NEW: We spoke with federal workers grappling with symptoms of paranoia around technology due to DOGE's incursion, including some fearful of their own home networks, and take a hard look at the range of tools the government currently uses to monitor its workforce: www.wired.com/story/survei... - ThreadSky

dell.bsky.social • 23 hours ago

NEW: We spoke with federal workers grappling with symptoms of paranoia around technology due to DOGE's incursion, including some fearful of their own home networks, and take a hard look at the range of tools the government currently uses to monitor its workforce:

https://www.wired.com/story/surveillance-privacy-doge-federal-employees/

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Comments

sanityrules.bsky.social•23 hours ago

It’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you!

dell.bsky.social•23 hours ago

True, but the symptoms (e.g. anxiety) are roughly the same.

jegbuddy.bsky.social•22 hours ago

I am finding that chatGPT is starting to repeat the claims by DOGE/MAGA. I am having to prove that the claims by DOGE/MAGA are false. I had to go step by step to show cashing checks provides a receipt to prove the DOGE/MAGA claims the Treasury can't track $4.7 trillion is a false claim.

humuhumu.bsky.social•22 hours ago

📌

jholston.bsky.social•22 hours ago

"the messages he received spooked him enough that he asked local police to keep an eye on his home, removed the battery from his work-issued laptop, and kept his work phone on airplane mode while traveling to a nonwork conference last week." No org outside Russia and China operates this way...

edwardthefourth.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Is it paranoia or rightful concern? If the capacity for such surveillance is well-documented and has been feasible for decades, these people have every right to be worried - and rationally so. We should mind the language we use to discuss digital intrusions and their myriad attendant risks.

dell.bsky.social•23 hours ago

symptoms*

edwardthefourth.bsky.social•23 hours ago

I follow the semantics but most will simply read paranoia. I think it would be best to write out what they are actually experiencing - as you said, things like anxiety.

dell.bsky.social•23 hours ago

We don't use the term in the story, but this is my personal account where I police my words a little less carefully. But I do take your point and appreciate the feedback.

edwardthefourth.bsky.social•23 hours ago

I understand. Thank you for writing about these topics and bringing attention to experiences we otherwise might never have learned about!

dell.bsky.social•23 hours ago

We also spoke to sources familiar with the government's insider threat systems, who say attempts to widen their scope to hunt for perceived signs of "disloyalty" are likely to overwhelm programs already riddled with false positives.

https://www.wired.com/story/surveillance-privacy-doge-federal-employees/

edwardthefourth.bsky.social•23 hours ago

And to the extent that these systems are overwhelmed, you can be sure that unaccountable, private actors will step in to fill the void.

dell.bsky.social•23 hours ago

My first byline with @peard33.bsky.social and guest star @alexaobrien.bsky.social!

alexaobrien.bsky.social•23 hours ago

🫵 ❤️

goldstein.bsky.social•23 hours ago

I don't suppose you have an article that recommends best practices for avoiding govt surveillance as a govt employee, do you?

dell.bsky.social•23 hours ago

I'm slightly hesitant only because I think a lot of that advice would sound like anticipatory and/or performative obedience.

ardaniel.bsky.social•23 hours ago

EFF has a primer for surveillance self-defense and would probably be able to help you with specifics. https://ssd.eff.org/

goldstein.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Appreciated! That's the place I currently recommend to people to learn this stuff. I just figured it was worth asking in case there was something else that an expert would know about that I, a non-expert, would not.

ardaniel.bsky.social•23 hours ago

I would encourage you to reach out to EFF personally if you’re in a position where your threat model includes the government you work for. @evacide.bsky.social and their digital trainers do great work.

goldstein.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Thank you!

ardaniel.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Be safe! All of this is overwhelming— they’re trying to panic workers into making rash decisions— but you are the person best-equipped to detail your concerns about your work and safety to orgs like EFF.

duobidablism.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Came here to post this. Great resource!

sechampion.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Wait until you find out corporations have been doing this for years.

bobstarr.xyz•23 hours ago

What every person should be doing with their computer if some DOGE stooge had access to it. (This is a joke, don't fill landfills with e-waste; but definitely do a factory reset on those computers)

lucastosborne.bsky.social•23 hours ago

📌

bennettelder.net•23 hours ago

Discussion of moral concerns deemed unrelated to work duties... Feels like a shitty catch all for an ideological purge.

partickle.bsky.social•23 hours ago

😬

grannyblue4.bsky.social•21 hours ago

I just read an article that said the Doge website had been hacked, and there was an issue of cybersecurity

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