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Michael Spratt

@michaelspratt.eurosky.social
487 followers 1.7K following 88 posts

Data protection, risk assessments, new governance, PhD in law, recovering telecoms engineer, #redsetters #andacyclist dpiaresearch.eu

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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 02/10/2026
An interesting AND easy to use website to track #irish government spending. statespend.ie well done to Deputy Albert Dolan and Matthew Fenlon (TPSA) - #speirgorm #spéirghorm
statespend.ie
Public Payments / Purchase Order Tracker
~€103bn of published Irish public-body purchase orders and payments, searchable. By Deputy Albert Dolan and Matthew Fenlon (TPSA).
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Liberal Currents @liberalcurrents.com · 28/09/2026
"The evidence continues to grow. Social media, as it is currently constructed, redounds to the net benefit of illiberal regimes and their allies in democracies. The question is what to do about it." www.liberalcurrents.com/social-media...
Social Media Has Not Brought Liberation

Social media has been a boon to autocratic regimes and their allied movements in democracies.
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Aidan O’Brien @aidanobrien.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This week we learned that the Irish government has proposed weakening Europeans citizens' fundamental right to privacy to favour AI companies. We also learned this week that 83% of Irish people under 25 want stronger government regulation of AI. Who *exactly* does our government work for?
AI: EU Member States plan "digital expropriation" of Europeans in the interest of Al companies
Artificial Intelligence / 21 September 2026
In a leaked document, the Irish Presidency proposes to EU Member States that the interest of OpenAl, Anthropic, Google, Meta and SpaceX to make profits should take precedence over the fundamental right to data protection. Use of personal data "in the context of Al" should automatically be lawful.
There seems to be wide informal agreement by many Member States. In particular, Big Tech would be able to use all personal data collected over the past decades with virtually no restrictions, as long as this happens "in the context" of Al. Schrems: "Under these proposals, the profits of Al companies would trump European's fundamental right to privacy. This is nothing but a digital expropriation of Europeans." All this is happening despite the key figures of Al corporations actively warn about the enormous risks associated with their own products.Transport costs and mental health also remain prominent concerns.
More than seven in ten adults believe Al will make it harder for young people to find secure employment over the next five years, while 83% support stronger government regulation of Al.
Just 17% of young adults said they believe the Government is doing enough to support them through the cost-of-living crisis.
"These findings should serve as a wake-up call," said Grace McManus, Policy and Campaigns Manager at NYCI.
"Too many young people feel that the chance to build a secure and independent life is slipping out of reach," Ms McManus said.
The polling was conducted by RED C, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,010 adults, including a cohort aged 18-24.
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timoconnorbl.bsky.social @timoconnorbl.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
“Quick, cheap, good: pick two” remains an eternal touchstone in most fields.
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Terndis Shipperound @clearsonnyday.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Thereallo, a web developer, decompiled the app and published a detailed technical breakdown of what's running under the hood. It injects code into third-party websites, loads JavaScript from someone's GitHub, and tracks your GPS, among other things.
thereallo.dev
I Decompiled the White House's New App
The official White House Android app has a cookie/paywall bypass injector, tracks your GPS every 4.5 minutes, and loads JavaScript from some guy's GitHub Pages.
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 21/09/2026
Irish data protection watchdog fines Google €403m over GDPR breaches www.irishtimes.com/business/2026/09…. #privacy #dataprotection
irishtimes.com
Irish data protection watchdog fines Google €403m over GDPR breaches
Users may have been ‘unaware’ that location data was being used to ‘influence them with ads’
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IrishCycle.com @irishcycle.com · 16/09/2026
Govt proceeds with Dublin's MetroLink as benefits exceed new €16bn estimated price tag irishcycle.com/2026/09/16/g...
irishcycle.com
Govt proceeds with Dublin’s MetroLink as benefits exceed new €16bn estimated price tag
The Cabinet has approved Dublin’s MetroLink project to proceed to the tender stage with a reviewed Detailed Business Case estimating a cost range of €14.44 to €17.49 billion, and a central es…
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Nicolas Hénin @nicolashenin.net · 17/09/2026
Nice campaign by the Norwegian Consumer Council about the declining lifespan of products. Enjoy!
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Evan Greer @evangreer.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Age verification makes everyone less safe. Age verification makes everyone less safe. Age verification makes everyone less safe. Age verification makes everyone less safe. Age verification makes everyone less safe. Age verification makes everyone less safe.
techdirt.com
Hackers Had A Live Feed Of Every ID This Verification Company Scanned. For Over A Year.
From the very beginning of this recent obsession with identifying everyone online (yes, they like to call it "age" verification, but it always ends up as identity verification), we've been pointing out that it was a huge privacy nightmare waiting to happen. Or maybe it wasn't waiting. Maybe it was already happening. This week a...
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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
New study finds the social cost of driving a car 1 km—including pollution, crashes, infrastructure, and noise—is more than *triple* the private cost paid by the car owner. doi.org/10.1016/j.tr...
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Wolfie Christl @wchr.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Verfassungsschutz, refers to the sale of mobile app location data as a "grave privacy intrusion" and warns that foreign actors may use the data to approach or attack individuals in the security/defense industries: www.verfassungsschutz.de/SharedDocs/p...
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Elle Cordova @ellecordova.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I am the very model of a modern day typographer I know the type tonalities from elegant to jocular I am a master tracker and my kerning is harmonical I know the sacred swatches and can name the hues Pantonical (Full version of Modern Day Typographer now on my YouTube channel)
youtu.be
Modern Day Typographer - Elle Cordova
YouTube video by Elle Cordova
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Conor Gallagher @conorgallagher.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
More questions than answers on this one. It comes at a time when there's lot of disruption in the air (and lots of US military aircraft flying in for Trump). If anyone got eyes on it from the aircraft, please get in touch on conor.gallagher@irishtimes.com www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2026...
irishtimes.com
Aer Lingus pilot reports sighting of large drone close to Dublin Bay
Dublin Air Traffic Control notified of sighting at around 6pm on Tuesday
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Elad Nehorai @eladn.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Here is a guest on Tucker Carlson’s podcast saying that algebra is a conspiracy by the Jews to turn people into “good little goy slaves.” I wish I was joking.
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Mark O’Neill 🐻 @radiobeartime.com · 07/09/2026
Big fan of how Russia can shut down a major UK port for half a day with just 5kg of cocaine and 100 severely divorced men.
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Andy Scollick @andyscollick.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Fascist paramilitaries in #Dover #UK this morning in a highly organised action designed to test their ability to mobilise, raise their profile and push the boundaries of what they can or, rather, what the UK Government will let them get away with.
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Stephen Collins @stephencollins.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Every ad now
[Scene is a kitchen - a middle aged woman called JANET is boiling peas at the stove. A younger more colourfully dressed woman named LIZ approached her.]

JANET:
Ugh...

LIZ:
What's up?

JANET:
I am so bored of cooking peas!

LIZ:
Have you tried...

AI peas?

JANET:
AI peas?

LIZ:
They're peas with AI!

[Liz holds up to us a packet of peas labelled: Pea-i AI - Peas with AI].

LIZ:
Al-powered peas harness the potential of your peas

JANET:
What

LIZ [Now a voiceover as we cut to a whizzy technology diagram of peas all connected by meaningless dotted lines]

Why not take your peas to the next level with Al Peas' new Al tools to power your peas?

[Show a techno diagram of a pea with a label reading 'AI' pointing to a random zone in it]

LIZ:

Each pea has Al in a way we haven't quite worked out yet but it's fine

[Show Janet and Liz now in a Matrix-style world of peas]

LIZ:
With Al peas you can supercharge productivity and make AI work for your peas!

JANET:
What

LIZ:
Shut up

LIZ:
Our game-changing Pea-Al gives you the freedom to unlock the potential of the power of the future of your peas workflow

From opening the bag of peas

to boiling the peas

to eating the peas

To spending millions on adding Al to the peas and then having to work out what that even means.

JANET:
Is it really necessary to-

LIZ [Grabbing Janet by the collar]:
THE PEAS HAVE GOT AI, JANET

[Cut to an advert ending screen, with the bag of peas and the slogan:

AI PEAS: Just 'Peas' for god's sake buy the AI peas.

[Ends]
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
This iconic Fabian Todorovic cartoon is still one of the best I’ve seen at illustrating the remarkable amount of space we surrender to cars, leaving little space left for everyone and everything else. The text added later makes the bonus point that many drivers still manage to complain about it.
Cartoon image of a street with much of the space taken up by a car with a single driver, while the rest of the street has people tightly packed in a bus, a bus shelter and riding bikes in a bike lane. Adding insult to injury, the driver says “damn those bike paths and bike lanes taking all the space.”
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 19/08/2026
wow who could have anticipated Meta’s pervert glasses would be used to ruthlessly harass women and girls, except for literally everyone smarter than paste
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 14/08/2026
Ouch: Penguins 1 Humanity 0
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LibreOffice @libreoffice.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Here's part 2 of our interview with the Austrian Military, about their migration of 16,000 PCs to #LibreOffice: blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2026/08... #foss #openSource #freesoftware
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 12/08/2026
As we all develop “relationships” with our favourite LLMs, how much of what we receive will be glorified product placement? Must get back to that self hosted LLM project……
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 11/08/2026
Same for #ireland - we need to crack on with building out Tonn Nua & Lí Ban off the coast of Waterford. Plus the Irish Sea sites. Cheap, secure, domestic & green energy coupled with large scale storage.
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TJ McIntyre @tjmcintyre.com · 06/08/2026
We need to decide on the appropriate reward for this. Knighthood? Canonisation?
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 09/08/2026
Wonderful news!
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World Bollard Association™️ @worldbollardassoc.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Over to Monaco🇲🇨 where we have exclusive footage of bollards saving lives. #WorldBollardAssociation
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 04/08/2026
“No one gains anything by being filmed on the street without knowing it.” ‘Pervert Glasses’: Meta Struggles With Mockery And Misgivings Toward Its Star Product english.elpais.com/technology/2026-…
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 03/08/2026
open.substack.com/pub/nixons/p/euro… “ the real threats to European integration - and thus to the continent’s long-term sovereignty, security and prosperity - from a pan-European far right fired by ethno-nationalism and a US government pathologically hostile to the EU”
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Norman @noaasm.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
Wow, I am positively surprised - Irish government has kicked a Microsoft procurement potentially worth €1 billion into touch amid a political debate about the nation's overreliance on US tech providers and a move to free and open source software www.theregister.com/public-secto...
theregister.com
Ireland stalls €1B Microsoft tender amid digital sovereignty questions
Government plans another Redmond-only procurement despite calls to consider European rivals
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Richard Pace @rpace.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
www.creativebloq.com/design/fonts...
creativebloq.com
This free font "poisons" AI
Hate AI? Then you might want to try ShieldFont.
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 26/07/2026
“Compounding this is a failure to grasp that the post-war rules-based order is fracturing. Legacy multilateral assumptions are being applied to a hard-power landscape, and they do not fit it.” Well written Steve
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Brian Honan @brianhonan.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
static.klipy.com
David Rose from Schitt's Creek: Absolutely Not
ALT: David Rose from Schitt's Creek: Absolutely Not
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 12/07/2026
www.independent.ie/business/ministe… Listen when they tell you what they are planning: “reduce EU digital regulation”
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 12/07/2026
english.elpais.com/opinion/2026-07-…. “ The totalitarian-for-profit leaders of big tech reserve their most intense fear for the European Union. “
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Donncha O’Connell @donnchalaw.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Government welcomes security watchdog's recommendations on surveillance www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41...
irishexaminer.com
Government welcomes security watchdog's recommendations on surveillance
Micheál Martin also backs George Birmingham's scoping review of espionage laws
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 04/07/2026
Irish parliament fails to recognise the changing world and boldly opts for naively. #eurostack #speirgorm #spéirghorm www.dublininquirer.com/the-oireacht… @dublininquirer.com (Edited 15:04 via @skeetsapp.com)
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Benjamin Braun @benbraun.social · 03/07/2026
Well, at least some in Europe are taking a hard look at those exposures. "Shorting America", as they call it in Kiel. www.kielinstitut.de/fileadmin/Da...
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 22/06/2026
That which was predicted occurred @johnnyryan.bsky.social
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Christian Odendahl @codendahl.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
"Politicians say their social-media bans are the only responsible option. In fact, they look like a way of ducking the care children deserve." Our leader from earlier this year. www.economist.com/leaders/2026...
economist.com
Don’t ban teenagers from social media
Restrictions would do more harm than good
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 14/06/2026
“Ulster will fight and Ulster will be right” said one of the Churchills in 1886. That sentiment, of transcending moral or legal limits seems to have animated loyalism ever since.
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Éamann Mac Donnchada @almagroschool.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
substack.com/home/post/p-...
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Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
There is no form of age verification that isn’t privacy invasive, counterproductive, and creates unnecessary vulnerabilities.
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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
"Apple, Google, and Meta are very excited to announce the release of new AI-driven products. We guarantee that they will respect your privacy. Unfortunately, these products are not available in Europe, as they have laws to protect your privacy."
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Christian Panton @pa.nton.cx · 06/06/2026
GNSS jamming from space, continental scale 2019-2026, attributed to Russian "Cosmos 2546" -> arxiv.org/pdf/2606.03673
youtube.com
Something is jamming GPS over Europe. Here's what we found
YouTube video by Veritasium
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 01/06/2026
New paper alert: Exploring interpretative fragmentation in EU data protection impact assessments — quantitative analysis from COVID-19 proximity apps Free link until June 13, 2026 authors.elsevier.com/a/1m%7Eq7,oJ... #DPIA #DataProtection #RegulatoryTheory It has pictures!
authors.elsevier.com
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DanielR @danielr-phd.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Mark Carney talked about Ukraine and Canada to the Economic Club of New York. What he said is quite interesting. An excellent summary is provided in this thoughtful, well-written article: ifloz.substack.com/p/mr-cool-ca...
ifloz.substack.com
Mr Cool, Calm and Fucking Collective
While Trump's peace deal got wheeled into the morgue and Russia firebombed Kyiv, Mark Carney calmly explained to a dictator that the numbers don't care about his feelings.
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 30/05/2026
Well now - is this a first for #speirgorm #spéirghorm www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/co...
irishtimes.com
Civil servant accused of leaking confidential information to foreign ‘handlers’, court hears
Yevgen McKeeffe, an Irish citizen originally from Ukraine, was arrested at Dublin Airport on Thursday
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 22/05/2026
This image captures the reasoning behind impact assessments. #dpia #fria
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Michael Spratt @michaelspratt.eurosky.social · 14/05/2026
substack.com/@hanaleegold...
substack.com
Hana Lee Goldin, MLIS (@hanaleegoldin)
6 free tools for the kind of research that used to require a university login Academic research has gotten significantly more accessible over the past decade. Each of these tools is free and open to ...
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