Privacat Insights

Score one for the GDPR

Every so often, the law actually works

Aug 3 • Carey Lening

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Stop Normalizing Meta’s Pervert Glasses

Meta Ray-Bans are the modern-day version of the pervert trench coat. Time to take a page from Dan Savage and "reframe" them.

Aug 1 • Carey Lening

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July 2026

One Weird Trick for Opting Out of Pangram on Substack

I explain why the AI slop detector potentially violates Article 22 GDPR, and what you can do about it.

Jul 23 • Carey Lening

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How Brussels can avoid becoming a digital vassal to US Big Tech

An export-control order in June exposed the real problem—and why Europe's regulatory toolkit can't fix it.

Jul 14 • Carey Lening

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Why 'Provable Data Erasure' Is Really Hard

Alternatively, why people probably shouldn't ask me for advice unless they're willing to hear the unvarnished truth.

Jul 13 • Carey Lening

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June 2026

Is the United States Becoming a Techno Banana Republic?

The Trump administration banned Anthropic's Fable and Mythos models for a vulnerability GPT 5.5 also has. This isn't governance—it's competitors…

Jun 16 • Carey Lening

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Last Week, Everyone Agreed Something Must Be Done About AI. That's a Tell.

Last week the EU, the White House, OpenAI, and Anthropic all moved on AI governance. Every proposal protects the incumbents. Here's why that convergence…

Jun 11 • Carey Lening

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7 Things I Learned at EAG London

I attended my first Effective Altruism Global event last weekend. Here are a few of my thoughts as a EAG virgin.

Jun 1 • Carey Lening

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May 2026

I'll Be in London For a Week

Also, a few thoughts on what I'm thinking and writing about

May 24 • Carey Lening

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On Censorship, Friction, and John Perry Barlow

Why wanting a little tech friction != equal censorship.

May 16 • Carey Lening

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Did AI Kill Publius? Replicating Kelsey Piper's Anonymity Experiment

Re-identification of a pseudonym isn't new. It's just become frictionless.

May 4 • Carey Lening

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April 2026

We Should Not Have to Prove We're Human to Sam Altman

Worldcoin, Sam Altman, privacy, and why I hate being right sometimes.

Apr 21 • Carey Lening

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