Don't bring sensitive data to a border crossing
The DOJ is trying to prosecute Sam Tunick for allegedly using a duress passcode. It's a lesson in why your best protection is having nothing to protect.
Latest
Can data collectives help strengthen vulnerable cultures in the face of AI?
"Data collectives and cooperatives, which let creators control the collection and distribution of their data, are emerging as preferred alternatives to big tech companies."
Notable links: July 24, 2026
America's AI dominance is under threat; AI vendors put us at risk; meanwhile, everyone's staying in their jobs for the health insurance.
AI vendors can't be trusted to secure their systems. Newsrooms need to act accordingly
There were two big lapses in the Hugging Face / OpenAI hacking story: the lack of security protections on OpenAI's end, and Hugging Face's vulnerable production database. That should worry anyone who uses AI with sensitive data.
Private healthcare makes industries less innovative. It's time for change.
1 in 4 American workers stay in their jobs because of the healthcare. It suppresses wages and working conditions - and prevents innovators from heading out on their own.
People are transcribing your conversations without asking. That puts you at risk.
Apps like Granola make it easy to transcribe conversations without asking for consent. Those transcripts are a subpoena honeypot.
American AI is locked down and proprietary. It's losing.
China's open-weights AI strategy is winning: its companies are taking the lead. America's closed-first, locked-down strategy is doomed to failure - and it could take the US economy down with it.
Notable links: July 17, 2026
At a time when journalism is increasingly under attack, we need PIT Crews for news.
To innovate, news needs allies
"Allies, archives and infrastructure in the AI age" - a list of people with the potential to push news forward.
The SFPD leaked its drone footage. It shouldn't be surveilling to begin with.
Surveillance doesn't improve crime or make anyone safer. It wastes civic dollars and creates new risks for vulnerable communities. The SFPD's leak demonstrates one reason why.
We need a PIT Crew for news
Zohran Mamdani has unveiled a radically collaborative, cross-disciplinary approach to building internal technology capacity. News has a lot to learn from it.
Climate.gov was destroyed. Open data saved it.
"After losing their jobs at NOAA, Rebecca Lindsey, her sister and another colleague teamed up to rebuild a pivotal resource the Trump administration took offline."
Media
The Trump administration is subpoenaing journalists to reveal sources. Their data security is more important than ever.
"Historically, the Justice Department has sought to subpoena reporters only as a last resort after other reasonable options have been exhausted." Now the FBI is doing it to satisfy an angry President.
Link roundups
Notable links: July 10, 2026
In the face of declining trust in media, communities are part of the solution.
Media
Communities will build trust and loyalty for local public media. Chicago Public Media is taking a big leap forward.
Chicago Public Media is launching a region-wide social platform as a way to bolster its journalism. I believe it represents a path to the future.
Technology
As social networks fill up with AI slop, trusted relationships and communities will win.
Long-form LinkedIn posts are 41% slop. Other social networks are not far behind.
fiction
IndieWeb Fiction Carnival: May 2026 Roundup
Three short fiction pieces
Business
Startups track business metrics. Newsrooms should learn from them.
I've rarely seen newsroom business teams discuss metrics like LTV, CAC, and even ARR outside fundraising or finance. They should be commonly known.
Media
CNN and CNBC promote gambling to make a cheap buck
Some newsrooms are making money from deals with prediction markets. It will only serve to further destroy the public's trust in news.
AI
Governance can prevent AI from being used to undermine democracy. But only if it has teeth.
The apparatus to cement centralized, undemocratic power has already been built. Regulations have a part to play, but they can't just be recommendations.
Democracy
Happy 250th birthday, America
Let's keep building.
Link roundups
Notable links: July 3, 2026
AI, surveillance, open tech, and news as a business.
Media
A new media spinout provides streaming apps for public service broadcasters. I just wish it was open.
We need to see more technical collaborations between public service media organizations. It's also really important that they're based on open technology that doesn't lock them in.
Media
Newsrooms need to get comfortable expressing their business value - and raising money on it.
Newsrooms like to spend their time on the journalistic process and assume that the value of their work will speak for itself. They need to start selling themselves.