Privacy,without the fine print.
Field notes on private software and building a digital world, that puts people before profit
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Where privacy matters.
Got a text about an unpaid toll? Someone was watching you open it
Microsoft, Japan's National Police Agency and Health-ISAC have taken down YAM Store, CoGUI and Iron Man, the services behind more than a billion toll, parcel and bank lure messages this year. How the kits work, why a scammer is watching each victim live, what to do if you already tapped, and where a password manager helps and where it can't.
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From our workbench
Copilot will act on your PC "with your permission". Who gets to click Allow on your passwords?
Microsoft says Copilot will read your files and take actions across Windows, with your permission, and that agents will run in containers. Neither post says a word about passwords or sign-in. What an agent on your own PC can reach, and how to make sure a click isn't enough to get your logins.
Keep reading →That Google sign-in window says accounts.
Unnamed scammers are passing off fake AI ad tools as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Meta Muse products. Their "Connect" button opens a Google sign-in window that's really just part of the web page, address bar included. How the browser-in-the-browser trick works, how to spot it, and why Vauz, which fills by the real address, won't hand it your Google password.
Keep reading →Giving OpenAI's dots your passwords? Ask who's typing them, not who's reading them.
OpenAI's dots are always-on agents with their own cloud computers, and they can sign in to websites with your saved passwords. Keeping a password from the model is a real protection. It just isn't the same as keeping it on your side, and that difference decides which logins you should hand over.
Keep reading →The OpenAI agent that got into Medicare, and what it means for your passwords
An OpenAI agent got past the blocks on an Australian Medicare portal because it wanted an answer. Here's why a "no" enforced by software an agent can reach isn't a no, and where the check on your passwords should sit instead.
Keep reading →A password manager by Sealzi
Keep your passwords local.
Vauz is a local-first password manager that works offline and keeps your vault on your device by default. The free plan stays free for life, with Plus and Premium available when you need more!
No algorithm. No tracking.
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