wrote a little about the inspiration for Frank Herbert’s Butlerian Jihad (Samuel Butler and his novel EREHWON), as well as Luddism & democratic governance thetechbubble.substack.com/p/on-the-ori...

Kmart’s use of facial recognition to tackle refund fraud unlawful, Privacy Commissioner finds www.oaic.gov.au/news/media-c...

As big tech companies appeal to small island countries’ anxieties about being left behind, @emmaquilty.bsky.social considers how efforts to transform islands into digital hubs obscure the power and agency of these places and their people. datasociety.net/points/confr...

📣 NEW -- In The Economist, discussing the privacy perils of AI agents and what AI companies and operating systems need to do--NOW--to protect Signal and much else! www.economist.com/by-invitatio...

“Its loss is not just a literary blow,” concludes Max Kaiser. “It signals a narrowing of public debate and unfortunately a chilling message to people daring to support the publication of inconvenient truths." @nickfeik.bsky.social on who killed Meanjin. #auspol www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/16/m...

My review of Madison Griffiths' SWEET NOTHINGS is out now in the spring edition of Meanjin. It's bittersweet to be in one of Meanjin's last editions. The loss of this literary institution is a travesty. I've loved reading and writing for Meanjin, and especially working with @mxcreant.bsky.social

It would be a massive mistake for progressive folk to convince themselves the March for Australia was a bust, or can safely be ridiculed. It was an alarming escalation of far-right action, and we need to reckon with it. More thoughts (un-paywalled) here: www.lamestream.com.au/how-mainstre...

Melbourne Uni is killing the literary journal Meanjin. It's cultural vandalism. Australian universities are now deeply anti-intellectual places www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/04/m...

The federal government wants to charge for making FOI requests. Ridiculous for a government allegedly committed to transparency. www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/freed...

This is an excellent response to the "we have to charge for FOI because forren AI bots!" nonsense from the A-G. www.righttoknow.org.au/request/evid...

@floreani.bsky.social 🎂

"Ex meth-lab in a great location, include your blood type on the tenant application" Playlunch really capturing the essence of my research interviews with renters here 🎶

it was lovely to chat with Matt for the @admscentre.org.au podcast about my research. if you're interested in tech x rental housing or want to have a sticky beak into what I'm working on, this is a good overview 🏠

New research shows "home insurers consider the credit score of the homeowner more important than the location of the home in setting prices... On average across the nation, it is more expensive to have a poor credit score than to live in a zip code with a high disaster risk."

New ADM+S Podcast episode: PhD researcher Samantha @floreani.bsky.social explores her study on the growing influence of digital technologies in the residential real estate sector. 🎧 Listen now: admscentre.org/461k5OE

hey look it's @jathansadowski.com! launching his book! it's called The Mechanic and the Luddite! you should read it! it's a ruthless criticism of technology and capitalism! it's very good!

"I am a robodebt whistleblower. I know what it’s like to be punished for speaking out and why protection is urgent" – Jeannie-Marie Blake www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

if you watch the tech industry long enough you learn the promised benefits never materialize but the unforeseen harms continue to be perpetuated long after the companies move on to the next big thing yet governments are too worried about scaring away investment to do anything

My first physical copy of Witch Power has arrived!! The Melbourne book launch is on the 16th of Oct, here is the link to register: www.trybooking.com/events/landi... To pre-order the book: www.readings.com.au/product/9781...

I expanded on these thoughts. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Idk why the productivity commission believes productivity can be derived by giving away other people's labour for free to companies with way too much money. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

I just finished reading Tony Tulathimutte’s 'Rejection', about, as Jia Tolentino puts it her great review, "a bunch of huge fucking losers." It's impressive to write something simultaneously so repulsive and so compulsive...much like the internet itself. I hated it. I loved it.

last week I wrote about submissions made to the productivity commission by tech giants. today, the productivity commission released their report, basically suggesting to let AI companies have at it. it seems they're extremely happy to bend over to big tech

last year centrelink randomly sent me a $550 jobseeker payment (I haven't been on jobseeker for years). I contacted them and they were completely bewildered by it. I paid it back. turns out they told the ATO that I received the $550 of taxable income, which now I can't remove from my tax return 🫠

"Government IT systems that incorrectly penalised welfare recipients remain at breaking point and will continue to malfunction, the Employment department was warned earlier this year by independent reviewers." The targeted compliance framework does not seem to be getting nearly enough attention-

This, of course, is arguably already unlawful. Australian Privacy Principle 11.2 requires personal info that is no longer needed to be destroyed or de-identified. Some well placed complaints to the regulator might be useful here. www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/priv...

Tonight ANU’s @kathyreid.au on AI’s insatiable hunger for data and what she has dubbed the ‘token wars’ + @floreani.bsky.social unpacks incoming age verification for search engines & the implications for privacy and inclusion + Mike Bantick & me! @3rrrfm.bsky.social stream from 7pm AEST

I'll be chatting with the good folks at @3rrrfm.bsky.social #ByteIntoIt tomorrow evening 7.30pm-ish, all about the #TokenWars and the race for data to train #AI models - with @plasmov.bsky.social and @floreani.bsky.social and crew. Looking forward to it! www.rrr.org.au/explore/prog...

Privacy law should throw a spanner in the business models of these companies in favour of the public interest. Otherwise, what’s the point?

dusted off my privacy advocate hat to write this for crikey; asking what if - hear me out - what if we started thinking about privacy as something other than an economic bargaining chip? what if Australia prioritised the kind of privacy law reform that would genuinely ruffle big tech's feathers?

Tech giants are urging Australia not implement privacy law reform and AI regulation that would get in their way. Quelle surprise, ‪@floreani.bsky.social‬ writes.

going to have to jump out the window if riptide by vance joy is in the top ten today #hottest100

after six long years a friend and I finally decided it’s time to watch the 2019 live action Cats and I can safely say this is the worst movie I’ve ever seen and I am filled with regret jellicle WHAT

wrote about Silicon Valley’s plot against everything thetechbubble.substack.com/p/this-silic...

This is a good analysis on a vexed issue and while my position on the ban and age verification shifts and evolves, my position on the poorly executed policy, legislative and regulatory process sans any real public consultation continues to harden

new writing from me about age verification and content moderation beyond social media. with endless thanks to @kgt.bsky.social @drwaus.bsky.social @katha.bsky.social @antmandan.bsky.social Zahra Stardust @lucinda-nelson.bsky.social whose research and advocacy continue to inform my thinking

Here's @floreani.bsky.social on more re all the age checks coming in

Melbourne Folks! I will be hosting a book launch to celebrate The Mechanic and the Luddite! Come hear me chat about the book with Lizzie O'Shea and Chris O'Neill — and have a free drink! • August 14th, 6pm, Victorian Trades Hall • Register for free: events.humanitix.com/sadowkski-th...

what in the cocacolafication of avocados am I looking at here

This went up on the weekend. Has been interesting to me that I've written lots about the code development process over the years but now we're getting to the pointy end they're getting more attention.

sad to report that having reference to the luddites in my dating app profile is…not working as I had hoped. where are the luddite cuties at?? clearly there is more work to be done to spread the good word of ludd

"RealPage will integrate Livble into its property management software & handle “all collections.”Last year,the US DoJ & several states sued RealPage over claims that it monopolized the market for commercial revenue management software used to set price of apartments" www.theverge.com/news/710036/...

you can have zero sympathy for CEOs, for coldplay fans lmao, for people having affairs, but the frenzy around this does say something about the state of internet sleuthing, doxing and (often lateral) online surveillance, often framed as being in the name of justice or accountability

really don't care if you disagree with me, i think constantly filming everything everywhere is bad, i think the widespread deployment of facial recognition is bad, i think the fact there are cameras everywhere inside of arenas & that increasingly you have to use your face to buy a hot dog is bad

This is like deep buzzkill / privacy lecture behavior of me, but using face rec / crowdsourcing doxing investigations on totally random people doing absolutely nothing has become extremely popular and normalized on TikTok and it's really very bad

very little sympathy for UAP supporters but just another reminder that there's an absurd exemption for political parties in the privacy act, meaning they don't have to meet the requirements of the Australian Privacy Principles on how they collect, use, store, or share personal information soooo

This is very bad news - the ABS won't be releasing its Survey of Income and Housing. This is the survey that gives us the best detail on inequality of both wealth and income and it means we won't get one till 2027. The last one was in 2019-20 so it's already 5 years out of date

maybe a faux pas to say this but I keep being pleasantly surprised by how fun doing a phd is. countless people warned me about how hard, awful, soul crushing it is, but no one warned me it could be a good time

paradox, you say