If you're interested in critical research on criminal justice then I cannot recommend this free event on Oct 7 - launch of a new critical textbook on criminal justice system in Scotland by three amazing academics - highly enough. Sign up here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-launch...

Although of course disappointing to see that MI6 haven’t done their homework - it’s Tor, not TOR @torproject.org

To take a break from doom, gloom and lengthy blogs that require deep research I wrote about ten #hacker #movies you've probably missed. Share it out if you can, it would be a great way for people to sidle into the #history of #hacking in an accessible way. realhackhistory.org/2025/09/19/t...

www.bbc.com/news/article... if this seems a bit odd, it’s useful to know that for a long time the most popular site on the so-called Dark Web was Facebook! Lots more about this in my book - Tor: From the Dark Web to the Future of Privacy available here mitpress.mit.edu/978026254818...

When a mix starts with hear an ethereal far away voice saying: “no process is universal… viscous, unravelling structures… your mind searches to find patterns to sustain… we need one another” you know you’re about to hear the hardest shit imaginable.

Given that "unfunded" here presumably means "not third-party funded" (research, after all, is usually part of an academic's job description and a part of what they receive their salary for), this sounds like the government wants to shunt a bunch of Higher Ed. employees onto teaching-only contracts.

"Hobbyist" is a truly breathtaking choice of phrase. It encapsulates a profound sense of contempt for the labour of academics in the UK, who already have to navigate an underfunded system dominated by precarity and overwork. "Knows the price of everything but the value of nothing" springs to mind

After 25 years at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Cindy Cohn is stepping down as executive director. In a WIRED interview, she reflects on encryption, AI, and why she’s not ready to quit the battle. www.wired.com/story/eff-ci...

Lecturers and other staff at the University of Edinburgh are set to begin a five-day walkout in a dispute over plans to cut £140 million from the university’s budget

If you want to do more than just oppose big commercial publishers that, claims of Open Access that hide massive APCs, then support independent, genuinely #OpenAccess academic journals like Surveillance & Society. #AcademicSky For a list –send additions to me!– see: ubisurv.net/2024/09/04/r...

Since surely we are taking an evidence-based approach to assessing AI’s value, and in light of last week’s MIT study showing similar results for businesses, we will now be halting the ‘put AI into everything everywhere always’ campaign? *listens in earpiece* oh no

There are four main arguments for AI in education: 1. Efficiency, saving teachers time 2. Equity, making education inclusive 3. Improving outcomes by personalizing learning 4. It's inevitable Is it true? Nope. Micro 🧵

New- with details and analysis www.computerweekly.com/news/3666300... #encryption #Apple @jessicashurson.bsky.social @susansegfault.bsky.social Thanks to @bernardkeenan.bsky.social

To explain this photo a bit more: back then, most programming was done on paper (sometimes on special coding sheets), then punched onto cards/tape, then fed into a mainframe to be tested (& if necessary debugged). Counterintuitively, needing LESS computer time was the mark of a better programmer!

Steve Shirley escaped the Holocaust as a child & went on to found one of the earliest software startups. The really impressive part? She employed women programmers who had been pushed out of the workforce after having kids, & allowed them flexible, family friendly, work from home jobs—in the 1960s!

I spoke with @histoftech.bsky.social about AI hype, how tools are used to amass power and reshape systems, expertise, and more! www.fastcompany.com/91384078/not...

UK government simultaneously replaced expert advice on technology with tech company “consultants” and displaced their civil servants’ experience and expertise into AI models… It’s a disaster & an absolute gift to the tech vendors…

This is just nonsense from a man who has repeatedly shown he doesn't know the first thing about his brief and doesn't care to learn Me verifying my age does not stop any child accessing any content. Me using a VPN does not allow any child to access content. There is no causal relationship here

The thing is, just logistically, it should be easier to use the law to throttle algorithmic content recommendations than it is to roll out a requirement for age verification to 10s of millions of people. But presumably the Meta policy people didn't like that idea.

UK has backed down on demand to access US Apple user data, spy chief says

🚨 URGENT: We need an urgent moratorium on the use of UK passport and immigration databases for FRT searches.

Halley's Comet Vega Flyby missions. this image is one of the most beautiful things i've ever seen. peak severe tinted terminal mode UX. it's one of the primary influences on the textmode in my game.

Very glad to be starting this SIPR-funded research project (and congrats to the other awardees!). We will explore MI5's new(ish) agency, the National Protective Security Authority, + impacts of new Protect Duty on policing, protest + the built environment in Scotland. www.sipr.ac.uk/news/sipr-fu...

Piece out today on the Online Safety Act, the Tor Project, and why breaking the basic security of our digital infrastructures in order to surveil women and children isn't the feminist win some are claiming it is: thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-secret-h...

Related, on July 25 (Online Safety age check implementation day), number of daily Tor users in the UK jumped by a sustained 17% and is now continuing to rise past 25% higher than its previous steady level (quick and rough calculation using data from @torproject.org metrics site, all caveats apply)

There are always plausible sounding reasons given by governments for clawing back or impinging on human rights, we all need to see the justifications for what they are.

Piece out today on the Online Safety Act, the Tor Project, and why breaking the basic security of our digital infrastructures in order to surveil women and children isn't the feminist win some are claiming it is: thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-secret-h...

🧑‍⚖️ | The first book in a decade to focus entirely on Scotland’s criminal justice system has been published. Learn more about Criminal Justice in Scotland ⤵️ Story ➡️ orlo.uk/zWH3F #MustBeNapier | @socscinapier.bsky.social

www.routledge.com/Criminal-Jus... £8 off preorders until Friday for this fantastic book by my lovely husband and two brilliant colleagues

Updated - Court refuses WhatsApp right to intervene in Apple legal action on encryption ‘backdoors’ www.computerweekly.com/news/3666279... @privacyinternational.org @susansegfault.bsky.social @ianbrown.tech

Opening this week, runs 12 June- 26 July

Now out for over a year, you can pick up a copy of my book, which maps an extensive cultural, political, and technological history of Tor (aka the so-called Dark Web) here mitpress.mit.edu/978026254818... with everything from spies to pizza, to Vin Diesel and the US navy.

The government would be sensible to step back and retract this notice, and instead focus on the important work of renewing the UK’s basic infrastructure, digital security, and privacy protections."

Law enforcement have much more effective tactics - ones which don’t involve undermining our shared security - to investigate and disrupt serious criminal activity where encryption is being used.

As the UK government’s own guidance for companies and the public makes clear, strong encryption is at the heart of keeping the services we all use safe and secure. There is no way to undermine encryption which doesn’t leave huge weaknesses that criminals and hostile state actors can exploit.

Our basic human rights and democratic freedoms rely on security, privacy, and the accountability of our institutions. Tactics like issuing encryption removal orders to tech companies will only make every iPhone user in the UK less secure.

My comment on behalf of FIPR: “It’s not surprising that the Home Office’s attempt to compel Apple to undermine the security of their products is facing resistance from the US Government. The UK Government’s order would effectively ban Apple from telling the US Congress what they had been asked to do

We explain the key issues behind the case, arguing that this fundamentally breaks security and privacy for Apple's users, and outlining some of the many alternatives which law enforcement have to these backdoors.

It has been the source of significant controversy, with the US Government pushing back against the order and making it an issue in ongoing trade negotiations between the US and UK.

This order - initially made in secret and which Apple is not allowed to discuss even with the US Congress - effectively requires Apple to build a backdoor into its encrypted systems.

It emerged earlier this year that the Home Office has issued a TCN to Apple. This notice requires Apple to make technical changes to its Advanced Data Protection service, which provides users with secure encrypted storage, to allow the UK Government to access encrypted user data on request.

The Foundation for Information Policy Research is today publishing a policy explainer of the ongoing case between Apple and the Home Office, in which we outline the issues and our views on them as experts in law, cryptography, policy, security, and criminology. You can find it here: www.fipr.org

Now out for over a year, you can pick up a copy of my book, which maps an extensive cultural, political, and technological history of Tor (aka the so-called Dark Web) here mitpress.mit.edu/978026254818... with everything from spies to pizza, to Vin Diesel and the US navy.

I saw this first hand as an expert witness in numerous #EncroChat trials #encryption #Apple #ADP #TCN #FIPR

A great short explainer article from FIPR on the ongoing Apple v Home Office case regarding encryption

The Foundation for Information Policy Research is today publishing a policy explainer of the ongoing case between Apple and the Home Office, in which we outline the issues and our views on them as experts in law, cryptography, policy, security, and criminology. You can find it here: www.fipr.org

Our colleagues Jamie Buchan, Sarah Anderson and Katrina Morrison have written the first textbook on Scottish criminal justice in over a decade. A guide to key institutions through a critical lens, and essential read for criminology students in Scotland. Out 4 August www.routledge.com/Criminal-Jus...

A much needed (and excellently timed) resource produced by my esteemed @edinburghnapier.bsky.social colleagues, looking forward to taking my students through this work. This really couldn't have been written by more diligent hands, absolutely delighted to see it out into the world ⚖️ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿