Pinned Tweet
Excited to talk to three heroes of mine, all in one sitting!
We will explore how tools, both surveillance and privacy tools, can evolve beyond their intended use cases - as they have before.
Imagine a different future: what if we embraced surveillance, in exchange for security? What would that world look like?
Join us on the first livestream on @ethereum
@VitalikButerin @Ada_Palmer @SherriDavidoff
We will explore how tools, both surveillance and privacy tools, can evolve beyond their intended use cases - as they have before.
Imagine a different future: what if we embraced surveillance, in exchange for security? What would that world look like?
Join us on the first livestream on @ethereum
@VitalikButerin @Ada_Palmer @SherriDavidoff
The Apparatus - Jan 15, 6pm UTC
A livestream with @VitalikButerin, SciFi author and historian @Ada_Palmer, & professional hacker @SherriDavidoff, moderated by @ml_sudo.
Three theories on why privacy keeps losing, and how to turn the tables.
Watch here: x.com/i/broadcasts/1…
38
4
82
6,127
sudo_ml retweeted
Zooko on what could matter for #Zcash in 100 years:
"..self-funding lets the network keep evolving without relying on a corporation, government, or billionaire. That’s the value of community funding: sustaining independent development."
"..self-funding lets the network keep evolving without relying on a corporation, government, or billionaire. That’s the value of community funding: sustaining independent development."
3
15
47
1,404
sudo_ml retweeted
Recent attacks on Ledger supply chain and Binance reinforce the almost obvious fact: Complexity is the number one enemy of real world security, and simplicity its number one friend. This is why as opposed to the narratives, elliptic curve cryptography with its homomorphisms circumventing a multitude of details arising in lattice and hash based signatures and snarks, is actually the most secure.
6
8
42
2,104
sudo_ml retweeted
Coinholder voting is not the same as stakeholder voting.
Coinholder voting is plutocracy. It centralises power in the hands of those who control large amounts of ZEC. It is a centralising force, and is entirely antithetical to the Zcash mission and the cypherpunk principles.
Coinholder voting is plutocracy. It centralises power in the hands of those who control large amounts of ZEC. It is a centralising force, and is entirely antithetical to the Zcash mission and the cypherpunk principles.
Zcash doesn’t need to re-invent the governance wheel. Stakeholder voting has worked in capital markets for centuries. Coinholder voting is just the onchain form-factor.
Experimenting in governance is not part of the Zcash mission. Its mission is privacy.
It’s time to end ZCG and all the distractions and misalignment that come with it.
7
4
23
1,234
sudo_ml retweeted
I’m happy to see security people pushing back against some of the bad past decisions by AI labs. I also think security and sandboxing is critical (and I’m not a doomer!) But there’s also an attitude that new model capabilities are “no big deal” that sometimes gets packaged with that, and I very much don’t agree with that.
13
8
110
7,243
sudo_ml retweeted
I met Violet Rollergirl (@rollergirlVi) tonight at Zcon.
She's the ONLY person in Zcash, and in fact all of crypto, who took the time to check my safety number on Signal.
I've got DM threads with people at Valar, Winklevoss Cap, Shielded Labs, and Zodl. None of them checked my safety number.
So I have hard evidence that Violet has practical experience in freedom tech that some of the rest of us lack.
If you care about Zcash and its success in the real world, not the world of theory, this is someone to learn from.
She's the ONLY person in Zcash, and in fact all of crypto, who took the time to check my safety number on Signal.
I've got DM threads with people at Valar, Winklevoss Cap, Shielded Labs, and Zodl. None of them checked my safety number.
So I have hard evidence that Violet has practical experience in freedom tech that some of the rest of us lack.
If you care about Zcash and its success in the real world, not the world of theory, this is someone to learn from.
9
8
79
3,338
sudo_ml retweeted
I am at a conference in Mexico where key Zcash stakeholders said they would be present to discuss issues. I flew across the planet for this.
Many of the people who said they would be present pulled out at the last minute. And instead the governance fights are happening in Zips and on X while the people who sacrificed time and energy to talk in person are talking in person.
If I knew the real action would be digital I wouldn't be here. It's impossible to pay attention to both digital and real world conversations at the same time. Disrespectful of time and attention of a new group of Zcashers who want to help.
Many of the people who said they would be present pulled out at the last minute. And instead the governance fights are happening in Zips and on X while the people who sacrificed time and energy to talk in person are talking in person.
If I knew the real action would be digital I wouldn't be here. It's impossible to pay attention to both digital and real world conversations at the same time. Disrespectful of time and attention of a new group of Zcashers who want to help.
12
2
102
8,093
sudo_ml retweeted
New: you think you know Proton, but you really don't.
I spoke to 8 current employees, got Slack chats, meeting audio, and an AI manifesto written by its CTO.
“That’s bullshit and loser thinking,” Yen wrote. “Stop thinking always of how to be slower, and focus more on how to be faster.”
CEO Andy Yen critiques AI in public. But inside, he is pushing everyone to use AI, even those with security concerns 404media.co/manifestos-fea…
I spoke to 8 current employees, got Slack chats, meeting audio, and an AI manifesto written by its CTO.
“That’s bullshit and loser thinking,” Yen wrote. “Stop thinking always of how to be slower, and focus more on how to be faster.”
CEO Andy Yen critiques AI in public. But inside, he is pushing everyone to use AI, even those with security concerns 404media.co/manifestos-fea…
161
530
3,400
638,500
sudo_ml retweeted
“First they came for matrix multiplication
And I did not speak out
Because Bitcoin did not use matrices
Then they came for Navier–Stokes
And I did not speak out
Because Bitcoin does not use fluid mechanics
Then they came for the unit-distance conjecture
And I did not speak out
Because Bitcoin did not use geometry
Then they came for asymptotic SAT solving
And I did not speak out
Because Bitcoin was not asymptotic
Then they came for elliptic curves
And I was like oh shit” - @EranTromer
And I did not speak out
Because Bitcoin did not use matrices
Then they came for Navier–Stokes
And I did not speak out
Because Bitcoin does not use fluid mechanics
Then they came for the unit-distance conjecture
And I did not speak out
Because Bitcoin did not use geometry
Then they came for asymptotic SAT solving
And I did not speak out
Because Bitcoin was not asymptotic
Then they came for elliptic curves
And I was like oh shit” - @EranTromer
13
75
573
26,904
sudo_ml retweeted
update: zcash baby merch premiered at zcon 🦓
already got some orders, please share with your friends!
already got some orders, please share with your friends!
hey zcashers
excited to share that i'm launching zcash merch for babies and kids
at first i wanted to make some for myself and family,
but as i spoke to more zcashers about it,
many said they wanted some too
after all, privacy is normal for them too
in this first edition:
e" t-shirt or hoodie
👦 Zcash kidz "Privacy is normal" t-shirt
all in organic fabrics, super soft and maximized for sustained hodling
send me a DM on X if you're interested too
i accept payment in shielded ZEC
4
4
25
629
sudo_ml retweeted
@perperp_er @AnthropicAI Yeah I told it to review the open PRs and it was like.. "wtf one of your colleagues force merged a credential stealer into this. In fact, all the PRs have this force merge. Signed with your name, no less."
7
4
509
46,766
Yay!
10 years ago, we launched Zcash, making a private version of Bitcoin. But the origins go back to the 80s, when, in the wake of the Watergate scandal, cryptographers first dreamed of private electronic cash, and the story runs through Satoshi’s invention of Bitcoin.
Zerocoin came three years before Zcash launched in 2016. We’d written it as a zk-mix for Bitcoin, and then a year later, Zerocash, which introduced SNARKs to cryptocurrency and is now the de facto approach to private payments on chain.
More than 30 years before that, in the early 80s, cryptographers first dreamed of private electronic payments. This was right after the invention of public key cryptography, the Watergate scandal, the Church Committee’s revelations of intelligence agency wrongdoing, and an ongoing fight between the nascent academic crypto community and the government over regulations and alleged backdoors.
It was also right as it became clear that the growth of the internet and electronic payments would pose a major surveillance risk. Today, there are a number of cryptographers who think crypto is simply math, devoid of purpose, and a number of folks in cryptocurrency who do not care about privacy (or perhaps even cryptography). That was not the case in the 1980s.
Starting with David Chaum, cryptographers first designed e-cash, a centralized private payment scheme that required a trusted bank to blindly sign special tokens. These went nowhere: existing trusted institutions, like banks, didn’t adopt the protocols, and no one wanted to trust magic internet money run by a strange company. Then Satoshi invented Bitcoin, overcoming the trust issue by inventing a blockchain. Bitcoin’s key innovation was the blockchain, which replaced a trusted bank with a public database anyone could participate in running. Because anyone could participate, it got off the ground without convincing a bank to run it. But because anyone could participate, there was no privacy: everyone could download the database of payments. And we couldn’t just use an e-cash scheme, as that required someone to keep a secret signing key, and the entire point of Bitcoin was that no one had to be trusted.
This is where Zerocoin, Zerocash, and Zcash come in. They replaced the e-cash system with a zero-knowledge proof and, this fact is not well understood by many, strengthened the privacy of e-cash schemes by giving the recipient full privacy even if the bank was malicious.
0
0
6
264
sudo_ml retweeted
In @Apple iOS 27, on all adult phones (not just kids accounts) they have rolled out active image and video scanning.
This is on by default. Accidentally show too much cleavage during a FaceTime and it blurs out the image and cuts audio, then reports it back to Apple.
Those l messages, calls, photos and videos you thought were private? ALL BEING PROCESSED BY BIG BROTHER.
The instigator? Well you can thank eKaren and the Labor government who met personally with Apple and in association with other globalists like the EU, felt they had a right to intercept your personal data and communications without a warrant.
Ai is being used to get around human laws by nefarious governments. x.com/tonedeafandh0t…
This is on by default. Accidentally show too much cleavage during a FaceTime and it blurs out the image and cuts audio, then reports it back to Apple.
Those l messages, calls, photos and videos you thought were private? ALL BEING PROCESSED BY BIG BROTHER.
The instigator? Well you can thank eKaren and the Labor government who met personally with Apple and in association with other globalists like the EU, felt they had a right to intercept your personal data and communications without a warrant.
Ai is being used to get around human laws by nefarious governments. x.com/tonedeafandh0t…
Community note
On-device ML can detect nudity in FaceTime and blur/pause with a warning. Apple doesn’t receive or access the media unless the user reports it. In Australia, adults who haven’t confirmed age 18+ have Communication Safety on by default.
support.apple.com/en-us/105069
support.apple.com/en-us/126781
support.apple.com/en-us/105069
support.apple.com/en-us/126781
166
456
3,013
500,247
Hackers managed to steal authentication keys for devices made by @KeystoneWallet
I don't understand one thing here however. During manufacturing, as part of the factory self test in initial boot you have the device generate & save a private key on its own, and take note of the public key.
If you have private keys to be stolen, it means that *somehow* a copy of the key exists outside of the secure element on the device?
If the manufacturing process involves each device's private key existing outside of the device, there's something that needs urgent improvement. Have the device generate the key and include its own public key as part of its self test report, not the other way around.
x.com/tayvano_/statu…
I don't understand one thing here however. During manufacturing, as part of the factory self test in initial boot you have the device generate & save a private key on its own, and take note of the public key.
If you have private keys to be stolen, it means that *somehow* a copy of the key exists outside of the secure element on the device?
If the manufacturing process involves each device's private key existing outside of the device, there's something that needs urgent improvement. Have the device generate the key and include its own public key as part of its self test report, not the other way around.
x.com/tayvano_/statu…
WHAT?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🤬
42
39
313
29,991
It is confusing 🤔 🧠 to everyone who does hardware why they decided to put the same private key on every device, instead of doing the normal thing of having the secure element on each device generate a unique key pair
Eg Ledger:
To make use of a Root of Trust, the following steps take place during manufacturing of a device:
Each Ledger device’s secure element generates a unique key pair: a public key and a private key. The private key is stored inside the secure element and cannot be extracted. The same principle is used for your cryptocurrency accounts.
The secure element sends its public key to Ledger’s HSM (secure server).
Our HSM (secure server) signs the public key with the Ledger Root of Trust and sends it back to the device. This signed public key is the device’s attestation.
This attestation allows Ledger’s HSM to verify afterward whether the secure element is genuine.
Using the Root of Trust after manufacturing
After manufacturing, this attestation allows the user (through Ledger Wallet) to verify if the device’s secure element is genuine.
donjon.ledger.com/threat-model/d…
Eg Ledger:
To make use of a Root of Trust, the following steps take place during manufacturing of a device:
Each Ledger device’s secure element generates a unique key pair: a public key and a private key. The private key is stored inside the secure element and cannot be extracted. The same principle is used for your cryptocurrency accounts.
The secure element sends its public key to Ledger’s HSM (secure server).
Our HSM (secure server) signs the public key with the Ledger Root of Trust and sends it back to the device. This signed public key is the device’s attestation.
This attestation allows Ledger’s HSM to verify afterward whether the secure element is genuine.
Using the Root of Trust after manufacturing
After manufacturing, this attestation allows the user (through Ledger Wallet) to verify if the device’s secure element is genuine.
donjon.ledger.com/threat-model/d…
2
0
1
143
This week, for the first time, starting to question whether Zcash is really going to be the money of the future.
We have wallet devs attacking other wallets, people trying to stop proposal discussion before it even starts.
Starting to feel like Bitcoin. Not the good parts.
We have wallet devs attacking other wallets, people trying to stop proposal discussion before it even starts.
Starting to feel like Bitcoin. Not the good parts.
14
2
30
3,185
sudo_ml retweeted
This week, for the first time, starting to question whether Zcash is really going to be the money of the future.
We have wallet devs attacking other wallets, people trying to stop proposal discussion before it even starts.
Starting to feel like Bitcoin. Not the good parts.
We have wallet devs attacking other wallets, people trying to stop proposal discussion before it even starts.
Starting to feel like Bitcoin. Not the good parts.
14
2
30
3,185
sudo_ml retweeted
Claude Code just found proof that every app on your phone is listening to your conversations. TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat. they're using what you say out loud to build your feed. i have the data to prove it.
i've suspected this for months but last week something inally check.
i was on a call with my friend and told him i'm thinking about breaking up with my girlfriend. didn't text it. didn't search it. just said it out loud with my phone on the table. two hours later she opens TikTok next to me and her entire feed is breakups. "signs your relationship is over." "how to heal after a breakup." she looked at me and said "why is TikTok showing me this." i said i don't know. but i did know.
i connected my iPhone to my MacBook and ran Claude Code that same night.
it scanned every app's background microphone activity for the last 90 days. not just the apps that asked for microphone permission. apps that were supposed to only have access to photos or location but were activating the microphone anyway.
what it found:
→ TikTok activated the microphone 347 times while the app was "closed" in the background
→ Instagram → 211 background activations
→ Facebook → 189
→ Snapchat → 94
every activation lasted between 3 and 15 seconds. enough to catch a sentence. every one of them tagged a keyword and cached it locally on the phone with a timestamp.
Claude Code pulled the full keyword cache:
→ "breakup" — tagged 4 hours before her feed changed
→ "moving out" — from a conversation with my mom last Tuesday
→ "wedding venue" — from a call with my sister about her engagement that i never searched once
→ "protein powder" — said it out loud to my roommate, had ads for it within an hour
→ "flight to tokyo" — mentioned it at dinner, saw travel ads the same night
those keywords were sitting in a local cache on my phone organized by app with timestamps. TikTok had the most entries. Instagram was second. every single keyword matched a conversation i had out loud near my phone.
the scariest one was "wedding venue." my sister told me she's getting engaged on a private call. i never searched it. never typed it. within a day my explore page had engagement rings and venue tours.
then Claude Code checked a second phone in the same room. my girlfriend's. same keywords. same timestamps. both phones were picking up the same conversation and tagging it independently.
i asked Claude Code how to shut it down. it mapped every app's microphone access and built a permission audit.
what i did:
→ revoked microphone access from every app that doesn't need it to function
→ disabled background app refresh for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat
→ turned off "Hey Siri" which keeps the microphone in passive listening mode 24/7
→ revoked "nearby interaction" permission which uses ultrasonic audio between devices
Claude Code confirmed all four apps lost background microphone access after the changes. i checked her phone too. same steps. took about 3 minutes per phone.
within 48 hours both our feeds went completely random. generic content. nothing personal. nothing from our conversations. that's when i knew for sure it was real.
the full step by step and the prompt are in the first reply. takes 3 minutes. save it so you don't lose it and send it to anyone who's ever said "my phone is definitely listening to me." it is. now you can prove it and shut it down.
i've suspected this for months but last week something inally check.
i was on a call with my friend and told him i'm thinking about breaking up with my girlfriend. didn't text it. didn't search it. just said it out loud with my phone on the table. two hours later she opens TikTok next to me and her entire feed is breakups. "signs your relationship is over." "how to heal after a breakup." she looked at me and said "why is TikTok showing me this." i said i don't know. but i did know.
i connected my iPhone to my MacBook and ran Claude Code that same night.
it scanned every app's background microphone activity for the last 90 days. not just the apps that asked for microphone permission. apps that were supposed to only have access to photos or location but were activating the microphone anyway.
what it found:
→ TikTok activated the microphone 347 times while the app was "closed" in the background
→ Instagram → 211 background activations
→ Facebook → 189
→ Snapchat → 94
every activation lasted between 3 and 15 seconds. enough to catch a sentence. every one of them tagged a keyword and cached it locally on the phone with a timestamp.
Claude Code pulled the full keyword cache:
→ "breakup" — tagged 4 hours before her feed changed
→ "moving out" — from a conversation with my mom last Tuesday
→ "wedding venue" — from a call with my sister about her engagement that i never searched once
→ "protein powder" — said it out loud to my roommate, had ads for it within an hour
→ "flight to tokyo" — mentioned it at dinner, saw travel ads the same night
those keywords were sitting in a local cache on my phone organized by app with timestamps. TikTok had the most entries. Instagram was second. every single keyword matched a conversation i had out loud near my phone.
the scariest one was "wedding venue." my sister told me she's getting engaged on a private call. i never searched it. never typed it. within a day my explore page had engagement rings and venue tours.
then Claude Code checked a second phone in the same room. my girlfriend's. same keywords. same timestamps. both phones were picking up the same conversation and tagging it independently.
i asked Claude Code how to shut it down. it mapped every app's microphone access and built a permission audit.
what i did:
→ revoked microphone access from every app that doesn't need it to function
→ disabled background app refresh for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat
→ turned off "Hey Siri" which keeps the microphone in passive listening mode 24/7
→ revoked "nearby interaction" permission which uses ultrasonic audio between devices
Claude Code confirmed all four apps lost background microphone access after the changes. i checked her phone too. same steps. took about 3 minutes per phone.
within 48 hours both our feeds went completely random. generic content. nothing personal. nothing from our conversations. that's when i knew for sure it was real.
the full step by step and the prompt are in the first reply. takes 3 minutes. save it so you don't lose it and send it to anyone who's ever said "my phone is definitely listening to me." it is. now you can prove it and shut it down.
Community note
2 days before, OP claimed to have found spyware on his "wife's phone":
x.com/starmexxx/stat…
Now, in this post, he talks about his "girlfriend":
x.com/starmexxx/stat…
OP has a history of fake AI content:
"Spy camera" found in hotel room: x.com/starmexxx/stat…
Spyware on "friend's computer": x.com/starmexxx/stat…
OP selling AI products: x.com/starmexxx/stat…
Flagged as AI: x.com/i/grok/share/b…
x.com/starmexxx/stat…
Now, in this post, he talks about his "girlfriend":
x.com/starmexxx/stat…
OP has a history of fake AI content:
"Spy camera" found in hotel room: x.com/starmexxx/stat…
Spyware on "friend's computer": x.com/starmexxx/stat…
OP selling AI products: x.com/starmexxx/stat…
Flagged as AI: x.com/i/grok/share/b…
600
3,297
15,599
812,945
I oppose the dev fund, and won't comment on sex work but
I will say this group hosted an awesome event during Berlin blockchain week. Hundreds of people inside and outside of the city's crypto scene passed through the space, on-boarded to Zcash and sent transactions. They are great technical communicators who put Zcash onto a lot of people's radar and cast it in a positive light.
The space had a line out the door most nights, some people even pleading with the bouncers to get into the house transformed into a shrine to ZEC where chatter of privacy was inescapable in every conversation
I will say this group hosted an awesome event during Berlin blockchain week. Hundreds of people inside and outside of the city's crypto scene passed through the space, on-boarded to Zcash and sent transactions. They are great technical communicators who put Zcash onto a lot of people's radar and cast it in a positive light.
The space had a line out the door most nights, some people even pleading with the bouncers to get into the house transformed into a shrine to ZEC where chatter of privacy was inescapable in every conversation
Day 2: Zcash at @EXXXOTICA . @rollergirlVi and @kate_stapes in Mama's zcash kitchen. Giving away protections for your body and your money.
Privacy is ZECsy.
17
3
95
6,756
@colludingnode can attest - the Berlin event was chockful, and not just full of crypto heads, but of real people, with real interests, problems, etc
exactly the kind of people zcash is for - everyone
exactly the kind of people zcash is for - everyone
0
0
1
49