📲 So you want to back up your phone, but don’t want cloud providers to be able to see the photos and videos you back up. We hear you! Our latest digital security advice column by @mshelton.bsky.social walks through your options.

Last week, Israel targeted and massacred 34 newspaper reporters in Yemen. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, it was the second deadliest attack on journalists ever recorded.

Here’s a man desperate, just thirsty, to make you think his version of the future is inevitable.

This is an interesting thread. For someone dealing with acute security and privacy risk, it really matters who we’re most concerned about and their capabilities when deciding what mitigations make sense. It’s not only about mitigating risk; mitigations are in service of other things we care about.

God this is bleak. Journalists should be yelling LOUDLY about Mario Guevara.

“While it’s good to see that @proton.me is reconsidering account suspensions, journalists are among the users who need these and similar tools most,” @mshelton.bsky.social, Freedom of the Press Foundation's deputy director of digital security, told @theintercept.com.

The new Secure Backup feature from @signal.org allows you to store up to 100MB of messages for free. It’s out now for Android, and will be out soon for iOS and desktop. Read more about the feature in our digital security newsletter (and subscribe):

Going over border-crossing device security at an #ONA25 roundtable with @freedom.press expert David Huerta reminded me how bad it is that Windows 11 doesn't offer these login options in Settings: • temporarily shut off Windows Hello (you can only remove it); • require a passcode after a restart.

Cindy is extraordinary. Literally, it’s not ordinary. Look at what this organization has done with her leadership. I am very curious to see who will fill such big shoes. www.eff.org/press/releas...

“An end-to-end encrypted chat application should be architected in such a way that even the service provider, by design, cannot read the messages, even if they wanted to,” @mshelton.bsky.social told @mikaelthalen.bsky.social. “Right now, it appears XChat does not provide these basic protections.”

XChat claims it is end-to-end encrypted, but the company also admits it's vulnerable to legal requests so… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ techcrunch.com/2025/09/05/x...

The de minimis exemption, which allowed imported packages worth less than $800 to enter the U.S. without facing any duties, will end for all countries on August 29.

When I contacted TransUnion this morning, a company spokesperson refused to answer basic questions about the company's data breach, such as who hosted the third-party application that was compromised, how the data was breached (if known), and what types of customers' personal data was stolen.

Age verification policies require verifying *everyone* including adults, who are ostensibly not the targets of these laws. Ostensibly. Unless, you know, you use a VPN to shift the location you connect from. freedom.press/digisec/blog...

things were better when the computer lived in its own specific room and you only went in there sometimes

ICE officials are having regular old MMS message threads talking about operations and details about targets. Then they’re just adding regular ass people to the thread for some reason. freedom.press/digisec/blog...

🛡️The U.S. Journalist Assistance Network, of which @freedom.press is a member, has compiled a set of immigration resources for journalists in the U.S. Check out the resources in the thread below, bookmark and share:

If you are a journalist — or know one — who has been attacked, seriously threatened, denied access by a public official or targeted with a legal order in the course of reporting, let us know. You can now submit tips in English or Spanish. Email: [email protected]

"generate a map of the USA with each state named"

It’s extremely easy to dunk on these outputs, but that’s just because they are very bad

uBlock Origin Lite is not just for Chrome/Chromium-based browsers any more. They have a new extension for Safari, and it even works on iPhone and iPads. lifehacker.com/tech/ublock-...

This whole story is insane. Tesla apparently did everything it could to avoid providing the data it had about its Autopilot crash. This is just a snippet and there's a lot more. electrek.co/2025/08/04/t...

Yes and now you’re reading this from the Metaverse

In our “Ask a security trainer” column, someone wonders if we use a password for our password manager. Yes, and we also have backups for our authentication methods. Read all about it in our digital security team’s advice column.

NEW: Google admits to a vulnerability that was used to de-index legitimate web pages from search results and bury critical reporting, commentary.

Carl Sagan explains how the ancient Greeks knew the Earth was round and calculated its circumference over 2,000 years ago.

You know you're doing some good work when a company attempts to insert themselves into your editorial team

Without federal funding, public media — and the truth-telling, community-connecting role it plays — is at risk. Local stations may vanish. Millions could lose trusted news and vital information. If you are ready to join the fight for journalism, donate now: n.pr/458sOhq

stop 👏 anthropomorphizing 👏 the 👏 chatbot 👏

I got the Switch 2, and new Mario Kart feels like Mario Kart 8 with open world side quests. I am nonetheless paying Nintendo for the privilege of playing this semi-competitively online against Internet strangers

My old man version of this is just being in a room full of 90s-2000s video game stuff I love and when someone walks in for an appraisal all I can do is sigh

I wrote a post about visiting the last stamp store in Chicago and living a life that’s fun, but worthless. I really like this one, hope you do too. dansinker.com/posts/202…

Whether or not you like these orgs, it's *probably* not great when the most powerful person in the world uses the legal system to make an example of them.

Let me just unbreaking.org/issues/food-...

Unlike CEOs and other executives, individual contributors understand concert OPSEC

With help from @yaelwrites.com, we've made some big updates to our guide to the security and privacy properties of journalists' favorite transcription tools. Check it out: freedom.press/digisec/blog...

How secure are journalists’ favorite transcription tools? Check out this updated piece by @mshelton.bsky.social and I! freedom.press/digisec/blog...

With help from @yaelwrites.com, we've made some big updates to our guide to the security and privacy properties of journalists' favorite transcription tools. Check it out: freedom.press/digisec/blog...

Soon: Tesla orders offer pre-loaded dakimakura techcrunch.com/2025/07/14/e...

Are you at @morelatinosinnews.bsky.social conference?! Come check out our closing event, main stage, before happy hour.

"My photographer got hit twice by less than lethal rounds and he's got blood on one of his arms and we just took off running with the entire crowd. It was absolutely chaotic."

EXCLUSIVE: I discovered evidence that an IMSI-catcher, commonly called a Stingray, was used during a July 4 protest at an ICE facility. Using an advanced detection tool called Marlin, I scanned cellular traffic & found hundreds of anomalies indicative of surveillance san.com/cc/exclusive...

Journalists: Will you be at #NAHJ25 in Chicago this week? Our Senior Digital Security Trainer David Huerta is giving *four* talks on digital security, getting ahead of doxxing, and AI safety. Come say hi! builder.guidebook.com/g/#/guides/n...

Okay, so you're using Signal for encrypted messaging. Cool. It's a good time to use usernames instead of a phone number to talk to people. That and lots more about how to make the most of Signal's security features in here: freedom.press/digisec/blog...

Are you a U.S.-based journalist covering the U.S./Mexico border and looking to grow your safety and security skillset? We are providing two intensive safety training programs in collaboration with @tcij.org, ACOS Alliance, and @eff.org — for free. Apply by July 3: eff.org/jstapp

The singularity is awesome

Well this is exciting! @signal.org is testing end-to-end encrypted backups. This could help you more easily set up a new device and pick up your conversations where they left off. community.signalusers.org/t/public-sig...

The CEO of Flock wrote a blog about our "recent clickbait-driven reporting and social media rumors that mischaracterize Flock’s LPR devices" then proceeded to explain how our reporting directly resulted in extensive changes to how police are allowed to use Flock www.404media.co/flock-remove...