Privacy brihuang95 • Now • 93%

Proton Mail CEO Calls New Address Verification Feature 'Blockchain in a Very Pure Form'

>Proton Mail, the leading privacy-focused email service, is making its first foray into blockchain technology with Key Transparency, which will allow users to verify email addresses. From a report: In an interview with Fortune, CEO and founder Andy Yen made clear that although the new feature uses blockchain, the key technology behind crypto, Key Transparency isn't "some sketchy cryptocurrency" linked to an "exit scam." A student of cryptography, Yen added that the new feature is "blockchain in a very pure form," and it allows the platform to solve the thorny issue of ensuring that every email address actually belongs to the person who's claiming it. >Proton Mail uses end-to-end encryption, a secure form of communication that ensures only the intended recipient can read the information. Senders encrypt an email using their intended recipient's public key -- a long string of letters and numbers -- which the recipient can then decrypt with their own private key. The issue, Yen said, is ensuring that the public key actually belongs to the intended recipient. "Maybe it's the NSA that has created a fake public key linked to you, and I'm somehow tricked into encrypting data with that public key," he told Fortune. In the security space, the tactic is known as a "man-in-the-middle attack," like a postal worker opening your bank statement to get your social security number and then resealing the envelope. >Blockchains are an immutable ledger, meaning any data initially entered onto them can't be altered. Yen realized that putting users' public keys on a blockchain would create a record ensuring those keys actually belonged to them -- and would be cross-referenced whenever other users send emails. "In order for the verification to be trusted, it needs to be public, and it needs to be unchanging," Yen said. Curious if anyone here would use a feature like this? It sounds neat but I don't think I'm going to be needing a feature like this on a day-to-day basis, though I could see use cases for folks handling sensitive information.

Free and Open Source Software brihuang95 • Now • 100%

Any FOSS alternatives for Google Messages that support RCS?

Was curious if there were FOSS solutions since I really would like to avoid using anything Google related

Technology brihuang95 • Now • 95%

Cabal of 'gay furry hackers' claims over 3,000 files stolen in NATO website breach

www.pcgamer.com

The headline itself made this worth sharing

Technology brihuang95 • Now • 100%

Philips Hue will soon require an account to use its app — here’s what that means

www.theverge.com

According to its current privacy policy, with an account, Hue gets access to the configuration of your system to provide the right software updates to the devices. It can only use your data for marketing or share it with third parties if you provide additional consent. However, in a change to the current policy, Yianni says Hue will not collect usage information from users without additional optional consent. “So, we do not require users share anything about how they use our products,” he says. “Previously creating an account was consent for usage data processing that we are in the process of decoupling and will be decoupled before accounts become essential — that makes sure it’s possible to create an account without sharing usage data,” says Yianni. However, if you choose to use the cloud services for things like out-of-home connectivity, you will need an account, and Hue will process your data, he says. If this change to the privacy policy does happen, Home Assistant’s Schoutsen agrees that it would make the requirement for an account more palatable. “But it all depends on the exact changes,” he says.

Technology brihuang95 • Now • 97%

Amazon to Run Ads in Prime Video Shows and Movies

www.wsj.com

Oh boy, more enshittification

Gaming brihuang95 • Now • 100%

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty almost corrects the past

www.polygon.com

well i may have to consider picking this up.

Trees brihuang95 • Now • 58%

Favorite places to buy THC-A/Delta 9 flower online?

I recently bought some pre-rolls from [Botany Farms](https://www.botanyfarms.com/) and really liked them. I've also heard of Hemp Generation and Dr. Ganja but curious what places you all prefer?

Privacy brihuang95 • Now • 97%

Google Agrees to $93 Million Settlement in California's Location-Privacy Lawsuit

thehackernews.com

"Last November, it agreed to pay $391.5 million to settle similar complaints by 40 U.S. states. Then in January 2023, it agreed to pay a total of $29.5 million to settle two different lawsuits brought by Indiana and Washington, D.C. Subsequently, in May 2023, the company settled with Washington state for $39.9 million for the same reasons. It's currently facing a location tracking lawsuit in the state of Texas." Jesus Christ...