In our main story today, Divyank Katira, Anunay Kulshrestha and Gurshabad Grover explore how researchers are developing smarter ways to detect and analyse spyware targeting civil society. But first... The Real World: Sofia — Where Cryptographers Stop Being Polite and Start Getting Real Our very own Mallory Knodel is taking the

GSMA’s latest update to RCS adopts a clear, research-backed definition of end-to-end encryption, developed by Internet Exchange’s Mallory Knodel, Sofía Celi (Brave), Olaf Kolkman (Internet Society), and Gurshabad Grover. This update paves the way for secure, cross-platform messaging. But first... IETF 119 and the HRPC This Week in

In our main article today, Public Interest Technologist and Senior Product Manager for Permission Slip at Consumer Reports, Sukhi Gulati-Gilbert, breaks down why data rights are so hard to use, how companies make opting out a nightmare, and what privacy tools can do to help consumers take back control. But

In our main article today, Mallory and Cornell University PhD student Andrés Fábrega break down how AI bots are creeping into encrypted chats, and what that means for privacy. But first... ICANN82 The Oscars may be over, but the red carpets are rolling out for ICANN82 next week in Seattle.

In our main article today, Tech for Palestine explores how Big Tech enables Israel’s occupation—suppressing Palestinian voices, funding apartheid, and supplying military AI. The report details tech’s complicity and outlines steps to dismantle its support for genocide and occupation. But first.. Mallory at Mobile World Congress, MWC25

Cognitive scientist Abeba Birhane reflects on the Paris AI Action Summit, and critiques the dominant narratives around “public interest AI.” In our main article today, she explores how powerful corporations, militarization, and technosolutionism can stall real progress, and lays out concrete steps to push technology toward the public good. But

The UK government is demanding Apple create a backdoor in its encrypted services—a move that threatens privacy and the integrity of global cybersecurity. Over 100 experts and civil society organizations have signed an open letter urging the UK to back down. but first... Mallory on INFLUENCE: How We Reclaim

DeepSeek’s success challenges the belief that bigger compute means better AI. Facing chip shortages and export restrictions, it built a powerful reasoning model using reinforcement learning over brute-force scale. In our main article today, Betty Li Hou, Computer Science PhD Student and Machine Learning Researcher at NYU, explores how

AI is advancing fast, but its real impact will take longer than you might expect. In our featured article below, Mozilla Fellow and AI researcher Sayash Kapoor explores why adoption lags behind innovation—and what it will take to bridge the gap. But first: Join Mallory for an Inspiring Fireside