Thursday, September 4, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Exposing the lies that keep you trapped in surveillance culture

Debunking the biggest myths about data collection

Published 19 April 2025
– By Naomi Brockwell
4 minute read

Let’s be honest: data is useful. But we’re constantly told that in order to benefit from modern tech—and the insights that come with it—we have to give up our privacy. That useful data only comes from total access. That once your info is out there, you’ve lost control. That there’s no point in trying to protect it anymore.

These are myths. And they’re holding us back.

The truth is, you can benefit from data-driven tools without giving away everything. You can choose which companies to trust. You can protect one piece of information while sharing another. You can demand smarter systems that deliver insights without exploiting your identity.

Privacy isn’t about opting out of technology—it’s about choosing how you engage with it.

In this issue, we’re busting four of the most common myths about data collection. Because once you understand what’s possible, you’ll see how much power you still have.

Myth #1: “I gave data to one company, so my privacy is already gone”.

This one is everywhere. Once people sign up for a social media account or share info with a fitness app, they often throw up their hands and say, “Well, I guess my privacy’s already gone”.

But that’s not how privacy works.

Privacy is about choice. It’s about context. It’s about setting boundaries that make sense for you.

Just because you’ve shared data with one company doesn’t mean you’re giving blanket permission to every app, government agency, or ad network to track you forever.

You’re allowed to:

  • Share one piece of information and protect another.
  • Say yes to one service and no to others.
  • Change your mind, rotate your identifiers, and reduce future exposure.

Privacy isn’t all or nothing. And it’s never too late to take some power back.

Myth #2: “If I give a company data, they can do whatever they want with it”.

Not if you pick the right company.

Many businesses are committed to ethical data practices. Some explicitly state in their terms that they’ll never share your data, sell it, or use it outside the scope of the service you signed up for.

Look for platforms that don’t retain unnecessary data. There are more of them out there than you think.

Myth #3: “To get insights, a company needs to see my data”.

This one’s finally starting to crumble—thanks to game-changing tech like homomorphic encryption.

Yes, really: companies can now do compute on encrypted data without ever decrypting it.

It’s already in use in financial services, research, and increasingly, consumer apps. It proves that privacy and data analysis can go hand in hand.

Imagine this: a health app computes your sleep averages, detects issues, and offers recommendations—without ever seeing your raw data. It stays encrypted the whole time.

We need to champion this kind of innovation. More research. More tools. More adoption. And more support for companies already doing it—because our business sends a signal that this investment was worth it for them, and encourages other companies to jump on board.

Myth #4: “To prove who you are, you have to hand over sensitive data.”

You’ve heard this from banks, employers, and government forms: “We need your full ID to verify who you are”.

But here’s the problem: every time we hand over sensitive data, we increase our exposure to breaches and identity theft. It’s a bad system.

There’s a better way.
With zero-knowledge proofs, we can prove things like being over 18, or matching a record—without revealing our address, birthdate, or ID number.

The tech already exists. But companies and institutions are slow to adopt it or even recognize it as legitimate. This won’t change until we demand better.

Let’s push for a world where:

  • Our identity isn’t a honeypot for hackers.
  • We can verify ourselves without becoming vulnerable.
  • Privacy-first systems are the norm—not the exception.

Takeaways

The idea that we have to trade privacy for progress is a myth. You can have both. The tools exist. The choice is ours.

Privacy isn’t about hiding—it’s about control. You can choose to share specific data without giving up your rights or exposing everything.

Keep these in mind:

  • Pick tools that respect you. Look for platforms with strong privacy practices and transparent terms.
  • Use privacy-preserving tech. Homomorphic encryption and zero-knowledge proofs are real—and growing.
  • Don’t give up just because you shared once. Privacy is a spectrum. You can always take back control.
  • Talk about it. The more people realize they have options, the faster we change the norm.

Being informed doesn’t have to mean being exploited.
Let’s demand better.

 

Yours in privacy,
Naomi

Naomi Brockwell is a privacy advocacy and professional speaker, MC, interviewer, producer, podcaster, specialising in blockchain, cryptocurrency and economics. She runs the NBTV channel on Rumble.

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IP addresses are used in Sweden to track unemployed people

Published 1 September 2025
– By Editorial Staff
The Swedish Public Employment Service has already identified approximately 4,000 people who appear to have logged in from a country other than Sweden.
2 minute read

The Swedish Public Employment Service (Arbetsförmedlingen) has begun tracking the IP addresses of unemployed individuals to verify that they are actually located in Sweden. Approximately 4,000 people who logged in from foreign IP numbers now risk losing their benefits.

To be eligible for unemployment insurance (A-kassa) and other forms of compensation linked to being unemployed, certain requirements must be met. One of these requirements is that individuals must be located in Sweden, in order to be available in case a job opportunity arises.

When job seekers log into the Swedish Public Employment Service’s website, their IP address is now checked. If a person logs in from a foreign IP number, this suggests that they are located in another country.

The Swedish Public Employment Service has been tracking job seekers since the end of June, and the agency has already identified approximately 4,000 people who appear to have logged in from a country other than Sweden.

It’s a way to counteract the risk of incorrect payments. We’re talking about people who are abroad even though they should be in Sweden looking for work or participating in labor market policy programs, says Andreas Malmgren, operations controller at the Swedish Public Employment Service, to the Bonnier publication DN.

None of these individuals have been contacted yet, but the agency plans to make contact during September. These people risk having their benefits withdrawn.

Furthermore, the agency has also established a special tool to check whether job seekers are using VPN services, so that no one ends up among those flagged by mistake.

Wifi signals can identify people with 95 percent accuracy

Mass surveillance

Published 21 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
2 minute read

Italian researchers have developed a technique that can track and identify individuals by analyzing how wifi signals reflect off human bodies. The method works even when people change clothes and can be used for surveillance.

Researchers at La Sapienza University in Rome have developed a new method for identifying and tracking people using wifi signals. The technique, which the researchers call “WhoFi”, can recognize people with an accuracy rate of up to 95 percent, reports Sweclockers.

The method is based on the fact that wifi signals reflect and refract in different ways when they hit human bodies. By analyzing these reflection patterns using machine learning and artificial neural networks, researchers can create unique “fingerprints” for each individual.

Works despite clothing changes

Experiments show that these digital fingerprints are stable enough to identify people even when they change clothes or carry backpacks. The average recognition rate is 88 percent, which researchers say is comparable to other automatic identification methods.

The research results were published in mid-July and describe how the technology could be used in surveillance contexts. According to the researchers, WhoFi can solve the problem of re-identifying people who were first observed via a surveillance camera in one location and then need to be found in footage from cameras in other locations.

Can be used for surveillance

The technology opens up new possibilities in security surveillance, but simultaneously raises questions about privacy and personal security. The fact that wifi networks, which are ubiquitous in today’s society, can be used to track people without their knowledge represents a new dimension of digital surveillance.

The researchers present their discovery as a breakthrough in the field of automatic person identification, but do not address the ethical implications that the technology may have for individuals’ privacy.

Danish students build drone that flies and swims

Published 18 August 2025
– By Editorial Staff
2 minute read

Four students at Aalborg University in Denmark have developed a revolutionary drone that seamlessly transitions between air and water. The prototype uses innovative rotor technology that automatically adapts to different environments.

Four students at Aalborg University in Denmark have created something that sounds like science fiction – a drone that can literally fly down into water, swim around and then jump back up into the air to continue flying, reports Tom’s Hardware.

Students Andrei Copaci, Pawel Kowalczyk, Krzysztof Sierocki and Mikolaj Dzwigalo have developed a prototype as their thesis project that demonstrates how future amphibious drones could function. The project has attracted attention from technology media after a demonstration video showed the drone flying over a pool, crashing down into the water, navigating underwater and then taking off into the air again.

Intelligent rotor technology solves the challenge

The secret behind the impressive performance lies in what the team calls a “variable rotor system”. The individual rotor blades can automatically adjust their pitch angle depending on whether the drone is in air or water.

When the drone flies through the air, the rotor blades work at a higher angle for optimal lift capacity. Underwater, the blade pitch is lowered to reduce resistance and improve efficiency during navigation. The system can also reverse thrust to increase maneuverability when the drone moves through tight passages underwater.

Most components in the prototype have been manufactured by the students themselves using 3D printers, since equivalent parts were not available on the market.

Although the project is still in an early concept stage and exists only as a single prototype, it demonstrates the possibilities for future amphibious vehicles. The technology could have applications in everything from rescue operations to environmental monitoring where vehicles need to move both above and below the water surface.

What I learnt at DEFCON

Why hacker culture is essential if we want to win the privacy war.

Published 16 August 2025
– By Naomi Brockwell
6 minute read

DEFCON is the world’s largest hacker conference. Every year, tens of thousands of people gather in Las Vegas to share research, run workshops, compete in capture-the-flag tournaments, and break things for sport. It’s a subculture. A testing ground. A place where some of the best minds in security and privacy come together not just to learn, but to uncover what’s being hidden from the rest of us. It’s where curiosity runs wild.

But to really get DEFCON, you have to understand the people.

What is a hacker?

I love hacker conferences because of the people. Hackers are notoriously seen as dangerous. The stereotype is that they wear black hoodies and Guy Fawkes masks.

But that’s not why they’re dangerous: They’re dangerous because they ask questions and have relentless curiosity.

Hackers have a deep-seated drive to learn how things work, not just at the surface, but down to their core.

They aren’t content with simply using tech. They want to open it up, examine it, and see the hidden gears turning underneath.

A hacker sees a device and doesn’t just ask, “What does it do?”
They ask, “What else could it do?”
“What isn’t it telling me?”
“What’s under the hood, and why does no one want me to look?”

They’re curious enough to pull back curtains others want to remain closed.

They reject blind compliance and test boundaries.
When society says “Do this,” hackers ask “Why?”

They don’t need a rulebook or external approval.
They trust their own instincts and intelligence.
They’re guided by internal principles, not external prescriptions.
They’re not satisfied with the official version. They challenge it.

Because of this, hackers are often at the fringes of society. They’re comfortable with being misunderstood or even vilified. Hackers are unafraid to reveal truths that powerful entities want buried.

But that position outside the mainstream gives them perspective: They see what others miss.

Today, the word “hack” is everywhere:
Hack your productivity.
Hack your workout.
Hack your life.

What it really means is:
Don’t accept the defaults.
Look under the surface.
Find a better way.

That’s what makes hacker culture powerful.
It produces people who will open the box even when they’re told not to.
People who don’t wait for permission to investigate how the tools we use every day are compromising us.

That insistence on curiosity, noncompliance, and pushing past the surface to see what’s buried underneath is exactly what we need in a world built on hidden systems of control.

We should all aspire to be hackers, especially when it comes to confronting power and surveillance.

Everything is computer

Basically every part of our lives runs on computers now.
Your phone. Your car. Your thermostat. Your TV. Your kid’s toys.
And much of this tech has been quietly and invisibly hijacked for surveillance.

Companies and governments both want your data. And neither want you asking how these data collection systems work.

We’re inside a deeply connected world, built on an opaque infrastructure that is extracting behavioral data at scale.

You have a right to know what’s happening inside the tech you use every day.
Peeking behind the curtain is not a crime. It’s a public service.

In today’s world, the hacker mindset is not just useful. It’s necessary.

Hacker culture in a surveillance world

People who ask questions are a nightmare for those who want to keep you in the dark.
They know how to dig.
They don’t take surveillance claims at face value.
They know how to verify what data is actually being collected.
They don’t trust boilerplate privacy policies or vague legalese.
They reverse-engineer SDKs.
They monitor network traffic.
They intercept outgoing requests and inspect payloads.

And they don’t ask for permission.

That’s what makes hacker culture so important. If we want any hope of reclaiming privacy, we need people with the skills and the willingness to pull apart the systems we’re told not to question.

On top of that, governments and corporations both routinely use outdated and overbroad legislation like the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) to prosecute public-interest researchers who investigate tech. Not because those researchers cause harm, but because they reveal things that others want kept hidden.

Laws like this pressure people towards compliance, and make them afraid to ask questions. The result is that curiosity feels like a liability, and it becomes harder for the average person to understand how the digital systems around us actually work.

That’s why the hacker mindset matters so much: Because no matter how hard the system pushes back, they keep asking questions.

The researchers I met at DEFCON

This year at DEFCON, I met researchers who are doing exactly that.

People uncovering surveillance code embedded in children’s toys.
People doing analysis on facial recognition SDKs.
People testing whether your photo is really deleted after “verification”.
People capturing packets who discovered that the “local only” systems you’re using aren’t local at all, and are sending your data to third parties.
People analyzing “ephemeral” IDs, and finding that your data was being stored and linked back to real identities.

You’ll be hearing from some of them on our channel in the coming months.
Their work is extraordinary, and helping all of us move towards a world of informed consent instead of blind compliance. Without this kind of research, the average person has no way to know what’s happening behind the scenes. We can’t make good decisions about the tech we use if we don’t know what it’s doing.

Make privacy cool again

Making privacy appealing is not just about education.
It’s about making it cool.

Hacker culture has always been at the forefront of turning fringe ideas into mainstream trends. Films like Hackers and The Matrix made hackers a status symbol. Movements like The Crypto Wars (when the government fought Phil Zimmermann over PGP), and the Clipper Chip fights (when they tried to standardize surveillance backdoors across hardware) made cypherpunks and privacy activists aspirational.

Hackers take the things mainstream culture mocks or fears, and make them edgy and cool.

That’s what we need here. We need a cultural transformation and to push back against the shameful language that demands we justify our desire for privacy.

You shouldn’t have to explain why you don’t want to be watched.
You shouldn’t have to defend your decision to protect your communications.

Make privacy a badge of honor.
Make privacy tools a status symbol.
Make the act of encrypting, self-hosting, and masking your identity a signal that says you’re independent, intelligent, and not easily manipulated.

Show that the people who care about privacy are the same people who invent the future.

Most people don’t like being trailblazers, because it’s scary. But if you’re reading this, you’re one of the early adopters, which means you’re already one of the fearless ones.

When you take a stand visibly, you create a quorum and make it safer for others to join in. That’s how movements grow, and we go from being weirdos in the corner to becoming the majority.

If privacy is stigmatized, reclaiming it will take bold, fearless, visible action.
The hacker community is perfectly positioned to lead that charge, and to make it safe for the rest of the world to follow.

When you show up and say, “I care about this,” you give others permission to care too.

Privacy may be on the fringe right now, but that’s where all great movements begin.

Final Thoughts

What I learnt at DEFCON is that curiosity is powerful.
Refusal to comply is powerful.
The simple act of asking questions can be revolutionary.

There are systems all around us extracting data and consolidating control, and most people don’t know how to fight that, and are too scared to try.

Hacker culture is the secret sauce.

Let’s apply this drive to the systems of surveillance.
Let’s investigate the tools we’ve been told to trust.
Let’s explain what’s actually happening.
Let’s give people the knowledge they need to make better choices.

Let’s build a world where curiosity isn’t criminalized but celebrated.

DEFCON reminded me that we don’t need to wait for permission to start doing that.

We can just do things.

So let’s start now.

 

Yours in privacy,
Naomi

Naomi Brockwell is a privacy advocacy and professional speaker, MC, interviewer, producer, podcaster, specialising in blockchain, cryptocurrency and economics. She runs the NBTV channel on Rumble.

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