mrawesome8's comments

The EARN IT Act threatens the privacy of all internet users by allowing for suspicionless scans of online messages, photos, and hosted files.

This law creates an unelected government commission stacked with law enforcement personnel that can dictate "best practices" for internet websites and apps.

The EARN IT Act removes legal protections for users and website owners and allows state legislatures to encourage civil lawsuits and prosecutions against those who don’t follow the government’s “best practices.”

Websites and apps that use end-to-end encryption to protect user privacy will be pressured to remove or compromise the security of their services or face prosecutions and lawsuits.

This law falsely assumes that all internet users should be under suspicion for child abuse, treating us all like we're in a permanent criminal lineup.

The available evidence shows that scanning software designed to detect Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) is far from perfect and often results in false accusations.

The EARN IT Act threatens to export these false accusations to vulnerable communities around the world, where they can be wielded by police forces with even less accountability than those in the United States.

The EARN IT Act leaves room for client-side scanning, violating user privacy by sending data to law enforcement straight from user devices.

Everyone has a right to privacy, even if they have nothing to hide. Just like we close the door when we use the bathroom, we should be able to keep our online conversations and information private. It is a fundamental right that allows individuals to have control over their personal information and to be free from unwarranted surveillance. Without privacy, people can be vulnerable to all sorts of abuse, including identity theft, stalking, and harassment.

The act then removes nearly 30-year-old legal protections for users and website owners. If EARN IT passes, we’re likely to see state lawmakers step in and mandate scanning of messages and other files.

The proposed law has been defeated twice before but needs digital rights supporters to speak up and stop it from passing again. We need to support a free, secure, and private internet.

Saying something quite possibly embeds spyware can be true for almost any company or software. Is there anything specific about the companies that purchased Opera that leaves you with doubts?

I feel like "open source" has become a cheap way to earn trust. Very few people are able to understand code, even fewer actually comb through all the code and fewer still are able to find and decrypt obfuscated code, especially on large repositories. If someone really wants to hide something, publishing under open source isn't going to make a difference. Essentially, whatever you use, there's going to be some degree of trust you must instill to the company and its developers that they will protect and respect your data.

The base is from a forked off version.

I highly suggest looking into Opera. It is also based on Chromium and therefore backwards compatible with extensions, bookmarks, etc. I switched around 6 months ago and haven't looked back since! They have built in VPN, adblocker, Turbo, screenshot, news, and more! Been really happy with it so far.