{"version":"https:\/\/jsonfeed.org\/version\/1","title":"Links from Zak Kolar","description":"","home_page_url":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz","feed_url":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/feed\/","items":[{"id":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/the-political-effects-of-xs-feed-algorithm","url":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/the-political-effects-of-xs-feed-algorithm","title":"The political effects of X\u2019s feed algorithm","content_html":"

[Ben Werdmuller]<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

This should be a wakeup call for politically-engaged funders and anyone who cares about civil society. It\u2019s not that we need to have less conservative algorithms; it\u2019s that whoever controls the algorithms has a disproportionate say over the electorate\u2019s view of the world.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

View link<\/a><\/p>","date_published":"2026-02-19T00:00:00-05:00","date_modified":"2026-02-18T15:25:46-05:00"},{"id":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/pluralistic-you-can-t-fight-enshittification-31-jul-2025","url":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/pluralistic-you-can-t-fight-enshittification-31-jul-2025","title":"Pluralistic: You can't fight enshittification (31 Jul 2025)","content_html":"

[Cory Doctorow]<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

You, me and everyone we know have all been subjected to a 40-year blitz of anti-solidaristic propaganda, aimed at convincing us that we are only allowed to fight the system as individuals. Don't like your health care? Shop around! Don't like your boss? Quit your job! Under no circumstances should you advocate for either a union or socialized health-care. You're an individual, there is no such thing as society.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\"There's no such thing as society\" is what you say if you benefit from society (which absolutely exists) and don't want it to change.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

View link<\/a><\/p>","date_published":"2025-08-01T00:00:00-04:00","date_modified":"2025-07-31T16:13:02-04:00"},{"id":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/a-startup-is-selling-data-hacked-from-peoples-computers-to-debt-collectors","url":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/a-startup-is-selling-data-hacked-from-peoples-computers-to-debt-collectors","title":"A Startup is Selling Data Hacked from Peoples\u2019 Computers to Debt Collectors","content_html":"

[Joseph Cox]<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

A private intelligence company run by a young founder is now taking that hacked data from what it says are more than 50 million computers, and reselling it for profit to a wide range of different industries, including debt collectors; couples in divorce proceedings; and even companies looking to poach their rivals\u2019 customers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

View link<\/a><\/p>","date_published":"2025-07-23T00:00:00-04:00","date_modified":"2025-07-22T08:13:02-04:00"},{"id":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/republican-budget-bill-signals-new-era-in-federal-surveillance","url":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/republican-budget-bill-signals-new-era-in-federal-surveillance","title":"Republican Budget Bill Signals New Era in Federal Surveillance","content_html":"

[Dean Jackson]<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThe golden rule of privacy\u2026 is that information collected for one purpose can\u2019t be repurposed without permission. We don\u2019t have that rule.\u201d Instead, Nojeim explained, the US has a \u201csectoral approach\u201d which is weakest in areas related to law enforcement access. \u201cWe\u2019re at a point in the march forward of technology,\u201d he said, where \u201dmore human thought than ever in the history of mankind is becoming available to the government without the need for a warrant or court permission. Where that goes depends entirely on the goodwill of professionals who enforce vague laws that have been designed intentionally to give them flexibility in emergencies. Unfortunately, those laws are being exploited by the Administration, which is making false claims about emergency [and] national security risk.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

View link<\/a><\/p>","date_published":"2025-07-03T00:00:00-04:00","date_modified":"2025-07-02T15:42:42-04:00"},{"id":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/the-new-surveillance-state-why-data-privacy-is-now-essential-to-democracy","url":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/the-new-surveillance-state-why-data-privacy-is-now-essential-to-democracy","title":"The New Surveillance State: Why Data Privacy Is Now Essential to Democracy","content_html":"

[Laura MacCleery]<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

When the government can track where you go, whom you associate with, and what you spend your money on, it violates the Fourth Amendment. It also chills First Amendment freedom of expression, undermines your freedom to travel, and destroys what Justice Louis Brandeis famously called \u201cthe right to be left alone\u201d \u2014 the fundamental privacy right that underlies American liberty.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

View link<\/a><\/p>","date_published":"2025-06-24T00:00:00-04:00","date_modified":"2025-06-23T10:23:01-04:00"},{"id":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/a-starter-guide-to-protecting-your-data-from-hackers-and-corporations","url":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/a-starter-guide-to-protecting-your-data-from-hackers-and-corporations","title":"A Starter Guide to Protecting Your Data From Hackers and Corporations","content_html":"

[Matt Burgess, Sophie Johal, Michaela Neville]<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

I think in a lot of cases when people claim they have nothing to hide, they often jump to thinking about illegal or malicious things. When in fact, privacy, for me, isn\u2019t about \u201chiding\u201d things at all. You should be able to have the space\u2014both in the physical and digital world\u2014to not be surveilled or have your actions tracked. People should be able to act without intrusion from others\u2014that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re hiding anything, but you just don\u2019t want to share everything you do with everyone (or anyone). And really that\u2019s why privacy is considered a fundamental human right.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

View link<\/a><\/p>","date_published":"2025-05-26T00:00:00-04:00","date_modified":"2025-05-26T06:48:01-04:00"},{"id":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/reports-of-llms-mastering-math-have-been-greatly-exaggerated","url":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/reports-of-llms-mastering-math-have-been-greatly-exaggerated","title":"Reports of LLMs mastering math have been greatly exaggerated","content_html":"

[Ernest Davis]<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

The refusal of these kinds of AI to admit ignorance or incapacity and their obstinate preference for generating incorrect but plausible-looking answers instead are one of their most dangerous characteristics. It is extremely easy for a user to pose a question to an LLM, get what looks like a valid answer, and then trust to it, without doing the careful inspection necessary to check that it is actually right.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is an area where human experts and LLMs diverge. Both are capable of making mistakes, but humans who have expertise in a certain area are generally more aware of the limits and gaps in their knowledge.<\/p>\n

View link<\/a><\/p>","date_published":"2025-04-06T00:00:00-04:00","date_modified":"2025-04-05T17:16:01-04:00"},{"id":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/when-your-threat-model-is-being-a-moron","url":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/when-your-threat-model-is-being-a-moron","title":"When Your Threat Model Is Being a Moron","content_html":"

[Jason Koebler]<\/a><\/p>\n

If you're discussing upcoming war plans or otherwise have reason to believe your device is specifically being targeted for surveillance by a nation state, you need to take additional precautions beyond using Signal.<\/p>\n

For everyone else, Signal is still a good bet for everyday privacy and security.<\/p>\n

View link<\/a><\/p>","date_published":"2025-03-27T00:00:00-04:00","date_modified":"2025-03-27T14:25:02-04:00"},{"id":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/how-to-delete-your-data-from-23andme","url":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/how-to-delete-your-data-from-23andme","title":"How to Delete Your Data From 23andMe","content_html":"

[Emily Mullin, Lily Hay Newman]<\/a><\/p>\n

If you've used 23andMe, you should follow these steps to delete your data and (if applicable) destroy the original DNA sample before the company is sold. Otherwise, your genetic information will be subject to the whims of whatever company acquires the assets of 23andMe.<\/p>\n

View link<\/a><\/p>","date_published":"2025-03-25T00:00:00-04:00","date_modified":"2025-03-24T19:36:02-04:00"},{"id":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/pluralistic-gandersauce-08-mar-2025","url":"https:\/\/zkolar.xyz\/links\/pluralistic-gandersauce-08-mar-2025","title":"Pluralistic: Gandersauce (08 Mar 2025)","content_html":"

[Cory Doctorow]<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Amazon is a paperclip-maximizing artificial intelligence, and the paperclip it wants to maximize is profits, and the path to maximum profits is to charge infinity dollars for things that cost you zero dollars. Infinite prices and nonexistent wages are Amazon's twin pole-stars. Amazon warehouse workers don't have to be injured at three times the industry average, but maiming workers is cheaper than keeping them in good health. Once Amazon vanquished its competitors and captured its the majority of US consumers, it raised prices, and used its market dominance to force everyone else to raise their prices, too. Call it \"bezosflation\"<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

View link<\/a><\/p>","date_published":"2025-03-09T00:00:00-05:00","date_modified":"2025-03-08T19:42:20-05:00"}]}