iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

A federal jury in Houston has found that sheriff's deputies in San Antonio conducted an illegal traffic stop when they stopped and searched a Houston man as part of a secretive U.S. Border Patrol surveillance program. ij.org/press-releas...

ij.org

Federal Jury Strikes Down Texas Sheriff’s Surveillance-Driven Traffic Stop Program - Institute for Justice

SAN ANTONIO—Today, a jury in federal court found Bexar County liable for running an unconstitutional traffic stop scheme that turned mass surveillance of American drivers […]

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

If you want to see the hollowness of the modern internet in action, behold this book club scammer's AI agent pitching me using poorly scraped or stolen data thinking that I'm "Christopher Byron," who himself is an "author" writing AI generated ebook slop on Amazon. Great use of tokens, everyone.

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Really important @josephcox.bsky.social story that adds a huge amount of detail about the domestic intelligence program the U.S. Border Patrol is running, where it secretly singles out U.S. citizens and then refers them to local police officers for a pretextual stop if they appear suspicious.

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Yael Grauer @yaelwrites.com · 04/05/2026

I am honored to share the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Best International Reporting with Dake Kang, Byron Tau, Aniruddha Ghosal and Garance Burke for our reporting revealing how Silicon Valley largely designed and built China's surveillance state and enabled human rights abuses.

The 2026 Pulitzer Prize Announcement
International Reporting
Winner: Dake Kang, Garance Burke, Byron Tau, Aniruddha Ghosal of the Associated Press and Yael Grauer, contributor.

US government allowed and even helped US firms sell tech used for surveillance in China, AP finds.

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Unusual request: if you were an Android user at the Substack party at the Renwick tonight and would be willing to share your device’s network logs (anonymously is fine!), please reach out on Signal: byrontau.01. I can walk you through how.

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

After Trump's FCC commissioner fixated on a report he didn't like, a Bay Area radio station demoted a well-liked anchor and dialed back on political programming, staff said. Reporters also said they were dissuaded from pursuing political or controversial topics. My story: apnews.com/article/trum...

apnews.com

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

NEW AP INVESTIGATION: With license plate readers and local law enforcement partnerships, Border Patrol is monitoring American drivers and detaining those exhibiting ‘suspicious’ travel patterns in the U.S. interior. w/ @garanceburke.bsky.social. apnews.com/article/immi...

apnews.com

Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns

The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.

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Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

New: The FBI filed a subpoena trying to unmask the person or people behind archive.is / archive.today, which have been running anonymously for 13 yrs. Site was widely used by GamerGate, and then to bypass paywalls but has become kind of core archiving infrastructure www.404media.co/fbi-tries-to...

404media.co

FBI Tries to Unmask Owner of Infamous Archive.is Site

The FBI has subpoenaed the domain registrar of archive.today, demanding information about the owner.

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Patrick Brian Smith @patrickbriansmith.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

Recording of recent talk with @byrontau.bsky.social on "Means of Control: How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government is Creating a New American Surveillance State" (2024). Discussion bridges investigative journalism, critical media studies, + surveillance studies! www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT3s...

youtube.com

Means of Control, Byron Tau book talk and discussion

YouTube video by Patrick Smith

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Patrick Brian Smith @patrickbriansmith.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Just a reminder that this event with @byrontau.bsky.social is coming up soon: Wednesday, October 15 at 3pm GMT

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Patrick Brian Smith @patrickbriansmith.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Pleased to announce this talk with @byrontau.bsky.social on his recent book "Means of Control: How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government is Creating a New American Surveillance State." You can register here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/means-of-c...

eventbrite.co.uk

Means of Control, book talk and discussion with Byron Tau

Byron Tau on his recent book Means of Control: How the Hidden Alliance of Tech and Government is Creating a New American Surveillance State

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

Tremendous reporting from Joel Schectman and Aruna Viswanatha in the @wsj.com on how Pentagon pranks, coverups and in some cases deliberate disinformation fed to American citizens fueled interest in UFOs. www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

wsj.com

The Pentagon Disinformation That Fueled America’s UFO Mythology

U.S. military fabricated evidence of alien technology and allowed rumors to fester to cover up real secret-weapons programs.

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

New intelligence community-run portal will be a "one stop shop" for commercially available information. This includes information on your car, your phone, your Bluetooth headphones, your purchases -- sold by corporations and bought by governments. theintercept.com/2025/05/22/i...

theintercept.com

U.S. Spy Agencies Are Getting a One-Stop Shop to Buy Your Most Sensitive Personal Data

The government wants to build a centralized platform where spy agencies can more easily buy private info about millions of people.

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l8tcoder @l8tcoder.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

I very much recommend Means of Control by @byrontau.bsky.social. Well researched and eye opening. Renewed a sense of urgency in me regarding #privacy matters. www.byrontau.com/means-of-con...

byrontau.com

Means of Control | ByronTau

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

For the past few weeks, a wire has snaked out of the open window of the GSA administrator's office and onto the roof, where it connects to a Starlink terminal A look at the very Muskian takeover of the chokepoint of federal tech, real estate and contracts. apnews.com/article/doge...

apnews.com

Elon Musk installed his top lieutenants at a federal agency you probably haven't heard of

The General Services Administration has a key role in the Trump administration’s quest to slash costs and bring the federal government to heel.

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

AP’s exclusion from the White House over its refusal to use the term Gulf of America "has been contrary to the First Amendment" and U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden (Trump appointee) "enjoins the Government from continuing down that unlawful path" storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

storage.courtlistener.com

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

21 DOGE staffers resign rather than help use their technical expertise to “dismantle critical public services," according to a resignation letter obtained by the AP. Musk has largely tried to keep technical talent at DOGE, mostly laying off designers & product managers. apnews.com/article/doge...

apnews.com

21 federal technology staffers resign rather than help Musk and DOGE slash size of government

Twenty-one civil service employees have resigned from billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, saying they're refusing to use their technical expertise to “dismantle ...

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

I am currently writing about DOGE and what it is doing with its vast access to federal computer systems and databases. If you are a current or former federal employee or contractor with insight, I am best reached on Signal at byrontau.01.

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

New from me: DeepSeek has code in its user login system that could send user data to a sanctioned Chinese state-owned telecom that in 2019 was barred from operating in the United States, according to Feroot Security. apnews.com/article/deep...

apnews.com

Researchers say China's DeepSeek chatbot is linked to state telecom, raising data privacy concerns

Security researchers say the website of the Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek has computer code that could send some user login information to a Chinese state-owned telecommunications c...

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Barbara Ortutay @blanka.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

Do you work at Meta? How is it going? Would love to hear from you -- Signal (646)378-8843 or bortutay@ap.org if you have anything to share, anonymity protected as always.

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

For federal employees (or anyone) who wants to speak to a reporter about what's unfolding about their agencies, the Associated Press investigative team can be reached here: Investigative@ap.org or www.ap.org/tips/ I am byrontau.01 on Signal.

ap.org

News tips | The Associated Press

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Martha Bellisle @marthabellisle.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

A reminder: Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or www.ap.org/tips/

ap.org

News tips | The Associated Press

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Things appear to be going well inside federal agencies.

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

Browsing the definitive U.S. contracting database now requires logging in, providing your address and subjecting your searches of said database to potential U.S. government review per a new software change confirmed today by journalist Jack Poulson. jackpoulson.substack.com/p/the-us-gov...

jackpoulson.substack.com

The U.S. Government silently sabotaged anonymous public access to billions of dollars of military AI contracts

The entire category of 'Other Transaction' contracts heavily used for Pentagon AI now silently requires a Login.gov account and an agreement to be surveilled.

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Brian Fung @brianfung.me · 26/01/2025

Live now with @timkmak.bsky.social and @byrontau.bsky.social: twitch.tv/brainfungi

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Runa Sandvik @runasand.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

I’ve focused on security for at-risk civil society groups for over a decade now (🙀), including human rights defenders, lawyers, and journalists. I’m available for collaboration, consulting, and presenting, so please get in touch if you’d like to work together!

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Brian Fung @brianfung.me · 24/01/2025

Need something to do this weekend while drinking your coffee? Join me, @timkmak.bsky.social and @byrontau.bsky.social for a chat about Ukraine, tech and media as we face off in Civ 6 multiplayer! 9 am ET Sunday: twitch.tv/BrainFungi Bonus: Here's a pic of us and @swin24.bsky.social from *2014*

A picture, taken in 2014, of the four Asian American journalists in DC most likely to be confused for each other (left to right): Byron Tau, Tim Mak, Asawin Suebsaeng and Brian Fung.

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

A former tech CEO is on a crusade to get the record of his arrest removed from the internet — suing a journalist for $25 million for truthfully reporting that the domestic violence arrest had occurred. sf.gazetteer.co/a-former-tec...

sf.gazetteer.co

A former tech CEO is on a crusade to get the record of his arrest removed from the internet - Gazetteer SF

Former Premise Data CEO Maury Blackman is suing a journalist who publicized his domestic violence arrest for $25 million

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Marie Blanca @5dintuition.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

This was such a good read, I knew about metadata but this terrified me. And then angered me that nothing has been done to protect American citizens.

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

"Healthy drinking is social drinking, and the decline of alcohol seems related to the fact that Americans now spend less time in face-to-face socializing than any period in modern history" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

theatlantic.com

Is Moderate Drinking Okay?

“Every drink takes five minutes off your life.” Maybe the thought scares you. Personally, I find comfort in it.

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Brian Fung @brianfung.me · 16/01/2025

So stoked: On Jan. 26, join me for a special weekend Twitch stream. My guests that day are @timkmak.bsky.social and @byrontau.bsky.social. We'll play Civ 6 together and discuss cool stuff like Tim's coverage of Ukraine and Byron's reporting on digital surveillance. Follow here: twitch.tv/brainfungi

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Mark Hurst @markhurst.bsky.social · 13/01/2025

Great book. Here's my techtonic.fm interview with @byrontau.bsky.social - www.wfmu.org/playlists/sh... (click Pop-up player link)

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Allison R.F. @allisfulloflove.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

My other winter break read was @byrontau.bsky.social . I highly recommend especially if you teach information literacy

A book called Means of Control: how the hidden alliance of tech and government is creating a new American surveillance state by Byron Tao

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Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

This is the stuff I'm a doomer about. Real journalism takes time - even a quick, original 700-word story requires a lot of legwork, relationships, etc. It can never compete with instant slop, or accounts that just plagiarize news for free with more sensationalistic (and wrong) framing.

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 07/01/2025

Hackers claim to have breached Gravy Analytics, the parent company of Venntel, one of the largest vendors of location data to government entities. They're threatening to leak a massive trove of location data on millions or even billions of devices. www.404media.co/hackers-clai...

404media.co

Hackers Claim Massive Breach of Location Data Giant, Threaten to Leak Data

Gravy Analytics has been one of the most important companies in the location data industry for years, collating smartphone location data from around the world selling some to the U.S. government. Hack...

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Over the summer I flew out to Michigan to record an episode of a web show called Seared with J Mays. We talked about data and my book Means of Control. The second part of my interview published last week. Check it out! www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOP6...

youtube.com

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Apple has opted iOS and MacOS users into an AI photo scanning feature which tries to extract landmarks from your photos called Enhanced Visual Search by default with little notice. www.theregister.com/2025/01/03/a...

theregister.com

Apple opts everyone into having their Photos analyzed by AI

Homomorphic-based Enhanced Visual Search is so privacy-preserving, iPhone giant activated it without asking

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

On Dec. 27, a Calif. tech executive suing a journalist for publishing his domestic violence arrest report filed a declaration in court saying he's not a public figure. On Dec. 31, he issued a press release describing himself as a "thought leader" about an H1-B essay he wrote.

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Dustin Volz @dustinvolz.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

I read Jonathan Alter’s biography of Jimmy Carter a few years ago. It was simply amazing how he never stopped going 100% in all that life offered: learning to downhill skill at 62, climbing Kilimanjaro at 64, picking up snorkeling at 90. RIP.

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Byron Tau @byrontau.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Thank you to Daniel for the "Means of Control" shoutout, which continues to be available here or wherever books are sold! www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/706321...

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