Monday, June 2, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

New law could force Signal to leave Sweden

Published 26 February 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Signal had around 70 million users last year.

The Swedish government wants to force encrypted apps to store all messages sent. If the proposal becomes reality, Signal plans to leave Sweden.

The bill aims to give the Swedish Security Service and the police the possibility to request message history from criminal suspects afterwards. For encrypted apps, this would mean a requirement to store all message history. The government wants Parliament to vote on the proposal already in March next year.

If the bill is adopted, the messaging app Signal will state that they will leave Sweden.

– In practice, this means that we are being asked to break the encryption that is the basis of our entire business. Asking us to store data would undermine our entire architecture and we would never do that. We would rather leave the Swedish market completely, says Signal’s CEO Meredith Whittaker to the tax-funded SVT.

– If you create a vulnerability based on Swedish preferences, it would create a path to undermine our entire network. That’s why we would never introduce these backdoors, she continues.

The Swedish Armed Forces have recently urged their personnel to use Signal to reduce the risk of interception. In a letter to the government, it warns that the bill cannot be implemented “without introducing vulnerabilities and backdoors that can be exploited by third parties”.

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Apple sued over iPhone eavesdropping – users may get payouts

Published today 23:06
– By Editorial Staff
Apple has denied any wrongdoing - but finally agreed to pay $95 million in a settlement.

Apple’s voice assistant Siri was activated without commands and recorded sensitive conversations – recordings that were also allegedly shared with other companies.

Now users in the US can get compensation – even if it’s relatively small amounts.

Technology giant Apple was caught in the crossfire after it was discovered that its voice assistant, Siri, recorded private conversations without users’ knowledge. The company has agreed to pay $95 million in a settlement reached in December last year, following a class action lawsuit alleging privacy violations.

The lawsuit was filed in 2021 by California resident Fumiko Lopez along with other Apple users. They stated that Siri-enabled devices recorded conversations without users first intentionally activating the voice assistant by saying “Hello, Siri” or pressing the side button.

According to the allegations, the recordings were not only used to improve Siri, but were also shared with third-party contractors and other actors – without users’ consent. It is also alleged that the information was used for targeted advertising, in violation of both US privacy laws and Apple’s own privacy policy.

However, Apple has consistently denied the allegations and claims that its actions were neither “wrong nor illegal”. However, paying such a large sum to avoid further litigation has raised questions about what may have been hidden from the public.

Users can claim compensation

Individuals who owned a Siri-enabled Apple product – such as an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, MacBook, iMac, HomePod, iPod touch or Apple TV – between September 17, 2014 and December 31, 2024, and who live in the United States or a U.S. territory, may now be entitled to compensation.

However, to qualify, one must certify that Siri was inadvertently activated during a call that was intended to be private or confidential.

The reimbursement applies to up to five devices, with a cap of $20 per device – totaling up to $100 per person. The exact amount per user will be determined once all claims have been processed.

Applications must be submitted by July 2, 2025, and those eligible may have already received an email or physical letter with an identification code and confirmation code. Those who haven’t received anything but still think they qualify can instead apply for reimbursement via the settlement’s website – if you provide the model and serial number of your devices.

How to protect yourself from future interception

Users who want to strengthen their privacy can limit Siri’s access themselves in the settings:

  • Turn off Improve Siri: Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements and disable Improve Siri & Dictation.
  • Delete Siri history: Go to Settings > Siri > Siri & Dictation History and select Delete Siri & Dictation History.
  • Turn off Siri completely: Go to Settings > Siri > Listen for “Hey Siri”, turn it off, then go to Settings > General > Keyboard and disable Enable Dictation.

Apple describes more privacy settings on its website, such as how to restrict Siri’s access to location data or third-party apps. But in the wake of the scandal, critics say that you shouldn’t blindly trust companies’ promises of data protection – and that the only way to truly protect your privacy is to take matters into your own hands.

Tests reveal imported honey in Sweden is fake

Published today 11:34
– By Editorial Staff
According to EU rules, real honey should only contain honey - and nothing else.

All honey imported into Sweden is fake, new tests show. Instead, the “honey” contains mostly sugar and syrup.

The industry organization Biodlingsföretagarna has tested 40 honey products available on the Swedish market. A new form of DNA technology was used to test the honey.

36 of the products, all imported, did not contain real honey, the tests showed. Instead, the products contained sugar and syrup. Only four of the products tested contained real honey and all were produced in Sweden.

We consider this to be extremely serious. We knew there were fake products on the market, but we are shocked by the scale of it, says Yngve Kihlberg, chairman of the Swedish Beekeepers’ Association, to the tax-funded SVT.

“Must await EU decision”

In the EU, a product called “honey” must contain only honey. It is okay to mix honey from different origins, but not to add other ingredients. According to the trade association, most of the imported “honey” comes from China, where they have found ways to cheat to allow products to pass controls even though they contain very little honey.

Swedish grocery retailers will not replace the honey products identified as fake at this stage, as they have passed the current controls.

We would like to replace the current testing methods if they do not work. But we have to wait for the EU’s decision on the accreditation of the DNA tests, says Martin Andersson, who is responsible for industrial policy at the Swedish grocery trade, to SVT.

KYC is the crime

The Coinbase hack shows how state-mandated surveillance is putting lives at risk.

Published yesterday 7:36
– By Naomi Brockwell

Last week, Coinbase got hacked.

Hackers demanded a $20 million ransom after breaching a third-party system. They didn’t get passwords or crypto keys. But what they did get will put lives at risk:

  • Names
  • Home addresses
  • Phone numbers
  • Partial Social Security numbers
  • Identity documents
  • Bank info

That’s everything someone needs to impersonate you, blackmail you, or show up at your front door.

This isn’t hypothetical. There’s a growing wave of kidnappings and extortion targeting people with crypto exposure. Criminals are using leaked identity data to find victims and hold them hostage.

Let’s be clear: KYC doesn’t just put your data at risk. It puts people at risk.

Naturally, people are furious at any company that leaks their information.

But here’s the bigger issue:
No system is unhackable.
Every major institution, from the IRS to the State Department, has suffered breaches.
Protecting sensitive data at scale is nearly impossible.

And Coinbase didn’t want to collect this data.
Many companies don’t. It’s a massive liability.
They’re forced to, by law.

A new, dangerous normal

KYC, Know Your Customer, has become just another box to check.

Open a bank account? Upload your ID.
Use a crypto exchange? Add your selfie and utility bill.
Sign up for a payment app? Same thing.

But it wasn’t always this way.

Until the 1970s, you could walk into a bank with cash and open an account. Your financial life was private by default.

That changed with the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, which required banks to start collecting and reporting customer activity to the government. Still, KYC wasn’t yet formalized. Each bank decided how well they needed to know someone. If you’d been a customer since childhood, or had a family member vouch for you, that was often enough.

Then came the Patriot Act, which turned KYC into law. It required every financial institution to collect, verify, and store identity documents from every customer, not just for large or suspicious transactions, but for basic access to the financial system.

From that point on, privacy wasn’t the default. It was erased.

The real-world cost

Today, everyone is surveilled all the time.
We’ve built an identity dragnet, and people are being hurt because of it.

Criminals use leaked KYC data to find and target people, and it’s not just millionaires. It’s regular people, and sometimes their parents, partners, or even children.

It’s happened in London, Buenos Aires, Dubai, Lagos, Los Angeles, all over the world.
Some are robbed. Some are held for ransom.
Some don’t survive.

These aren’t edge cases. They’re the direct result of forcing companies to collect and store sensitive personal data.

When we force companies to hoard identity data, we guarantee it will eventually fall into the wrong hands.

There are two types of companies, those that have been hacked, and those that don’t yet know they’ve been hacked” – former Cisco CEO, John Chambers

What KYC actually does

KYC turns every financial institution into a surveillance node.
It turns your personal information into a liability.

It doesn’t just increase risk — It creates it.

KYC is part of a global surveillance infrastructure. It feeds into databases governments share and query without your knowledge. It creates chokepoints where access to basic services depends on surrendering your privacy. And it deputizes companies to collect and hold sensitive data they never wanted.

If you’re trying to rob a vault, you go where the gold is.
If you’re trying to target people, you go where the data lives.

KYC creates those vaults, legally mandated, poorly secured, and irresistible to attackers.

Does it even work?

We’re told KYC is necessary to stop terrorism and money laundering.

But the top reasons banks file “suspicious activity reports” are banal, like someone withdrawing “too much” of their own money.

We’re told to accept this surveillance because it might stop a bad actor someday.

In practice, it does more to expose innocent people than to catch criminals.

KYC doesn’t prevent crime.
It creates the conditions for it.

A Better Path Exists

We don’t have to live like this.

Better tools already exist, tools that allow verification without surveillance:

  • Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs): Prove something (like your age or citizenship) without revealing documents
  • Decentralized Identity (DID): You control what gets shared, and with whom
  • Homomorphic Encryption: Allows platforms to verify encrypted data without ever seeing it

But maybe it’s time to question something deeper.
Why is centralized, government-mandated identity collection the foundation of participation in financial life?

This surveillance regime didn’t always exist. It was built.

And just because it’s now common doesn’t mean we should accept it.

We didn’t need it before. We don’t need it now.

It’s time to stop normalizing mass surveillance as a condition for basic financial access.

The system isn’t protecting us.
It’s putting us in danger.

It’s time to say what no one else will

KYC isn’t a necessary evil.
It’s the original sin of financial surveillance.

It’s not a flaw in the system.
It is the system.

And the system needs to go.

Takeaways

  • Check https://HaveIBeenPwned.com to see how much of your identity is already exposed
  • Say no to services that hoard sensitive data
  • Support better alternatives that treat privacy as a baseline, not an afterthought

Because safety doesn’t come from handing over more information.

It comes from building systems that never need it in the first place.

 

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 Youtube.

Worrying trend: More people driving under the influence of drugs

Published 30 May 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Genre image - traffic accident. There is no information that drugs are related to this particular incident.

In Sweden, it is now more common for drivers to be under the influence of drugs than alcohol, while in Finland it is still more common to drive drunk than under the influence of drugs.

Between 2018 and 2022, 81 people died in Finland in traffic accidents where the driver who caused the accident was under the influence of at least one drug. This corresponds to 11 percent of all fatal traffic accidents during the period when drug testing was possible.

– Alcohol is still the most common intoxicant in fatal traffic accidents, but drugs are becoming increasingly common. This is particularly true of amphetamines, which are often linked to high speeds and risky decisions. Cannabis is also common among those who drive while intoxicated, says Kalle Parkkari, Director of Traffic Safety at the Finnish Accident Investigation Board, to Swedish Yle.

Statistics show that drivers under the influence of drugs are more likely to collide with other vehicles, while drivers under the influence of alcohol tend to drive off the road or crash in off-road terrain. However, Parkkari points out that the number of cases is so limited that it is difficult to draw firm conclusions.

– There is nevertheless a slight trend indicating an increase in drug-related driving under the influence. Traffic is part of society, and drug use in society appears to be on the rise. It is therefore inevitable that drugs will also begin to appear more frequently in traffic, Parkkari notes.

Sweden stands out in the statistics

In Sweden, the trend is more alarming. Between 2012 and 2022, 23 percent of drivers who died in traffic accidents were under the influence of drugs, compared to 11 percent who had alcohol in their system. Drug-related drunk driving has thus overtaken alcohol as the most common cause.

Lars-Olov Sjöström, traffic safety manager at the Swedish Motorists’ Sobriety Association, points to a change in attitude among young people as a possible explanation.

– For a hundred years, we have taught people not to drive with alcohol in their system, but the surveys we have conducted in collaboration with authorities in Norway show that the same young people who refrain from driving when under the influence of alcohol do not think as carefully when it comes to cannabis. We are lagging behind in providing information about cannabis and other drugs.

“We can learn from each other”

He believes that a more liberal and permissive view of “recreational drugs” among young people makes the work more difficult, but still sees hope for change within five to ten years. Both Parkkari and Sjöström emphasize the importance of cross-border cooperation to manage the development.

– It would be enormously helpful if we could learn from other countries’ experiences in this area. While the situation in Finland is still under control, it is very important to ensure that it does not get worse, says Parkkari.

Sjöström agrees, adding:

– We are seeing the same pattern in Finland as we have seen in Sweden, so we can learn from each other and discuss methods for dealing with the problem.

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