Scrutable

dyqik wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2024 12:32 pm

Tristan wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2024 8:10 am It appears nobody knows where Bluesky’s EU HQ is, which is a problem for regulatory purposes. https://www.euronews.com/next/2024/11/2 ... m=referral

Do Bluesky actually operate in any meaningful sense the EU? They don't have advertising yet, so they aren't selling anything in the EU.

At the moment, they are just a website and an app.

Actually, it is both a protocol and an interface. The protocol is public, so anyone could create an app/website/interface for it, not just bluesky. It's like email and an email client, or www and browsers. It seems that at the moment only bluesky operates the public data servers that store the actual posted content, but I think that could change soon.

jaap wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2024 1:39 pm

dyqik wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2024 12:32 pm

Tristan wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2024 8:10 am It appears nobody knows where Bluesky’s EU HQ is, which is a problem for regulatory purposes. https://www.euronews.com/next/2024/11/2 ... m=referral

Do Bluesky actually operate in any meaningful sense the EU? They don't have advertising yet, so they aren't selling anything in the EU.

At the moment, they are just a website and an app.

Actually, it is both a protocol and an interface. The protocol is public, so anyone could create an app/website/interface for it, not just bluesky. It's like email and an email client, or www and browsers. It seems that at the moment only bluesky operates the public data servers that store the actual posted content, but I think that could change soon.

Protocols and interfaces aren't business operations at all, they are things that could and would exist without Bluesky or anyone else running any kind of business, servers, etc. that use them.

dyqik wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2024 2:03 pm

jaap wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2024 1:39 pm

dyqik wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2024 12:32 pm

Do Bluesky actually operate in any meaningful sense the EU? They don't have advertising yet, so they aren't selling anything in the EU.

At the moment, they are just a website and an app.

Actually, it is both a protocol and an interface. The protocol is public, so anyone could create an app/website/interface for it, not just bluesky. It's like email and an email client, or www and browsers. It seems that at the moment only bluesky operates the public data servers that store the actual posted content, but I think that could change soon.

Protocols and interfaces aren't business operations at all, they are things that could and would exist without Bluesky or anyone else running any kind of business, servers, etc. that use them.

Bluesky is covered by the EU's Digital Services Act, and as of November Bluesky was in breach of its obligations under the act to disclose information on aspects of its operations

See also: EU says Bluesky is violating information disclosure rules
https://www.reuters.com/technology/eu-s ... hatgpt.com

Bluesky users: "Welcome to civilised discussion with none of the nastiness of the RWNJs on Twitter".

Also Bluesky users: "WTF, you said something positive or even neutral about AI, or you didn't mention that Sam Altman is literally Hitler, OMG, delete your account and kill yourself".

https://bsky.app/profile/jimmycoan.bsky ... gbkozemc2w

Getting away from twitter, bluesky etc makes all the interactions on them seem absolutely ridiculous, but on the other hand I feel quite a lot more out of touch with the world these days. It's a difficult balance to strike. On the other hand, I get the feeling that a lot of people who are in touch with the world via their phones maybe don't do a lot about it (this isn't directed at anyone here...).

Not really the point of this thread sorry but I suppose it just seems to be a shame that not only do people spend a lot of time arguing on social media, they also argue about how much and how they argue and which places are better or worse to argue on...

sTeamTraen wrote: Thu Dec 26, 2024 1:42 pm Bluesky users: "Welcome to civilised discussion with none of the nastiness of the RWNJs on Twitter".

Also Bluesky users: "WTF, you said something positive or even neutral about AI, or you didn't mention that Sam Altman is literally Hitler, OMG, delete your account and kill yourself".

https://bsky.app/profile/jimmycoan.bsky ... gbkozemc2w

It must be very hard for you, being unable to differentiate between 20 million different people.

So it looks like BlueSky is going to be selling their users’ data to genAI companies and as “bulk datasets” to whoever that maybe.

It’s opt out, not opt in, but most people don’t touch default settings. So the great scraping in the offing. Let the enshitification begin…..

The initial categories described here include:
generative AI
protocol bridging
bulk datasets
public archiving and preservation

https://github.com/bluesky-social/propo ... er-intents

bjn wrote: Thu Mar 13, 2025 2:22 pm So it looks like BlueSky is going to be selling their users’ data to genAI companies and as “bulk datasets” to whoever that maybe.

I don’t see anything in what you’ve linked to that makes any reference to selling, or to the legal licence terms that apply to what people post to Bluesky. It’s a mechanism for people to declare ‘please do not do x or y with my data’, but there is no mechanism for legally enforcing that - how could there be when your Bluesky posts are publicly available information?

discovolante wrote: Thu Dec 26, 2024 4:09 pm Getting away from twitter, bluesky etc makes all the interactions on them seem absolutely ridiculous

I feel the same and have never got into them.

Have always been into forums/bulletin boards. Even going back to the days of usenet. But couldn't stomach Twitter and its successors.

In a couple of weeks' time, UK users will have to verify their identity, per the Online Safety Act, if they want to continue to use all features such as DMs.

https://bsky.social/about/blog/07-10-2025-age-assurance

https://www.theverge.com/news/704468/bl ... safety-act

I don't live in the UK now, so I'm not sure whether I'll be required to verify myself when I'm in the UK in a few weeks' time

I've deleted the app and no longer subscribe. I just found that even I only was on those I follow, I didn't really get updates. I've stayed with X-itter because I get more from the same people I follow. Still persisting with Farcebook and have no idea why.

Brightonian wrote: Thu Jul 10, 2025 9:01 pm In a couple of weeks' time, UK users will have to verify their identity, per the Online Safety Act

It's not quite verifying identity though. It's age verification through a 3rd party verification service. As far as I can tell Bluesky won't be able to identify your real world identity with that.

Just had my Bluesky Age verification.
First, within BSKY, enter the email with which I signed up for it.
Then, receive an email from the 3rd party verification service.
One method of age verification is by taking a selfie which is AI checked to determine likely age.
Others are via bank/credit card, and 'official iD' (??)
The provided data, once used, is not retained (I assume this is true otherwise the ICO would come down on them like 1000kg of bricks)
The email address is then 'age verified'. A cookie is placed on the device.

If other sites use the same verification service and I use the same email address, it'll be able to confirm immediately.

Gfamily wrote: Wed Jul 23, 2025 10:47 pm One method of age verification is by taking a selfie which is AI checked to determine likely age.

Ow. I just hurt my eyes by rolling them too hard.

Gfamily wrote: Wed Jul 23, 2025 10:47 pm Just had my Bluesky Age verification.
First, within BSKY, enter the email with which I signed up for it.
Then, receive an email from the 3rd party verification service.
One method of age verification is by taking a selfie which is AI checked to determine likely age.
Others are via bank/credit card, and 'official iD' (??)
The provided data, once used, is not retained (I assume this is true otherwise the ICO would come down on them like 1000kg of bricks)
The email address is then 'age verified'. A cookie is placed on the device.

If other sites use the same verification service and I use the same email address, it'll be able to confirm immediately.

This is potentially disastrous for security. I don’t even slightly trust that data isn’t retained (realistically, how much is the ICO likely to be able to do if the data is collected and retained outside the UK?), and it’s encouraging people to use at least one identical login credential (email address) across multiple sites.

My way of dealing with this when I had the little notification at the top of my bluesky feed was to switch my VPN to another country and refresh the page, but I suspect this is coming globally eventually.

So us 75-year olds should expect all the neighbours' teenagers to want to photo us in the coming weeks !!!11!

Gfamily wrote: Wed Jul 23, 2025 10:47 pm Just had my Bluesky Age verification.
First, within BSKY, enter the email with which I signed up for it.
Then, receive an email from the 3rd party verification service.
One method of age verification is by taking a selfie which is AI checked to determine likely age.
Others are via bank/credit card, and 'official iD' (??)
The provided data, once used, is not retained (I assume this is true otherwise the ICO would come down on them like 1000kg of bricks)
The email address is then 'age verified'. A cookie is placed on the device.

If other sites use the same verification service and I use the same email address, it'll be able to confirm immediately.

Who is the 3rd party verification service? Are you happy to give them your photo, which, whatever they say, they might try and match to other datasets before they discard it, if they discard it? Because we know internet companies have been so good about not stealing your information, and then losing it, or selling it to someone.

In Germany they have had internet age verification for some extended time now, and as far as I can tell, there is no great hoohah about it, so probably it is accepted and works. Or everyone who cares uses VPNs or something. The key difference between how they do it in Germany and how we are doing it here in the UK seems to be that in Germany if you want to do age verification for the internet you have to be a registered age verification service provider. And age verifiers methods are supervised by a government agency, to protect the individual. But that seems to be absent in the UK legislation.

The various proposals that previously came in under the Conservatives from the Vicar's Daughter onwards mostly ended up being being rejected (I assume - it was never quite clear why it kept falling away) on the grounds it was all a recipe for mass identity theft. I tended to think, perhaps unfairly, that the Vicar's Daughter prudishly liked that as a feature rather than a bug. But this Act was eventually passed under Rishi Sunak, iirc, and ultimately failed to address that point, as far as I can see. But it wasn't immediately implemented, and now Labour have gone ahead and implemented it without fixing that issue. There is, nestled in the Act at S33, a duty to protect the privacy of internet users. But it looks like dressing-up as there is no machinery explicitly to achieve this as they have in Germany, that I can find. And Ofcom remains utterly silent about this point in its extensive explanatory materials.

Lew Dolby wrote: Thu Jul 24, 2025 9:56 am So us 75-year olds should expect all the neighbours' teenagers to want to photo us in the coming weeks !!!11!

Makes a change from "Hey mister, will you buy us some cigarettes vapes?"

Sciolus wrote: Thu Jul 24, 2025 9:08 pm

Lew Dolby wrote: Thu Jul 24, 2025 9:56 am So us 75-year olds should expect all the neighbours' teenagers to want to photo us in the coming weeks !!!11!

Makes a change from "Hey mister, will you buy us some cigarettes vapes?"

I find myself wondering if an AI-aged photo would get past their AI.

Just wow! Deeply humbled and thrilled to announce that I have passed my Bluesky age verification test first time.

This journey has been nothing short of transformational. Huge shoutout to the incredible virtual community that uplifted me during this process.

This isn't just a verification — it’s a mindset. Look forward to continuing to hammer Bluesky with the same cr*p I'm posting on Linkedin.

#gratitude #growth #live #learn #achievement #milestoneunlocked #humbledandhonored #goalschieved #cringeinflicted #nauseainduced

Do we need a tongue-in-cheek emoji ???

bob sterman wrote: Mon Jul 28, 2025 10:13 am Just wow! Deeply humbled and thrilled to announce that I have passed my Bluesky age verification test first time.

This journey has been nothing short of transformational. Huge shoutout to the incredible virtual community that uplifted me during this process.

This isn't just a verification — it’s a mindset. Look forward to continuing to hammer Bluesky with the same cr*p I'm posting on Linkedin.

#gratitude #growth #live #learn #achievement #milestoneunlocked #humbledandhonored #goalschieved #cringeinflicted #nauseainduced

I passed my age verification WITH flying colours. You might say I aced IT. The verifier said it was the BEST age verification he’d ever seen. THABK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER

Grumble wrote: Mon Jul 28, 2025 10:54 am I passed my age verification WITH flying colours. You might say I aced IT. The verifier said it was the BEST age verification he’d ever seen. THABK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER

I doubt anyone could trump this!