iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nick Doty

@npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy

67 followers 12 following 93 posts

I fight for human rights online. I work on technical standards. I like wildflowers. I take public transit. previously: @npdoty@twitter.com (2007-2016), @npd […] [bridged from techpolicy.social/@npdoty on the fediverse by fed.brid.gy ]

Posts Replies Media

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/09/2026

the Freedom of Speech Online Conference (from @CenDemTech and Stand Together Trust) next week is covering threats to online anonymity: foso26.cdt.org Always a good event, but I'm especially looking forward to the very topical discussions about age verification and anti-fraud/proof of […]

techpolicy.social

Original post on techpolicy.social

000

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/09/2026

A new one for me: the AI-generated auto answer gives correct information, but of course I don't trust it, so I click on the link that the AI generated text provides as a citation. But the citation is wrong, and so that link gives me conflicting information, which in this case is incorrect. This […]

techpolicy.social

Original post on techpolicy.social

000

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/08/2026

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Advisory Board @ab has published their recommendations for supporting human rights in web standards. www.w3.org/TR/furthering-human-righ… Aligning technical standards with human rights has been a long project, involving privacy standards […]

techpolicy.social

Original post on techpolicy.social

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/07/2026

I don't want the rest of my professional life to consist of trying to decipher whether a human wrote something or just pasted something from their chatbot, navigating how to ask that politely, and/or spending most of my time responding to unending streams of slop.

000

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/07/2026

if browsers enabled one-click presentation of cryptographic proofs of email ownership, how would that primarily be used? -- tracking users across domains, selling their identity and personal information to data brokers, and spam could we protect against that small step towards even more […]

techpolicy.social

Original post on techpolicy.social

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/07/2026

I can't find it now, but someone has been posting occasionally about how we need safe accessible social media style communities for kids, and so schools could run their own fediverse instances, with good moderation, so that kids can get exposed to and learn how to use social media within their […]

techpolicy.social

Original post on techpolicy.social

000

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/07/2026

Do IETF/W3C spec documents get longer, wordier, more abstruse when every commit is co-authored by an LLM? Do, and should, specifications include documentation on what the LLM provided vs what the purported editor provided?

100

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/07/2026

'booking a vacation' has become the quintessential AI use case. are these developers just all too rich? they don't want to learn about travel, or how things work in other countries? or it's an existing model and people want travel agents back, as long as they don't have to pay them?

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 22/07/2026

If you're unwilling to read the text answers to open-ended questions in your survey, I would rather you not ask those questions at all, rather than asking them, and then asking an AI to summarize instead of reading them. That is: if you won't bother to read something, why should I bother to […]

techpolicy.social

Original post on techpolicy.social

000

Reposted by Nick Doty

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 18/07/2026

We didn't previously integrate wildfire-smoke costs into the supposed cost of climate change for the US, and it turns out to be bigger than all those other costs combined. Oops! Gosh I wonder if we're underestimating anything else. Probably shoulda done something about this. Ah well.

What Worries Me Most About This Wildfire Smoke

We didn’t know days like this could happen. Then we learned how bad they really are.

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/06/2026

like with any decentralized protocol, you have to get advance permission from developers at a single company before using any of the functionality

200

Reposted by Nick Doty

b @b.xoxo.zone.ap.brid.gy · 26/06/2026

The simpler approach to AI, I propose, is to go back to the other thread: when you say you're going to mass-harvest the work of creators so that you can replace those creators at mass scale, that's dead center in the sphere of unfair business dealings. If you only pay creators with enough […]

Original post on xoxo.zone

Reposted by Nick Doty

Kate Ruane @kateruane.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

@davidgreene.bsky.social speaking the absolute truth. "Parenthood, even in the earliest days, made it clear to me that my children were not mere balls of clay for me to mold. They were, and are, their own people."

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 21/06/2026

Let's put a nice, 17 acre park with multiple playgrounds and picnic shelters at the end of a greenway. We have multiple parking lots in case people want to drive. How many bike racks should we have? Durham, NC: Zero, definitely.

000

Reposted by Nick Doty

Ross Grady @rossgrady.dood.net.ap.brid.gy · 18/06/2026

Central North Carolina people: I *hope* you don't know this dude, but if you recognize him or his car, speak up. He is an attempted murderer of two cyclists in Durham. (Also: Is it weird that the cops appear to have surveillance photos from a tire shop but they don't have his name or any other […]

Original post on dood.net

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/06/2026

that "best minds of my generation lost to madness" quote is a much better fit for the AI endlessly-making-you-feel-right-prompting machine, but we already re-used it too much for the ad-clicking-data metaphor, so, alas, it's not available

000

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/06/2026

it might be individually unhelpful to express your rage at some lone individual when it's actually a small symptom of a much larger systemic problem, and, it's totally normal for people to get mad when they suffer consequences from an individual symptom of a much larger systemic problem; like […]

techpolicy.social

Original post on techpolicy.social

000

Reposted by Nick Doty

Jan Penfrat @ilumium.eupolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/05/2026

Okay, turns out I don't manage to participate in many panels after all, but still wanted to highlight @cdteurope's excellent panel "Beyond age gating" about how to _really_ protect minors online (hint: it's not by banning them from social media). 👏 #CPDP2026

Reposted by Nick Doty

Laurie Voss @seldo.alpaca.gold.ap.brid.gy · 09/05/2026

You're just saying "I have no literally no additional ideas as to what we could do".

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/05/2026

Call for participation in the Online Safety Community Group at @w3c: www.w3.org/community/online-safety/… While many stakeholders have a particular interest in bolstering safety for vulnerable populations such as children […]

techpolicy.social

Original post on techpolicy.social

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/04/2026

stepped out to the burger stand for lunch / passed a press conference about the local children kidnapped by ICE

crowd of people around a blue podium saying Siembra NC, a speaker with long black hair, two posters with pictures of smiling young children

000

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/04/2026

the wiring to my ebike's integrated headlamp snapped, while I was installing a rack and basket. do bike shops like to fix that kind of electrical thing? or am I an adult that should just relearn the skills to solder/heat-shrink/whatever wires back together?

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/03/2026

the only way to stop centralization is for everyone to stop learning anything about technology and instead outsource all practical understanding to a small number of tools

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/02/2026

Indicative datum from using chat apps with emoji reactions, my most commonly used reacji, or at least one that is always listed in my frequently-used list is: :disappointed:

000

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/02/2026

'sure, the last dozen times we told you this we were lying, and our ultimate goal is to erase the gains of labor over the past hundred years, extract as much money as possible to as few people as possible, burn all the fuel we can to prevent progress towards climate adaptation, undermine every […]

techpolicy.social

Original post on techpolicy.social

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/02/2026

Denial of service attacks at different levels: * I wrote this 20 page document with an LLM. Can you now review it and tell me if it's any good? * Someone I don't know wrote a wordy issue/request. Is this real? Would it insult them to ask if it's AI-generated? * Although boosters have been wrong […]

techpolicy.social

Original post on techpolicy.social

000

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/02/2026

just heard an insulting NPR piece on the "extreme" measures that some Olympic athletes are taking to avoid getting COVID before competing. Some are wearing masks inside!!1!

100

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/02/2026

> (This is how men behave.) Among the more sickening parentheticals I've read.

100

Reposted by Nick Doty

Kate Ruane @kateruane.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

The TikTok deal has improved the privacy of exactly no one and has done nothing to improve national security. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/t...

TikTok Strikes Deal for New U.S. Entity, Ending Long Legal Saga

Reposted by Nick Doty

Daphne Keller @daphnek.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

@anupamchander.bsky.social with the money quote: “My worry all along is that we may have traded fears of foreign propaganda for the reality of domestic propaganda.” www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/t...

TikTok Strikes Deal for New U.S. Entity, Ending Long Legal Saga

Reposted by Nick Doty

Tim Bray 🇨🇦 @timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy · 17/01/2026

What would happen if ICE wanted to join the Fediverse? Most instances probably wouldn’t host that account, but some would. The account would be broadly blocked at both individual and instance levels, and some instances would probably defederate the hosting instance. Some folks would migrate […]

Original post on cosocial.ca

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/01/2026

We could try to explain the privacy concept of "resignation" (answering apparent "privacy paradox" with evidence that people conclude surveillance is inescapable) with academic papers from Joe Turow and survey research ... or, you could just watch this Subway Take […]

techpolicy.social

Original post on techpolicy.social

000

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/12/2025

The decisions made in standard-setting have "crucial ramifications for human rights" (so says the Human Rights Council) — so how should we design technical standard-setting bodies and their practices to better support human rights?

100

Reposted by Nick Doty

myrmepropagandist @futurebird.sauropods.win.ap.brid.gy · 14/12/2025

I think that schools should take on this role. You could have a server for a school with mastodon, but not connected to the rest of the fedi, you could network with similar schools. Just like at the school dance the teachers are around so there are limits to how it's used. Teens could post […]

Original post on sauropods.win

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/11/2025

I wish it need not have happened in my time

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/11/2025

because my favorite fediverse client is behind cloudflare, had to log in to my instance to directly to keep using decentralized social media

000

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/10/2025

I was (and still am) concerned about "papers, please" demands, but didn't recognize how quickly the government would move to facial recognition lookups of anyone brownish and tackling people on the street and throwing them in a warehouse ("Kavanaugh stop").

000

Reposted by Nick Doty

Tim Bray 🇨🇦 @timbray.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2025

The canceling of ICEBlock is more evidence, were any needed, that the Web is the platform of the future, the only platform without a controlling vendor. Anything controversial should be available through a pure browser interface. #USpolitics

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2025

I can't make it in person this year, but @CenDemTech Tech Prom is coming up October 23rd -- it's always both nerdy and a fun party: cdt.org/event/2025-tech-prom #TechPromCDT

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/09/2025

In a city of a quarter million people where an infectious disease is currently spiking, what seems like the right number of healthcare facilities that will offer the protective vaccine?

Reposted by Nick Doty

Matt Blaze @mattblaze.federate.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/09/2025

We worried that there would be checkpoints and arbitrary stops where innocent people would face the dreaded "Your papers, please" demand. But that was wrong. They don't say "please". wapo.st/41IZKeF

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/09/2025

I have spent a lot of my career in circular conversations like this: "We should maintain privacy feature X in Platform A." -- "But Platform B doesn't have privacy feature X. Really what you're doing is forcing users to platform B, with worse privacy." "Platform B should add privacy feature X as […]

techpolicy.social

Original post on techpolicy.social

100

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2025

Are the DC police just inundated with 911 calls? Gangs of armed men -- some wearing masks, some with tattoos -- are roaming the streets, harassing people when they get off the metro.

000

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/08/2025

From time to time, I re-read "Who Goes Nazi?", with sadness. harpers.org/archive/1941/08/who-goe… The "macabre parlor game to play at a large gathering of one's acquaintances" is just as macabre, but that much more accessible when I accidentally open my Facebook feed. The spoiled […]

techpolicy.social

Original post on techpolicy.social

000

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/08/2025

I often use search to confirm or deny a detail that I may have encountered in passing. This is among the most harmful moments for LLM intervention. Because I'm asking about something plausible, and LLMs produce plausible content, and because LLMs are obsequious, it will confirm the detail […]

techpolicy.social

Original post on techpolicy.social

Reposted by Nick Doty

Ben Werdmuller @ben.werd.social.ap.brid.gy · 05/08/2025

"Yes, you read that right. A law supposedly designed to protect children now requires victims of sexual assault to submit government IDs to access support communities." […]

Original post on werd.social

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/07/2025

Thanks to engineers and advocates for meeting on a Sunday afternoon (before a very full week of other meetings) to talk about human rights in the technical standard-setting process. techpolicy.social/@CenDemTech/11491…

techpolicy.social

CenDemTech (@CenDemTech@techpolicy.social)

Alongside the event, CDT helped organize a workshop on how to more concretely support human rights in the technical standard setting process. The UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (UNHCR) is continuing to consult with stakeholders prior to publishing an additional report on human rights in technical standards.

Reposted by Nick Doty

Daniel Appelquist @torgo.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/07/2025

Presented my intro remarks to the UN workshop on Technical Standards and Human Rights at #IETF123. Slides here: docs.google.com/presentation/d/1h9V… It's a bit of a summary of what we've done so far with wide review in the W3C, how […]

mastodon.social

Original post on mastodon.social

000

Nick Doty @npdoty.techpolicy.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/07/2025

Nick: this work is harmful. Rather than just saying no, I will do some good faith work to point out in greater detail the specific ways that it's harmful to our shared goals. []: Thanks for pointing out the ways that this is harmful. There seems to be broad agreement that you are correct about […]

techpolicy.social

Original post on techpolicy.social