Steven Finney

Steven Finney

@stevenfinney.bsky.social

Fallen Idle

521 followers462 following205 posts

Steven Finney reposted

Rafa Sales Ross
@rafiews.com

It’s been a wild 24 hours for me on BlueSky and I’m getting so many messages asking what can be learned from Brazil and applied globally on top of the below. Once again, I’m not a political expert but this is what I’ve seen as a consensus amongst specialists and voters so far 🧵

Rafa Sales Ross@rafiews.com

I’m not a political journalist, so was gladly surprised at the community I found here last night. To Americans anxious about the upcoming elections, a key thing we learned in Brazil that might help you: DO NOT engage with the far-right online. Don’t share rage bait. Amplify your people. Ignore them.

Steven Finney reposted

Nigel (no, not *that* one) - I ♥️ 🇨🇦
@nigelingledew.bsky.social

Replying to @nigelingledew.bsky.social

The Alexander Yakovenko who told a fellow diplomat: “We have crushed the British to the ground. They are on their knees, and they will not rise for a very long time.”? See fascinating article by @peterjukes.bsky.social and work by @carolecadwalla.bsky.social in bylinetimes.com/2022/03/08/p...

bylinetimes.comPutin’s Plot Against ‘Great’ Britain – And How He Got Away With ItPeter Jukes tracks Vladimir Putin’s long war against the West and the allies he has found in the pro-Brexit establishment in the plot to derail Britain

Steven Finney reposted

EUwatch 🇪🇺
@euwatch.live

AI training platform Outlier illegally surveils European platform workers

noyb.euAI training platform Outlier illegally surveils European platform workersOnline & Mobile tracking Today, noyb (in collaboration with  Intérêt à Agir ,  DIPLab and  Reversing.Works ) has filed 5 complaints against Scale AI in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria. The US-based company operates an AI training platform named Outlier, which employs more than 900,000 “freelance” workers. Among its customers: Meta, OpenAI, Google – and the US government. However, it's not just the workers' extensive knowledge and experience that Scale AI is farming: The company collects huge amounts of personal data and forces workers to go through an invasive biometric verification to earn money. In Europe, this far-reaching workplace surveillance clearly violates the workers’ fundamental right to data protection. Complaint in France Complaint in Italy Complaint in the Netherlands Complaint in Austria #1 ; Complaint in Austria #2 Report by DiPLab on workplace surveillance by AI training platforms What is platform work – and what does it have to do with AI? From courier services like Uber and food delivery services, all the way to data annotation:  more than 40 million people already  have their work organised by platforms. This puts people in a vulnerable position: Among other things, companies try to circumvent labour laws by (wrongly) claiming that their workers are self-employed. This often excludes them from social benefits  and affects their wages . Unsurprisingly, the AI industry heavily relies on this new type of work. Popular AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok are also trained by actual people who manually review or annotate their output. Scale AI – almost 1 million workers. One of the  biggest players in this field is the US company Scale AI, which operates the data annotation platform Outlier AI. Outlier employs more than 900,000 “freelance” platform workers who train AI systems by solving tasks (e.g. writing prompts, ranking answers, etc.), effectively giving their expert knowledge to US Big Tech companies. Its  best-known customers are  corporations such as Meta, OpenAI, xAI, Google, Anthropic,  and the US government . Thomas Le Bonniec, sociology researcher at DIPLab: “Platform work seems to be fertile ground for a whole new type of workplace surveillance. This would be seen as unacceptable in any other form of employment in the European Union. This system only thrives because of its deliberate lack of transparency.” Invasive tracking. However, questionable employment practices are not the only issue: Outlier is subjecting its workers to invasive tracking. Our technical analysis showed that while workers are on the Outlier platform, trackers from companies such as TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, the survey platform Sprig and the data analysis company Datadog are placed on their devices. Every few seconds, these trackers send the workers’ personal data to third parties. This includes IP addresses, contact details, unique identifiers and information about the visited page. Among other things, this data can then be used for targeted advertising and profiling. Lisa Steinfeld Leiser, Data Protection Lawyer at noyb : “Such constant and extensive trackingwhile working really goes against all reasonable expectations. Why should LinkedIn or Facebook know which tasks you're working on?” Forced biometric identification. As if that weren’t enough, Scale AI also forces workers to repeatedly go through a biometric verification process carried out by a company called Persona. This includes video recordings of their face and uploading their ID. Scale AI claims that this is done to prevent identity fraud and to “verify the workers’ skills” . In reality, this not only goes far beyond what would be necessary, but Persona also has a questionable history when it comes to data security. In October 2025, approximately 70,000 photos of government issued IDs stored with Persona  were exposed by hackers . On top of that, Persona grants itself the right to collect heaps of personal data, including IP addresses, device information, geolocation data, addresses, and consumer credit data of users. Baptiste Delmas, project coordinator at Intérêt à Agir: “The violations highlighted in the complaints against Scale AI clearly show that the AI boom relies on a vast workforce whose privacy is at stake. Data protection authorities must now take these issues seriously and impose strict enforcement measures.“ Complaints filed in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Austria.  noyb has now filed a total of 5 GDPR complaints against Scale AI. Not only does the company lack a valid legal basis to place trackers on the complainants’ devices without consent, it also violates the GDPR’s principle of data minimisation. The same goes fo the processing of biometric data. Last but not least, Scale AI didn’t even bother to respond to the complainant’s access requests, thereby violating their right of access under the GDPR. noyb requests a full investigation of the violations and suggests that the competent authorities impose an administrative fine to prevent similar violations in the future. These 5 noyb complaints are part of an interdisciplinary initiative on working conditions across AI value chains (AI-WORLD), led by Intérêt à Agir in partnership with DipLab and supported by the European AI & Society Fund and the Digital Freedom Fund To find out more about the working conditions of platform workers, please take a look at this report by DiPLab .

Steven Finney reposted

Nick Craw🇪🇺🇨🇦🇬🇱🇹🇭
@nickcraw.bsky.social

Superb from @pimlicat.bsky.social Too many people treat the rejoin debate as if we are still in 2016 (or the 1990s for that matter). Its 2026 and literally every important question related to the UK - be it economic, defence, climate change, education or crime - the answer is: rejoin the EU.

Best for Britain@bestforbritain.org

Every argument you need to hear about why the UK must pursue EU membership, in 90 seconds. @pimlicat.bsky.social on Politics Live 👏

Steven Finney reposted

Guy Shrubsole
@guyshrubsole.bsky.social

Victory for Lula, who has already reduced Amazon deforestation by 70% since 2022, means there is now a chance of ending deforestation of the rainforest entirely I’m weeping with joy for Brazil, for the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon, and for life on Earth 🇧🇷🌳🌎 www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...

theguardian.comLula wins fourth term as Brazil president after historic upset over far-right Flávio BolsonaroLeftist incumbent Lula stages unprecedented comeback weeks after narrowly losing first round of election to Bolsonaro

Steven Finney reposted

Anne Applebaum
@anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu

In one day, two politicians - Bolsonaro in Brazil and Vucic in Serbia - with ties to Trump have lost surprise elections thanks to high turnout. The rise of the international far-right is not inevitable.

Steven Finney reposted

Peter Geoghegan
@petergeoghegan.bsky.social

“Digital crimes must be dealt with like real-life crimes.” 💯

Rafa Sales Ross@rafiews.com

In his acceptance speech, Lula says he will work to regulate digital platforms in Brazil. “Digital crimes must be dealt with like real-life crimes.” This comes after Meta directly interfered with the Brazilian elections, favouring Flávio Bolsonaro.

Steven Finney reposted

Eoghan Daltun 🌍
@irishrainforest.bsky.social

Absolutely FABULOUS news for all life on Earth, especially the Amazon rainforest!!!! Despite the fascists playing every dirty, cheating trick in the book to steal this election, the people of Brazil saw through the lies. So, so, happy and relieved this morning 🇧🇷 👏 share.google/UdpzcSkD5us7...

share.googleLula wins fourth term as Brazil president after historic upset over far-right Flávio BolsonaroLeftist incumbent Lula stages unprecedented comeback weeks after narrowly losing first round of election to Bolsonaro
Steven Finney
@stevenfinney.bsky.social

💔Tragic: swifts are finding their chicks dumped in skips and their nests blocked up by building work. 🚨We need an emergency system that forces police & councils to act IMMEDIATELY when nests are threatened. Sign the petition now 👇 you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/sa...

you.38degrees.org.ukSave swift nests before building work blocks or obstructs themSwifts are in trouble. Their UK breeding population fell by 70% between 1995 and 2024, and they are now on the UK Red List of birds of conservation concern. When a swift's nest entrance is blocked, e...

Steven Finney reposted

MeidasTouch
@meidastouch.com

This supercut is likely to make Trump VERY upset. The difference between Trump and Obama is on full display, and the contrast is absolutely devastating. Watch until the end...

Steven Finney reposted

Militarnyi
@militarnyi.com

💻Russia is conducting a disinformation campaign against U.S. Democratic and Republican candidates who support Ukraine ahead of the midterm congressional elections. militarnyi.com/en/news/russ...

militarnyi.comRussia Launches Disinformation Campaign Against Pro-Ukrainian Politicians in USA Ahead of ElectionsRussia is conducting a disinformation campaign against U.S. Democratic and Republican candidates who support Ukraine ahead of the midterm congressional

Steven Finney reposted

Anonymous
@youranoncentral.bsky.social

Unknown hackers claim to have stolen 421,179 emails from Germany's far-right AfD, exposing Nazi greetings, swastikas and threats against a photographer. The party confirms a breach, but the explosive allegations are still largely unverified. If proven this could be grounds to ban the AfD.

yacnews.comAnonymous hackers claim to leak 421,179 internal emails from Germany’s Russia-aligned AfDGermany's far-right AfD has confirmed a cyberattack amid claims that hackers stole 421,179 emails. An anonymous archive alleges internal correspondence involving Nazi imagery, extremist rhetoric and t...

Steven Finney reposted

The Guardian
@theguardian.com

Heat pumps and insulation would cut UK living costs more than new oilfields, study suggests

theguardian.comHeat pumps and insulation would cut UK living costs more than new oilfields, study suggestsWarm homes plan would create 50,000 jobs, compared with about 1,100 for Rosebank oilfield, thinktank finds Insulating Britain’s homes and investing in heat pumps would do more to cut the cost of living, create jobs and boost the UK’s economy than drilling for new oil, research suggests. The government’s £15bn warm homes plan, currently under threat of cuts as ministers seek budget savings, would slash £1bn a year from household energy bills across the UK, concentrated on those on low incomes, according to research by the thinktank E3G. It would also provide a £1.6bn yearly boost to the economy, and about 50,000 new jobs spread across thousands of small businesses. Continue reading...

Steven Finney reposted

John Scalzi
@scalzi.com

Dude thought he had a flawless gotcha and he ran into a rhetorical woodchipper

Abdul El-Sayed@abdulelsayed.bsky.social

This is Tommy. Tommy had a question about my allegiances. Listen to the end to hear about his.

Steven Finney reposted

Anne Applebaum
@anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu

The president of Brazil has won a court case against Meta, after accusing them of restricting his posts and algorithmically favoring his opponent, Flavio Bolsonaro www.nbcnews.com/world/south-...

nbcnews.comBrazil’s Lula wins electoral court challenge against Meta for alleged pro-Bolsonaro algorithm biasA judge ruled that the tech company must adopt measures to immediately secure equal treatment of the two presidential candidates ahead of an Oct. 25 runoff.

Steven Finney reposted

Peter Jukes
@peterjukes.bsky.social

Of all the many evil betrayals I’ve seen in the last 60 years I’ve been alive, I’m struggling to think of any that match what Trump and Musk did to innocent Ukrainian citizens while Putin was sending missiles this way. A trio to live on in infamy well after I am gone

Steven Finney reposted

Mike Galsworthy
@mikegalsworthy.bsky.social

Absolutely beautifully put. 👇

GylesNaMopaleen@gylesnamopaleen.bsky.social

This is quite extraordinary. I don't think I have heard a more coherent, articulate and accurate deconstruction & demolition of Nigel Farage's ReformUK, Tory & Restore policy than this. In under 85 seconds! @rafaelbehr.bsky.social is on here folks and worth a follow.

Steven Finney reposted

Anti-Reform
@antireform.bsky.social

Nigel Farage logic: Because of one terrorist migrant (caught, facing jail & deportation), the whole migrant system should be shut down Because of Dr Shipman, our NHS should have been closed Because Wales Reform UK leader took Russian cash, all Reform members should be jailed for treason

Steven Finney reposted

JWexTheSpa
@jwsidders.bsky.social

This seems a very important point - and one that much of BlueSky has chosen to overlook. Put simply, Sally Rooney's books have not been banned.

Mark Wallace@wallaceme.bsky.social

It would be wrong to “ban” books. Except that has not happened. Rooney’s books are still legal to sell (indeed they’re still on bookshop shelves). Rather she chose to pledge her royalties to fund a proscribed terrorist group - which is a crime in this country - so her publisher can’t pay royalties.

Steven Finney reposted

Anonymous
@youranoncentral.bsky.social

Trump regime loyalist and FBI director Kash Patel tweeted "From Russia, with Love" as Russia rains missiles down on civilians in Ukraine and attacks allies.

Steven Finney reposted

Katharine Hayhoe
@katharinehayhoe.com

Replying to @katharinehayhoe.com

Spending time in nature - both blue and green! - offers tremendous benefits for our physical and mental health, from calming anxiety to decreasing inflammation in our bodies.

nature.orgBiggest-Ever Scientific Review Shines Fresh Light on the Health Benefits of Nature-Rich CitiesBiggest scientific review to date on health co-benefits of urban biodiversity confirms growing importance—and tradeoffs—of making space for nature in our fast-growing cities.

Steven Finney reposted

Joni Askola
@joniaskola.bsky.social

Today’s extremely sad reality

Joni Askola@joniaskola.bsky.social

Imagine if Al Capone were US president in 1940, colluding with Henry Ford to undermine the UK and support Nazi Germany. That is today’s reality

Steven Finney reposted

UNITED24 Media
@united24media.com

⚡️ President Zelenskyy had an audience with King Charles III, thanking him for the UK’s continued and firm support.

Steven Finney reposted

Steve Peers
@stevepeers.bsky.social

Reminder that the EU had no compunction about banning Russia Today. If anything, Musk’s behaviour is more egregious - directly assisting a foreign enemy's military attack. And this is on top of his support for race riots, Nazis and CSAM! By any measure, a threat to national security.

Steve Peers@stevepeers.bsky.social

It's legitimate for the EU, the UK, Canada and others to support their Ukrainian ally. If Musk is going to (in effect) assist Putin's invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine's allies should sanction Starlink, X and Tesla. At the very least, governments (and people) should stop using his fucking site already.

Steven Finney reposted

The Guardian
@theguardian.com

Burnham to host Zelenskyy at No 10 in show of ‘rock-solid’ support

theguardian.comBurnham to host Zelenskyy at No 10 in show of ‘rock-solid’ supportPrime minister reiterates UK backing after the Ukrainian president’s latest round of difficulties with Donald Trump Andy Burnham will host Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Downing Street on Wednesday as the UK seeks to further underline its support for the Ukrainian president, in contrast to his difficulties with Donald Trump. The UK prime minister said his message to Zelenskyy and his country would be: “We are with you for as long as it takes.” Continue reading...