Let's goooooooo
https://www.theverge.com/news/878447/ring-flock-partnership-canceled
Miami Tech Enthusiast Club 📎
MTEC (Miami Tech Enthusiast Club) is a club dedicated to fostering a local community who are interested in technology in the broadest sense, from products to coding to systems administration to Linux, while facilitating advocacy for digital and consumer rights.
Join us in 15 minutes for our virtual social hour! We'll start the conversation by exploring Local First, a movement among software developers to make more resilient applications.
Link to meeting: https://www.miamitech.club/events/
Excited for the virtual social hour today at 7:30 PM ET! We are determined to talk about happy and cool things, so we can start by diving into Local First a bit. :)
https://www.localfirstconf.com/
More details for tonight's social: https://www.miamitech.club/events/
Miami Tech Enthusiast Club 📎 boosted:
Let's remind everyone what a safe internet actually means. 🌐🌍
Share this & Spread the word!
Miami Tech Enthusiast Club 📎 boosted:
EFFecting Change: Get the #Flock Out of Our City
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/02/effecting-change-get-flock-out-our-city
Miami Tech Enthusiast Club 📎 boosted:
“Today’s technologies— high-definition cameras, microphones, digital data harvesting & AI-driven analysis— are being used to create an environment of mass surveillance that ensnares almost all individuals within the US,” EFF’s Beryl Lipton told The Marshall Project. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2026/02/07/ai-texas-ice-mn-tech
There is a bipartisan effort to end free speech on the Internet. Call your reps and tell them to stop it!
https://www.whatissection230.org/
Miami Tech Enthusiast Club 📎 boosted:
We knew this was coming, but now the clock is running. From Privacy International:
"Yesterday the Trump Administration announced a proposed change in policy for travellers to the U.S. It applies to the powers of data collection by the Customs and Border Police (CBP)."
"If the proposed changes are adopted after the 60-day consultation, then millions of travellers to the U.S. will be forced to use a U.S. government mobile phone app, submit their social media from the last five years and email addresses used in the last ten years, including of family members. They’re also proposing the collection of DNA."
PI linked to and summarized a Federal Register entry describing the proposed requirements:
-All visitors must submit ‘their social media from the last 5 years’
-ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) applications will include ‘high value data fields’, ‘when feasible’
‘telephone numbers used in the last five years’
-‘email addresses used in the last ten years’
-‘family number telephone numbers (sic) used in the last five years’
-biometrics – face, fingerprint, DNA, and iris
-business telephone numbers used in the last five years
-business email addresses used in the last ten years.
The Federal Register entry says comments are encouraged and
must be submitted (no later than February 9, 2026) to be assured of consideration.
Federal Register entry: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-12-10/pdf/2025-22461.pdf
What's the latest when it comes to important tech legislation happening in Florida? We got you covered with our Action Bulletins!
These are brief blog posts to let you know where each bill is at in the process of potentially becoming law.
#Florida #Tech #Privacy #Cybersecurity #AgeVerification #DigitalRights
Miami Tech Enthusiast Club 📎 boosted:
ICYMI, our Smartphone Privacy/Security course has started releasing to the public. Level one is about settings you can change to easily make your phone more private without needing to do anything crazy. Perfect for beginners. And it's divided by OS (Android & iOS) so you don't have to sit through advice that doesn't apply to you.
Feel free to share with friends and family.
Apparently a version of the App Store Accountability Act got passed unanimously in the Alabama House. If you live in Alabama, look into that.
Notable speakers: Conservative Ladies of America and NetChoice were there to oppose. Meta was there to support.
Everyone who supported didn't seem to understand the age verification methods that were being suggested.
On the topic of chilling free speech or government overreach, only the attendees emphasized these problems. The Committee didn't really ask about it.
On the question of keeping data secure, Senator Smith shared concerns on that. Of course data security is important, but those are table stakes. To collect this data at all is to already increase the risk to every Floridian because a data breach is inevitable.
Wrong. As the bill sponsor said, the bill has companies use commercially available means to do age verification. That coupled with the desire to avoid liability means that most likely companies will opt for facial recognition or a similar method - not a simple DOB.
There was confusion among the senators about what data will be collected and how it will be protected. The two senators who asked seemed to think the bill says you have to enter a birth date when you buy the phone and everything is handled after that.
SB 1722 got reported favorably. Florida App Store Accountability Act. Not good!
Insist on your right to privacy. Use it or lose it.
This is a general right to repair bill making it's way through the Florida Senate. We haven't had a chance to read it yet, but it looks interesting. Sharing to give someone else a chance to check it out.
SB 806: Consumers’ Right to Repair Certain Equipment
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/806/?Tab=BillHistory
Miami Tech Enthusiast Club 📎 boosted:
It's a really tricky situation in legislative activism: when a bill isn't strong enough, at what point to start to actively oppose it and try to kill it?
At the previous HB 1834 hearing, we weren't hoping for an amendment that removed the age verification requirement. So we encouraged people to sign in OTHER. Once we saw they amendment though, it still had age verification ... so we switched to CON.
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