Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Pinback
Pinback's Journal
Pinback's Journal
March 25, 2026
- By Thorin Klosowski, Electronic Frontier Foundation, March 10, 2026
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/03/think-twice-buying-or-using-metas-ray-bans
Much more at link: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/03/think-twice-buying-or-using-metas-ray-bans
Also see: "Meta sued over AI smart glasses’ privacy concerns, after workers reviewed nudity, sex, and other footage" - by Sarah Perez, TechCrunch, March 5, 2026: https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/05/meta-sued-over-ai-smartglasses-privacy-concerns-after-workers-reviewed-nudity-sex-and-other-footage/
Who's Really Watching What Smartglasses See?
Featured Story: Think Twice Before Buying or Using Meta’s Ray-Bans- By Thorin Klosowski, Electronic Frontier Foundation, March 10, 2026
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/03/think-twice-buying-or-using-metas-ray-bans
Over the last decade or so, the tech industry has tried, and mostly failed, to make “smart glasses”—tech-infused glasses with cameras, AI, maps, displays, and more—a thing. But in the past year, products like Meta’s Ray-Ban Display Glasses and Oakley’s Meta Glasses have gone from a curious niche to the mainstream.
Before you strap a dashcam to your face and sprint out into the world filming everything and everyone in your life, there are some civil liberties and privacy concerns to consider before buying or using a pair.
-- SNIP --
Before you strap a dashcam to your face and sprint out into the world filming everything and everyone in your life, there are some civil liberties and privacy concerns to consider before buying or using a pair.
If You’re Thinking About Buying Smart Glasses
You’re likely not the only one who can see (and hear) your footage
The photos and videos you record with most smartglasses will likely be stored online at some point in the process. On Meta’s offerings, unless you are livestreaming, media you capture when you press the camera button is kept on the glasses until you import them onto your phone, but media is imported automatically by default into the Meta AI mobile app, which is required to set up the glasses.
You can't use any AI features locally on the glasses. So anytime you use AI features, like when you say, “Hey Meta, start recording,” the footage is fed to Meta. You can use the glasses without the Meta AI app entirely, but considering you can’t easily download footage from the glasses to your phone without it, most people will likely use the app.
Some videos are fed to Meta for AI training, and we know at least in some cases that those videos go through human review. An investigation by Swedish newspapers found that workers were reviewing and annotating camera footage, which includes all sorts of sensitive videos, including nudity, sex, and going to the bathroom. Meta claimed to the BBC that this is in accordance with its terms of use, all in the name of AI training, which states:
In some cases, Meta will review your interactions with AIs, including the content of your conversations with or messages to AIs, and this review may be automated or manual (human).
This all means that Meta and their third-party contractors will have access to at least some of what you record, and it’s very hard as a user to know where footage goes, who will have access to it, and what they will do with it. When you save footage to your phone’s camera roll, which is where the Meta AI app stores content, that might also be sent to Apple or Google’s servers, depending on your settings. Employees at these companies can then possibly access that media, and it could be shared with law enforcement.
The recorded audio from conversations with Meta AI are also saved by default, and if you don’t like that, tough luck, unless you go in and manually delete them every time you say something.
You’re likely not the only one who can see (and hear) your footage
The photos and videos you record with most smartglasses will likely be stored online at some point in the process. On Meta’s offerings, unless you are livestreaming, media you capture when you press the camera button is kept on the glasses until you import them onto your phone, but media is imported automatically by default into the Meta AI mobile app, which is required to set up the glasses.
You can't use any AI features locally on the glasses. So anytime you use AI features, like when you say, “Hey Meta, start recording,” the footage is fed to Meta. You can use the glasses without the Meta AI app entirely, but considering you can’t easily download footage from the glasses to your phone without it, most people will likely use the app.
Some videos are fed to Meta for AI training, and we know at least in some cases that those videos go through human review. An investigation by Swedish newspapers found that workers were reviewing and annotating camera footage, which includes all sorts of sensitive videos, including nudity, sex, and going to the bathroom. Meta claimed to the BBC that this is in accordance with its terms of use, all in the name of AI training, which states:
In some cases, Meta will review your interactions with AIs, including the content of your conversations with or messages to AIs, and this review may be automated or manual (human).
This all means that Meta and their third-party contractors will have access to at least some of what you record, and it’s very hard as a user to know where footage goes, who will have access to it, and what they will do with it. When you save footage to your phone’s camera roll, which is where the Meta AI app stores content, that might also be sent to Apple or Google’s servers, depending on your settings. Employees at these companies can then possibly access that media, and it could be shared with law enforcement.
The recorded audio from conversations with Meta AI are also saved by default, and if you don’t like that, tough luck, unless you go in and manually delete them every time you say something.
Much more at link: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/03/think-twice-buying-or-using-metas-ray-bans
Also see: "Meta sued over AI smart glasses’ privacy concerns, after workers reviewed nudity, sex, and other footage" - by Sarah Perez, TechCrunch, March 5, 2026: https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/05/meta-sued-over-ai-smartglasses-privacy-concerns-after-workers-reviewed-nudity-sex-and-other-footage/
March 3, 2026
Nice!
When I met my future wife, her cat immediately wanted me dead, hopefully in a painful and slow manner. Every time I tried to pet her she'd hiss, claw my forearm, and bite my hand. Mind you, I'm a lifelong cat lover and something of a "cat whisperer," so this was an epic failure of human-feline domestic tranquility.
But I kept trying, and very gradually, over a period of months, she eventually, grudgingly at first, came to accept me. We ultimately became BFFs, and it was so rewarding! We finally reached such a rapport that not only could I snuggle and smooch her, but she'd let me rotate her s-l-o-w-l-y around on the linoleum kitchen floor by pushing on the back of her neck as she lay on her side, purring loudly. When we did this I'd exclaim, "Wheeee!" and she loved it.
This kitty was a full-figured girl, so when she got to where she anticipated this fun little ritual every time I came home, as soon as I entered the kitchen she'd buckle her legs and collapse with a mild thud onto the linoleum, and then it was Wheeee-time again!
She lived to a ripe old age in the double digits, and I got to enjoy many of those years with her. She was a beautiful orange-and-white cat with long hair and green eyes. She must have been Irish, because she sure had a temper when things weren't going her way! But when they were, oh, what a sweetie.
March 3, 2026
By Caleb Groves, AJC, Mar. 3, 2026
https://tinyurl.com/462p56bt
OR
https://editions.ajc.com/shortcode/AJC412/edition/74cc9a48-242c-5ba5-d2f4-6610acecc4e9
- More at link above
Sounds more like "Start the Steal 2026" to me. Limiting voting to one day only, in person, with hand-marked paper ballots would make it much harder for people to vote, take much longer to tabulate and verify the votes, introduce more opportunities for errors and disruptions, and of course make it much easier for ICE and CBP goons to intimidate voters.
Georgia state senators restart quest for hand-marked paper ballots
GOP voting proposal calls for hand-counted audits, limits on in-person early voting options.By Caleb Groves, AJC, Mar. 3, 2026
https://tinyurl.com/462p56bt
OR
https://editions.ajc.com/shortcode/AJC412/edition/74cc9a48-242c-5ba5-d2f4-6610acecc4e9
Georgia state senators are taking another stab at ditching the state’s touchscreen voting system and replacing it with paper ballots filled out by hand.
A sweeping proposal passed by the Senate Ethics Committee on Monday would require switching to preprinted, handmarked paper ballots scanned by machines, end county- and municipality-wide in-person early voting, and overhaul how the state conducts election audits. It’s unclear how much the dramatic changes would cost to implement.
Backed by Senate Republican leaders, it reaffirms the position of influential senators to switch to paper ballots, although the House has taken no action on another Senate paper ballot proposal already in the House.
Georgia officials have until July to stop counting votes with QR codes. Lawmakers have until the end of the legislative session next month to figure out how to comply with the deadline.
-- SNIP --
Georgians will vote in the May primaries with countywide early voting and touch-screens. But come the November general election, voters would use paper ballots bubbled in by hand and be limited to one assigned early voting site if Senate Bill 568 passes.
A sweeping proposal passed by the Senate Ethics Committee on Monday would require switching to preprinted, handmarked paper ballots scanned by machines, end county- and municipality-wide in-person early voting, and overhaul how the state conducts election audits. It’s unclear how much the dramatic changes would cost to implement.
Backed by Senate Republican leaders, it reaffirms the position of influential senators to switch to paper ballots, although the House has taken no action on another Senate paper ballot proposal already in the House.
Georgia officials have until July to stop counting votes with QR codes. Lawmakers have until the end of the legislative session next month to figure out how to comply with the deadline.
-- SNIP --
Georgians will vote in the May primaries with countywide early voting and touch-screens. But come the November general election, voters would use paper ballots bubbled in by hand and be limited to one assigned early voting site if Senate Bill 568 passes.
- More at link above
Sounds more like "Start the Steal 2026" to me. Limiting voting to one day only, in person, with hand-marked paper ballots would make it much harder for people to vote, take much longer to tabulate and verify the votes, introduce more opportunities for errors and disruptions, and of course make it much easier for ICE and CBP goons to intimidate voters.
March 3, 2026
The process is quick, but the catch lies in its impermanence. Each OS update...can quietly reactivate it. Users on X have grumbled about this, with one suggesting it’s worth bookmarking the steps as a post-update ritual.
- Source: Apple Magazine, March 30, 2025 - "How to Disable Apple Intelligence—and Why You Might Need to Do It Repeatedly"
Disable Apple Intelligence in iOS (iPhone and iPad)
See also:
How to disable Apple Intelligence
If you want to disable Apple Intelligence on MacOS and iOS devices, here's how:
Disable Apple Intelligence in MacOS
- Click the Apple menu.
- Select System Settings
- Navigate to “Apple Intelligence & Siri” in the sidebar.
- Flip the Apple Intelligence toggle to Off.
- That’s it—until the next update.
The process is quick, but the catch lies in its impermanence. Each OS update...can quietly reactivate it. Users on X have grumbled about this, with one suggesting it’s worth bookmarking the steps as a post-update ritual.
- Source: Apple Magazine, March 30, 2025 - "How to Disable Apple Intelligence—and Why You Might Need to Do It Repeatedly"
Disable Apple Intelligence in iOS (iPhone and iPad)
- Open Settings, scroll to “Apple Intelligence & Siri.”
- At the top, you’ll see a toggle for Apple Intelligence. Switch it off, then confirm by tapping “Turn Off.”
- Done—for now..
See also:
- "How to turn off Apple Intelligence on Mac" - MacPaw Blog: https://macpaw.com/how-to/turn-off-apple-intelligence
- "How to turn off Apple Intelligence — and why you need to keep turning it off" - Apple Insider: https://appleinsider.com/inside/apple-intelligence/tips/how-to-turn-off-apple-intelligence----and-keep-turning-it-off
January 24, 2026
The Unwanted: "Out on the Western Plain"
Recorded live in an Irish pub in Sligo, this is a great rendition of a classic Huddie Ledbetter (aka “Leadbelly”) composition. The musicians here are: Seamie O’Dowd, violin and lead vocal; Cathy Jordan, guitar and vocal; and Rick Epping, harmonicas.
January 9, 2026
I guess this was to be expected with reckless, cruel idiots running the show.
Much more at link: https://ictnews.org/news/five-native-americans-detained-by-ice-during-ongoing-raids-in-minneapolis/
Five Native Americans detained by ICE during ongoing raids in Minneapolis
From Indian Country Today, Jan. 9, 2025 --
Native American community members report increased ICE presence, fears of racial profiling
By Amelia Schafer:
https://ictnews.org/news/five-native-americans-detained-by-ice-during-ongoing-raids-in-minneapolis/
At least five Native American men have been detained and an unknown number questioned by immigration officers across the Minneapolis area in the midst of what a top official called the “largest immigration raid ever.”
After 2,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrived in Minneapolis early this week, Indigenous residents on the city’s southside have witnessed agents question and even detain community members. Blocks away from a local Native American housing community, a 37-year-old mother was shot by ICE agents Wednesday, sparking nationwide protests.
“I think some of them [ICE] don’t even know what they’re doing or where they’re at,” said Little Crow Belcourt, White Earth Ojibwe and the director of the Indigenous Peoples Movement. “They’re just pulling people over at random, if you’re Brown. Some of our Native (American) people get mistaken for our relatives south of the border.”
Minneapolis’ southside, particularly around Franklin Avenue East, has historically been an area for Indigenous people to gather and live. South Side Housing was first taken over by the Indigenous community in 1975, when it became Little Earth, and since then the area has become the center for the Indigenous community. Community members often call Little Earth an urban reservation, Belcourt said.
After 2,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrived in Minneapolis early this week, Indigenous residents on the city’s southside have witnessed agents question and even detain community members. Blocks away from a local Native American housing community, a 37-year-old mother was shot by ICE agents Wednesday, sparking nationwide protests.
“I think some of them [ICE] don’t even know what they’re doing or where they’re at,” said Little Crow Belcourt, White Earth Ojibwe and the director of the Indigenous Peoples Movement. “They’re just pulling people over at random, if you’re Brown. Some of our Native (American) people get mistaken for our relatives south of the border.”
Minneapolis’ southside, particularly around Franklin Avenue East, has historically been an area for Indigenous people to gather and live. South Side Housing was first taken over by the Indigenous community in 1975, when it became Little Earth, and since then the area has become the center for the Indigenous community. Community members often call Little Earth an urban reservation, Belcourt said.
I guess this was to be expected with reckless, cruel idiots running the show.
Much more at link: https://ictnews.org/news/five-native-americans-detained-by-ice-during-ongoing-raids-in-minneapolis/
November 22, 2025
I can't wait for our out-of-town guests to arrive!
Because then the cleaning can stop!!
November 19, 2025
- more at link: https://www.howtogeek.com/if-i-can-deal-with-my-shameful-pile-of-cables-so-can-you/
This one hits close to home! I've definitely got a ridiculous collection of things like chargers for long-lost iPods, cables for printers with parallel ports, coax video cables, every kind of obsolete audio cable and patch cord imaginable, etc. etc. etc. Fortunately we have a recycling center around here that will take these off my hands and extract what's reusable.
My motivation is partly the dream of living slightly less encumbered by clutter, but mostly to spare my poor kids the horror of going through all this mess someday when I've transitioned to a collection of unanimated atoms.
If I can deal with my shameful pile of cables, so can you
- How-To Geek, Nov. 19, 2025
https://www.howtogeek.com/if-i-can-deal-with-my-shameful-pile-of-cables-so-can-you/
If I can deal with my shameful pile of cables, so can you
By Tim Brookes
Though we live in an increasingly wireless world, cables are still a necessary evil. If you’re anything like me, you just keep collecting them and putting them away just in case you need them at some point in the future.
At this stage, I’ve been collecting cables for decades, so it’s time to deal with the problem.
My pile of shame
I’ve been unintentionally collecting cables since the early 2000s, and in that time, I’ve amassed quite a collection. Despite my best efforts to organize them, they always seem to revert to the same spaghetti-like mess that makes finding anything near impossible. The more you dig, the more they unravel, the more tangled everything becomes.
I try to keep all of these cables together, in a big box, for obvious reasons. There are enough cables in my house without sprinkling 20-year-old phone chargers and deprecated video cables everywhere. When I need something, I venture into the abyss, fish it out, close the lid, and never speak of the horrors I have seen.
By Tim Brookes
Though we live in an increasingly wireless world, cables are still a necessary evil. If you’re anything like me, you just keep collecting them and putting them away just in case you need them at some point in the future.
At this stage, I’ve been collecting cables for decades, so it’s time to deal with the problem.
My pile of shame
I’ve been unintentionally collecting cables since the early 2000s, and in that time, I’ve amassed quite a collection. Despite my best efforts to organize them, they always seem to revert to the same spaghetti-like mess that makes finding anything near impossible. The more you dig, the more they unravel, the more tangled everything becomes.
I try to keep all of these cables together, in a big box, for obvious reasons. There are enough cables in my house without sprinkling 20-year-old phone chargers and deprecated video cables everywhere. When I need something, I venture into the abyss, fish it out, close the lid, and never speak of the horrors I have seen.
- more at link: https://www.howtogeek.com/if-i-can-deal-with-my-shameful-pile-of-cables-so-can-you/
This one hits close to home! I've definitely got a ridiculous collection of things like chargers for long-lost iPods, cables for printers with parallel ports, coax video cables, every kind of obsolete audio cable and patch cord imaginable, etc. etc. etc. Fortunately we have a recycling center around here that will take these off my hands and extract what's reusable.
My motivation is partly the dream of living slightly less encumbered by clutter, but mostly to spare my poor kids the horror of going through all this mess someday when I've transitioned to a collection of unanimated atoms.
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: GA
Home country: USA
Member since: 2002
Number of posts: 13,600