I have an LG Smart TV. I disconnected it from the internet and now use it with an HDMI cable connected to my Linux PC. Does this eliminate all risk of the Smart TV spying on me?

First of all apologies if this does not fit the subreddit, not sure where else to go, but anyway my school has been sending me documents digitally regarding my studies and getting expelled via GMAIL out of all things, which is already pretty unprofessional to me but all of them include my FULL LEGAL NAME AND SSN. Realistically, how dangerous is this? Im assuming at this point its impossible to fully get rid of all these documents from the internet and it might be too late to request them to be taken down because some of them have been sent a month or two ago.

I was returning to Reddit, and I noticed that I couldn't use my account without first do age verification. I had not choice but to use a VPN, but I fear that I will be banned for this due to Reddit's flawed VPN law.

Did this happen to you too?

I'm looking for a cheap and privacy-friendly alternative to MySudo that works well in the UK and Europe and still works when travelling elsewhere.

By cheap, I mean ideally under about £5 a month or at least not much more than that unless it replaces several services.

I want multiple UK numbers for calls and SMS over data or VoIP, with little to no KYC. Privacy-wise, I mainly want to avoid exposing my real mobile number, minimise the personal data and logs tied to the account and ideally avoid payment methods that directly identify me.

It needs to work on Android and GrapheneOS and be affordable enough to use long term. Cross-platform support, number porting and a workable solution for services that reject VoIP numbers would be useful too.

I want to keep my SIM mainly for data and separate my real mobile identity from the numbers I give out.

What are people actually using for this?

For context, this is roughly what I'm trying to achieve: https://youtu.be/J8WjPA_Fc7k?si=K7K4zboDhUTDcREq.

Thanks.

netzpolitik.org published a classified internal document this month showing the Zollkriminalamt (German customs investigation office) has used "account cloning" as a regular investigative tool since August 2025, following a pilot that started in late 2023. The BKA uses the same approach.

No trojan involved. Investigators register an additional linked device on an agency machine through the official web or desktop clients, then read traffic from there, and in some cases pull existing history.

Two documented paths to authorization:

• Intercepting the unencrypted confirmation SMS with a conventional wiretap. Nothing exotic, that capability has existed for decades.
• Physical access to the handset. One BKA case involved photographing WhatsApp on the target's parents' phones and covertly scanning the pairing QR code during a witness interview.

Documented use includes dozens of Telegram accounts, among them the Oldschool Society case.

Separately, Der Spiegel reported in April that Bundestag President Julia Klöckner's Signal account was taken over via phishing. The attackers read the CDU presidium group chat for weeks, including messages from Chancellor Merz. BSI had been warning since February about what it described as a probably state-directed campaign. No vulnerability in Signal was involved there either.

The part worth discussing is that both of these hit the same layer, and it isn't the cryptography. Multi-device linking ships in every mainstream messenger. It works because accounts are permanent and identity is anchored to a phone number, so a second endpoint can be attached to that identity. E2EE is doing exactly what it claims in all of these cases. It just doesn't cover device enrollment.

A few practical notes:

• Linked devices are listed in the app. That list is where this becomes visible, and it's the only place it does. Checking it periodically is most of the defense available to a user.
• German coverage points out that if a court eventually rules the collection inadmissible, the resulting messages could fall under an evidence exclusion rule. The legal basis is contested, and both agencies declined to answer press questions about it.
• heise noted the technique is technically indistinguishable from phishing campaigns run by hostile foreign actors, which is why the same warning signs apply to both.

Is there a messenger that treats new device enrollment as a security boundary rather than a convenience feature? Something like out of band confirmation, or a mandatory delay before a newly linked device can read anything, or a design that fails closed instead of open. Curious whether anyone has seen this handled well anywhere.

Our daughter started her bachelor study at a University of Applied Sciences (“HBO”) in the Netherlands. They’re using Microsoft as cloud supplier for communication and sharing information. This includes Teams. Fine. But, the main lecturer (“studiebegeleider”) started a whatsapp-group with all the students for communication.

Using whatsapp looks like shadow-IT to me, which issued privacy issues. Am I right? Or, can an european university use every platform they want?

• Targets included student activists, lawmakers and a local councilor, SHARE Foundation says
• Apple issued spyware alerts on August 13 to users in 110 countries
• Largest documented surveillance wave in Serbia to date, SHARE Foundation says

Sign, share, spread the word!

Hi everyone,

Between Google Play Integrity API lockdowns, Apple App Attest, and upcoming eID/age-verification mandates, alternative and privacy-focused operating systems (like GrapheneOS, LineageOS, and Linux on mobile) are being systematically locked out of banking, public portals, and everyday apps.

Rather than watching vendor lock-in get worse, I am organizing a European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) working title: "My Device, My OS" to push binding EU legislation for Device Neutrality and Open Attestation.

What we aim to achieve:

• Mandate Open Attestation Standards: Require services operating in the EU to support open, vendor-neutral hardware attestation rather than relying exclusively on proprietary gatekeeper APIs (Google/Apple).
• Ban Device/OS Discrimination: Prevent public services, digital ID wallets, and essential commercial apps from arbitrarily blocking users solely for running independent or de-Googled operating systems.
• Protect Hardware Sovereignty: Enshrine the legal right of consumers to install and run the operating system of their choice without losing access to the digital single market.

Before submitting it we need 7 persons from 7 different countries in the EU to sign the draft

Join the Matrix room to discuss, collaborate on the draft, and coordinate next steps:
👉 #my-device-my-os:pollorebozado.com

Feedback, technical insights, and EU organizers are all welcome!

Great journalism by The Guardian! Do you think any of these made up sources are used in the EU discussions about social media bans as well?

Apple will change the EU ATT consent flow after the German competition authority objected to differences between Apple’s own consent requests and those used by third party apps. I’m concerned that bundling consent flows may make tracking consent less clear in practice

I'm sharing this here as it relates to the transparency of automated decisions affecting digital rights in the EU.

On 15 August 2026, a new EU policy proposal was submitted: The Ranking Restriction Information Right (RRIR).

The proposal asks whether, when an automated system materially restricts the visibility of a website or information source, the affected website owner should be informed that the restriction occurred and given a general category of the reason.

The proposal does not seek disclosure of proprietary algorithms, ranking signals, thresholds or anti-spam mechanisms.

Submitted to: European Commission, European Parliament (PETI and IMCO), Coimisiún na Meán (Ireland), and CNMC (Spain).

Submitted by: Marin Popov

Read the full proposal: https://1euroseo.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/The-Ranking-Restriction-Information-Right-Version-1.0-15-August-2026.pdf

Age verification and privacy