” conferences for the same reason Big Tobacco loves to sponsor healthcare conferences.

As you can see, the European Conference on Tobacco or Health, for example, is sponsored by Philip Morris, British American Tobacco, and Altria Group*, just like #CPDP2026 is sponsored by Google, Microsoft, and TikTok**.

Oh wait, they’re not.

Because, unlike CPDP, they’re not a bunch of hypocrites and useful idiots working to legitimise the worst surveillance capitalists and people farmers – not to mention, these days, corporations complicit in literal genocide – for profit.

I wrote this ten years ago:

https://ar.al/notes/why-im-not-speaking-at-cpdp/

Nothing has changed. And nothing will change as long as people with legitimacy continue to normalise these scams by attending, promoting, and speaking at them.

* https://www.ectoh.org/sponsor/
** https://www.cpdpconferences.org/#sponsors

#CPDP #CPDP2026 #privacyWashing

Perhaps you haven't heard the term privacy washing before.

Nonetheless, it's likely that you have already been exposed to this scheme in the wild. Regrettably, privacy washing is a widespread deceptive strategy.

The term has been used for over a decade already. It's saddening to see that not only is this not a new problem, but it has only gotten worse through the years.

https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/08/20/privacy-washing-is-a-dirty-business/

#Privacy #PrivacyWashing #DigitalRights

RE: https://mastodon.social/@404mediaco/116403536497971801

With this 404 Media news today about
webXray's audit finding that Google, Microsoft, and Meta, unsurprisingly (but still disappointingly), are ignoring opt-out signals,

It seems like a good timing to post again about my article on Privacy Washing: https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/08/20/privacy-washing-is-a-dirty-business/

#Privacy #PrivacyWashing #DigitalRights

In your privacy advocacy, it's essential to use and recommend tools that are reliable to protect privacy. For this, you need to stay skeptical and investigate claims.

☠️ Learn more on how to evaluate privacy claims, and recommend tools that are trustworthy.

🧰 Check our Privacy Activist Toolbox tip to Beware of Privacy Snake Oil: https://www.privacyguides.org/en/activism/toolbox/tip-beware-of-privacy-snake-oil/

#PrivacyGuides #Activism #PrivacyActivistToolbox #Privacy #PrivacyWashing

@ligasser OK, I am not too familiar with iOS, but I guess directly opening an app from #poppy would be technically feasible.
And the idea of regularly checking in on «lost friends» is nice!
The point is that most people will do this via their existing connections (WA, Insta, FB, ...), so the (implicit) claim to «enhance» by not collecting data is #privacywashing
#social_media #messenger

@ligasser Description reads like a youth-focused social app:
“All data stored on your device” is good, but “No cloud, no servers, no sync” with staying in touch online?
Maybe simply a personal relationship tracker/reminder that hooks into your contacts and messaging apps to prompt contact on a schedule?

⚠️Thus claiming “Privacy isn't a feature — it's the foundation” feels like misleading #privacywashing?

👉 Needs to be verified in source, yet license forbids reverse-engineering/redistribution👀

The data isn't "deleted" if it's possible to "undelete" it 🙄

#Privacy #DataDeletion #PrivacyWashing

Big Tech's love to preach "privacy this" & "privacy that" but in reality they track & collect your data.

Today we take a look at what privacy washing is, and why companies like #Gmail & #Facebook use it to gain your trust 👉 https://tuta.com/blog/big-tech-privacy-washing

#PrivacyWashing #BigTech

@bert_hubert

I received this 'safelink' share from outlook.com lately:

https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com

That must be very European, safe and privacyfriendly, isn't it?

(Or would Microsoft now know the contents and knowing who clicks on it 🤔 ?)

#microsoft #avg #gdpr #marketing #privacywashing #misleading

"Privacy washing" is when a company misleadingly, or fraudulently, presents a product or service as being responsible and trustworthy with data protection, when it isn't.

Keeping an eye out for this practice is critical when evaluating new tools to use: https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/08/20/privacy-washing-is-a-dirty-business/

#PrivacyWashing #Privacy #CorporateGreed #PrivacyGuides

New Privacy Guides article 🔒 🚩
by me:

They all claim:
"Your privacy is important to us."
But how can we know if that's true?

With all the privacy washing and disinformation around, it becomes increasingly difficult to evaluate who we can trust with our data.

There are red flags, and green(ish) flags, we can look for to help us assess who to trust, or not 🚩

https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/09/03/red-and-green-privacy-flags/

#PrivacyGuides #Privacy #Security #PrivacyWashing #SecurityTheater #Disinformation

As "privacy washing" becomes more and more prevalent, being able to distinguish fact from marketing fiction is an essential skill for you to have. Our latest article covers the :red_flag: red flags and the :green_flag: green flags you should look out for when evaluating any service.

https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/09/03/red-and-green-privacy-flags/

#PrivacyWashing #RedFlags #Privacy #Security #GreenFlags #Evaluation #RedFlag #GreenFlag #Article #PrivacyGuides

Big Tech gibt sich als Datenschutz-Profi, doch hinter der Fassade lauert #PrivacyWashing: Google, Meta & Co. sammeln und verkaufen weiterhin massenhaft Nutzerdaten – trotz angeblicher Kontrolle und „Schutz“. Für echte Privatsphäre braucht es mehr als Marketing! 🔒👁️‍🗨️ #Datenschutz #BigTech https://tuta.com/de/blog/big-tech-privacy-washing
#newz

Big Tech’s “Privacy Washing” tricks users into thinking they control their data, but major players like Google, Meta & Microsoft still collect and profit from it 🚨🔍 Learn how the illusion of privacy hides deep data mining & what can be done! #PrivacyWashing #DataPrivacy #BigTechExpose https://tuta.com/blog/big-tech-privacy-washing
#newz

New Privacy Guides article 🧼🔒
by me:

When corporations try to gain our trust with empty words and marketing lies,

When claims and policies aren't supported by facts,

When buzzwords like ""military-grade encryption", "privacy-enhancing", and "AI-powered" get thrown around like candies,

This is deceitful privacy washing,
and we must be vigilant to spot it.

https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/08/20/privacy-washing-is-a-dirty-business/

#PrivacyGuides #Privacy #PrivacyWashing #Compliance

Being able to distinguish between facts and marketing lies is increasingly becoming a survival skill online (yes, even more than before).

Remember: pretty website doesn't necessarily mean trustworthy website.

#AI #PrivacyWashing #Disinformation

@iX_Magazin Wieviel bekommt ihr eigentlich von #microsoft dafür bezahlt, dass ihr in regelmäßigen Abständen ein solches #privacywashing betreibt?

You’re literally the standards body of surveillance capitalism. Shut the fuck up about privacy. The corporate members that fund your existence violate privacy as the core driver of their business models.

Fucking hypocrites doing fucking PR.

#W3C #privacy #privacyWashing #surveillance #capitalism #BigTech #BigWeb #PR https://w3c.social/@w3c/114551380634183119

@noybeu
👉 Hey, are you really OK with the sponsors of #cpdp ?

I didn't get into #privacy advocacy to put finances first, and to be insouciant about creeping corruption and #privacywashing .

👋 I think CPDP would be a good place to start a conversation about the standards we uphold as a community of advocates.

https://www.cpdpconferences.org/sponsors-partners

Computers, Privacy, and Data Protection (CPDP) is a conference funded and organised by Google, Microsoft, and TikTok (platinum sponsors get to help organise panels and participate on the main stage).

#CPDP #CPDPConference #CPDP2025 #CPDPConference2025 #privacy #humanRights #privacyWashing

@C__CS Glad to see such an event sponsored by champions of privacy and data protection like Google, Microsoft, TikTok, and Uber.

#CPDP #CPDPConference #privacyWashing #BigTech

@CPDPconferences

Fellow #privacy advocates, it is time to shape our own institutions. To participate in a privacy conference with these sponsors is to be worse than a useless intellectual; it is to normalize privacy abusers (who don't spend money here for nothing, after all).

If you speak at this conference, speak out before your talk against these sponsors. And keep an eye out for organizing against this hypocritical bullshit, under the tag #privacywashing; it is coming.

#privacy