{✊} Hack The System - Digital Activism Podcast by Acter

Jo sat down with Lucija Borak from My Voice, My Choice campaign to talk about their European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) and the transformative power of volunteer communities. How did people across EU come together gathering one million signatures for safe & accessible abortion? In this episode, Lucija shares her journey about being part of running this campaign, the unexpected connections she's built along the way, and how campaigning for abortion rights has impacted both her life and the lives of those around her.

If you can and want to get involved, please make a donation to the campaign, become a volunteer, or at least make sure to follow My Voice, My Choice on Instagram!

You might face the same problem as Jo does: The laptop reports that her existing Windows 10 is running out of updates and urges her to upgrade to Windows 11. But the following check says that there are some hardware requirements not met, indicating she would have to buy new hardware.

What to do? And why even is this happening? The hardware works fine, why does Windows 11 need other hardware? And what if I can't afford or don't want to upgrade? Is it a problem if I just keep using my Windows 10? Aren't there any alternatives?

To help answer these question our host Jo, invited the CTO of Acter, Ben, to the show again. Spoilers: there is an alternative to throwing money at Microsoft for you to continuing using your hardware – and it's even free and we'll briefly go into how to use that.

This and more in this weeks podcast episode of "Hack The System"

Notes:

• End of Life for Windows
• Windows 10 End of Support Microsoft Website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-of-support
• Disable Copilot on Window 11: https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/software/how-disable-copilot-in-windows-11
• Best Linux to switch to: https://jasondeegan.com/best-linux-distros-to-try-before-windows-10-support-ends/

We renamed the podcast, but also focused a bit cleaner what this all about. This trailer briefly introduces the new name and what to expect from the podcast going forward.

In this last part of the "hit the fan"-mini-series, we briefly touch on privacy-focused of vendors of hardware and software, including Laptops and Smartphones. Additionally we try to answer the question, whether you need to upgrade your Phone – in particular if an App told you the Phone version was too old ...

Notes & References:

• PinePhone Pro
• Framework DYI Laptops
• Slimbook Linux Laptops
• End Of Life of Operation Systems: Android, iOS

In today's episode of the "💩 hit the fan"-miniseries we look at privacy regulation, in particular in the European Union, specifically the GDPR and the Digital Markets Regulation Act – what does that mean and what effect does it have for us "consumers". After we look a hard look at privacy-claims of Big Tech and whether we can trust those by looking back on previous claims they made, in particular how they clawed back any climate neutrality targets they had.

Notes & References:

• Unlike said in the podcast, Google's plan was to be NetZero by 2030 (not 2025), but is failing either way, citing AI (AP, July 2024).
• TheVerge, Jan 2025: Apple brings Alternate Stores to iOS in Europe
• CNN, Sept 2024: Microsoft wants to re-open Three Mile Island

We have a special episode for you; our Executive Director Emil Vincentz had the pleasure of being interviewed by Kathleen Chu for her podcast Progress Reimagined! Progress Reimagined explores innovative ideas, technologies, and emerging economic models that put humanity and our planet first. Listen now this great conversation about the challenges of digital organizing in an era of increased authoritarianism, the importance of secure and usable tools, and how decentralized technology can help preserve activist spaces.

Key Topics:
-The difference between mobilizing vs. organizing in social movements
-How current digital tools shape activist organizing (often not for the better)
-Matrix protocol and decentralized technology for movement security
-Designing technology that respects user attention and privacy
-Security challenges for activists in restrictive environments
-Creating sustainable movement structures that don't rely on individuals
-Balancing usability with security in activist technology

Make sure to follow and subscribe to Progress Reimagined for future discussions:

Youtube
RSS feed for podcast platforms
Instagram
BlueSky
Substack

In this 💩 hit the fan mini-series we continue the discussion from last time and dive deeper into the practical aspects of privacy focused software. While last time we spoke about why that matters in the first place, this episode looks at what you want to do as an activists, and in particular how you to best pick a privacy-focused software and which choices you have to make in that process.

Additionally we will cover the detriment state that the second browser war left us with – spoiler: even the former champion Firefox is not on a good path anymore – and discuss search engines.

Further Reading

• Firefox Browser
  • recommended: The uBlock Origin Add blocker extension
• LibreWolf Browser
• The deal between Google and Firefox
• Privacy focused tool alternatives
• Privacy alternative Search Engines

In this short episode, Jo and Ben are talking about what makes a Software privacy-focused, what to look for when making these choices and what drawbacks to expect. We'll also briefly cover the basics of how apps can track your specific smartphone.

Further Reading:

• How to disable Advertiser ID on your Smartphone by the EFF
• Wikipedia on IMEI

Due to a mishandling of sensitive Information by the Trump Administration, Signal Messenger is in the press the last few days. The end-to-end-encrypted messenger is also very popular among activists. Unfortunately there is some misleading reporting implying that Signal is less secure than previously thought – we were also personally asked about this. Prompting us to make a special episode to discuss what happened, what the reporting is about and whether activists should switch to something else.

Spoiler: No. Signal is secure.

Additionally we cover what that might mean for the Signal Organization and what we can learn from the incident for our own Operational Security for Activists. More in the episode 😃 .

Resources:

• 404 Media: When your Threat Model is being Moron
• Wikipedia Article about the Group-Chat-Leak
• Signals response on mastodon

In this 21min podcast episode Ben, Acter CTO and Lead Product, and Jo, Community Lead of Acter, talk about the Security of WhatsApp vs. Signal, share tips on Chat Group Security and what to do when you got compromised.

👉 GlobalSupport.Link support desk
👉 AccessNow Help Line
👉 Amnesty International Security Lab

• Report by Amnesty about Unauthorized Access to Phones by Serbian Security Forces