A call to bloggers, journalists, dissidents, NGOs, and anyone who values data security.
This article first appeared in German at Freischwebende Intelligenz. You can find all the articles by Free-floating Intelligence in English here – subscribe now, to get the articles by e-mail! This article has been written with the Pareto client.
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So much could be written about the disinformation spread by others, because every lie eventually falls, and right now they are falling like dominoes: Russiagate, the deception surrounding the life-saving and supposedly side-effect-free mRNA vaccines, the Hamas attack as a possible false flag, etc.
I have written about these things and will continue to do so.
And then there’s summer. And with it, some space for free-floating topics. I have a philosophical text about the “breath of life” in mind, as well as (finally) a deep dive into the topic of AI.
But then I open my mailbox and am greeted once again by the icy reality. James Corbett (Corbett Report), one of the most famous investigative journalists, a veteran of the scene, has to disclose to his readersrue) that a faulty WordPress plugin made the email addresses of his supporters accessible to everyone. A right-click on the page was enough to view the source code with all the data. Even for a non-expert.
We talk a lot about censorship, but little about data security. Every critical journalist, every NGO, every publisher, and every company with sensitive customer lists must be aware that the management of these addresses, which are essentially “contact gold,” is ultimately entrusted to parties that have proven to be vulnerable.
Multiple data thefts at Mailchimp and subsequent phishing attacks. Wordpress again and again. We often don’t own the tools of production in this area (I also use Substack—still). And it doesn’t need to be said that mailing lists of critical authors are essentially a kind of honeypot and should be secured properly. Why trust anyone else when you can use the best encryption technology yourself? What if every author could manage their reader contacts completely independently and exclusively? Like in a virtual safe that only they have access to, which no one can obstruct?
The impacts are getting closer and they are coming in clusters. But as platforms are hacked because they are simply a central point of attack, opportunities are opening up for decentralized forces to regain data sovereignty. Because here, apart from the end user, i.e., the author themselves, there is no longer a central point of attack. Protocols are replacing platforms. A new reformation is underway. Even in the critical scene, many authors still use the usual third-party providers instead of becoming the exclusive primary provider for their readers themselves: Mailchimp, Rapidmail, etc. For a long time, this was due to a lack of alternatives.
With the Pareto Project, we are working precisely on solving this problem: censorship resistance and data security. Once again, timelines collide and synchronicities open up. We at the Pareto Project are already in contact with James Corbett. But perhaps his case is just the wake-up call we need to address the problem more fundamentally, because the problems will increase and the solutions should always grow a little faster than the problems. It’s time to leave our comfort zone. Not because everyone has to be a tech nerd now. But because we need our communication infrastructure back. Because publishing is an act of sovereignty – and not a lease agreement with Bezos & Co.
Dear authors: An offer you can’t refuse…
We are now offering a limited number of critical authors with mailing lists the opportunity to become part of the first test cohort, to test our newsletter distribution service, and to help us further develop it according to your needs:
We offer:
- A censorship-resistant newsletter and blog system based on the Nostr protocol.
- A cryptographically secured Nostr ID for use with +100 apps
- Access to your own dashboard/CMS and editor
- An integrated Bitcoin/Lightning wallet for microdonations
- Easy integration of existing content via RSS
- Automatic censorship-resistant archiving of texts, etc.
And above all:
-
Exclusive management of email contacts, increased censorship resistance, and enhanced protection against data theft.
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS:
Are you a journalist, blogger, publication, NGO, dissident group, or company with sensitive customer data lists and want to try Pareto Pro Mail for free? Apply for our first test cohort — places are limited: team@pareto.space
Pareto is becoming a cooperative that anyone who supports our goals can join. More information about how Pareto is organized can be found here:
Ein Portal für die neue Zeit
Es gibt Tage, da fühlt man sich wie ein Chronist des Niedergangs. Man analysiert, dokumentiert, schreibt gegen die Wand. Fort Knox? PR-Stunt. Elon-Donald? Schauspiel. Die Epstein-Liste? Schon vergessen. Wer gegen Zensur kämpfen wollte, schweigt jetzt oder zensiert sich selbst. Die Welt inszeniert ihre eigene Ohnmacht, und wir sollen ihr dabei zusehen.
There is no freedom without sovereignty over the conditions of one’s own work.
And the Corbett hack should be a warning shot to everyone.
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A heartfelt thank you for supporting my work!
You can contact me at kontakt@idw-europe.org and milosz@pareto.space.