Don’t just accept the new Terms of Service

the-mad-duchess:

jedihighcouncil:

cherryblus:

tariqah:

expatgirl:

the-mad-duchess:

Tumblr’s at it again, thanks to the new European Privacy Laws. There’s probably nobody who will read this, but it pissed me off so much that I decided to make a post about it. (Ignore the weird language mish-mash, depending on your country the language might differ.)

OK, so many of us get this screen when we try to access our dash:

Realise how the ‘OK’ button is a nice, attention-grabbing blue? If you’re like me, you’re not exactly into reading a 100 pages document and tend to just click it.

My tip? DONT. Instead click on ‘Manage Options’ right next to it:

Now you’ll see this page:

Still pretty harmless, right? That ‘Accept’ button is looking really attractive right now. Instead, click on Verwalten (Probably something like ‘Manage Options’ or something in english) and you’ll get to this page:

Now that’s not too bad, right? I just switched all the buttons to ‘off’, because I’m jealously guarding my personal information and don’t want Tumblr to go off and do who knows what with it. Looks like we’re done! But wait: There’s a SHOW option.

When we click on that one, what we will get is this:

A HUGE list with OVER 300 ENTRIES of companies that can use your data by default if you’d just clicked ‘OK’ on that very first page. Coincidence that this list is hidden that much? Me thinks not. They’re all switched on by default, but I am still a petty bitch that doesn’t want to give out her data, so I switched them all off. All 300+ of them. There is no option to switch them all off at once, and even if you disable all the options above, the companies are still switched on.

(If you wonder how i got that number, I copied the list into excel and looked at the cell number. No way am I actually counting all those entries)

I too, am a petty bitch who unticked every single one.

I did this like 90 times today

This is good, and while you’re at it, I strongly encourage you to install the EFF’s Privacy Badger browser extension while you’re at it, which automatically blocks connections to known tracking systems without you needing to do a thing! And don’t forget to install a good adblocker!

is it possible to undo it because i clicked ok like a stupid bitch 

Nobody’s being stupid here, except Tumblr! I welcome all of you into my cave filled with pettiness over privacy agreement violations. We can roast marshmallows and drink hot cocoa, but only over an electric grill, actual barbecuing is forbidden in my building.

image

Okay, here we go:

1.This seems to be an European thing. I don’t know if the same options have been implemented for folks from other areas, but comments suggest not. I recommend to still check your privacy settings and the ‘Labs’ section to make sure Tumblr didn’t secretly introduce and switch on any options you’re uncomfortable with. (Here’s a couple of links, I havent read them all myself so quality might be questionable X the law itself X )

2. A problem many people (including myself) have run into is that the whole changing settings isn’t working as it should – the options switch themselves back on, as soon as you leave the screen. Even when you’ve clicked the nice ‘Done’ button at the bottom. NOT COOL TUMBLR.

3. Privacy add-ons are always a good idea. I use Ghostery to block trackers, but unfortunately, those have their limits as well. Corporations are money-grabbing and greedy.

4. The whole ‘U want something for free you need to give ur data’ thing – I am aware that Tumblr needs to pay its bills somehow. But the sheer amount of companies the user data is sold to is ridiculous and completely out of proportion, holy shit!

5. Tumblr is apparently still changing things and switching the location of the settings menu for this around, so this might not work forever.

If you accidentally agreed beforehand, want to disable the bazillion options and don’t mind that Tumblr might switch them back on, here’s how you can do that:

Go to Settings -> Privacy Settings -> Disable Cookie Consent

image

Cookie Consent is mandatory to use Tumblr, but if you switch it off, you should be transfered to the privacy settings page mentioned above.

The Cookie Consent will switch itself back on automatically.

(
It’s in German, but it should look pretty similar in other languages!)

While you’re at it, check the Labs section, sometimes Tumblr introduces experimental functions that are pretty shitty concerning privacy as well.

There’s also a great youtube video by @buckysaur how to speed up the process with a little script:

Bless them for doing us this service

ADOPTION FUN FACT

thepioden:

elf-kid2:

confessionsofbirthmothers:

onlyblackgirl:

If you’re adopted internationally into the United States, BY adoption LAWS you’re legally a citizen, but you still have to apply for documentation and if it’s not done by the age of 18 you have to pay over $500 and get a judge to reopen your adoption case. 

Even More Fun Fact: No one actually tells adoptive families, this so many find out after they’re 18 when their kid needs to get a passport, wants to apply for financial aid, get certain jobs, vote or some other shit that requires proof of citizenship and now it’s too late because they’re 18 or over. 

AND EVEN MORE FUN FACT! You can sometimes even be deported because you can be considered foreign-born, non-citizens! 

Oh and they won’t accept adoption papers or a birth certificate as proof. 

Adoption is FUN

Do it now! Seriously. Even if you think you are safe. Do it.

Many people are finding that even a birth certificate is not valid proof anymore. Texas birth certificates are notorious. So notorious that I have 3 friends who can’t use them to get passports! Don’t think everything is hunky dory. You must nail down your citizenship.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/filling-out-form-n-600-application-certificate-citizenship.html

Plus the cost for your citizenship certificate is almost doubling this fall.

SIGNAL BOOST.

Some Naturalization/Citizenship Certificate tips from me, the person who front-end processes these forms for half the country: the passport people are absolute garbage at sending your Naturalization Certificate back to you. Unfortunately, they also require it for you to get a passport. If you don’t get it back, whine at them about it and they will probably cover the cost of the replacement.  

Also! It takes up to 12 months to get a replacement certificate. If you urgently need your Natz Cert to visit your dying relative in another country, the word you want to use is ‘Expedite’. Not ‘ASAP’. Not ‘rush’. Expedite. Write a letter explaining why you need it expedited, if you do. Otherwise the USCIS data-entry grunts (me!) aren’t allowed to throw it into the expedite line and it gets relegated to the Backlog Crypts. 

Also! You need to get a new Naturalization Certificate if your name and/or gender legally changes, because a lot of places want your proof of citizenship for things like Social Security and student loans and Medicaid/EBT/welfare benefits and drivers’ licenses. 

ALSO ALSO both the N600 ($600) that you use to apply for your Naturalization Certificate in the first place and N565 ($345) that you use to apply for a replacement certificate are eligible for FEE WAIVERS. It’s called an I912. Learn it, love it, use it. 

Please for your sake make sure you are using the current version of the form. The most common reason I have to reject an N565 is because someone sent me something that expired in 2013. The current one is seven pages long. Please send the government all seven of them. 

breelandwalker:

witchyroses:

somuchpanash:

witchyroses:

You know…. ADHD gets a certain… Idk a certain reputation? Like people think, consciously or not, that it isn’t that bad and isn’t a big problem. It’s like… Depression can kill you, anxiety can send you into panic attacks and debilitating fear, eating disorders can kill you, personality disorders are “scary” or whatever, autism makes you “different”… People think these things are a big deal. Whether their reasoning is sound, or fueled by ableism, people, at least on tumblr and in my experience, put a lot of weight on most mental illness and neurodivergence.

But for some reason ADHD is like… Trivialized? Like it is a mild inconvenience that only has a real effect in school. Maybe it’s because it’s not usually life threatening, or because it’s not visible, but I have known that I have had ADHD for 12 years. I am only now understanding the impact it has on my life. My ADHD effects every aspect of my life. I think it’s more impactful than my anxiety disorder. (It may be the cause of my anxiety disorder but we will not even think about that aspect rn).

My ADHD is not a quirk, it’s not just a school problem, it’s not a kid problem, it doesn’t mean I’m hyper and spacey all the time, it’s not any of that.

My brain functions in a fundamentally different way from a NT brain. My social life, academics, memory, interests, confidence, and so much more are directly affected by this. And I never even knew.

I grew up thinking that ADHD made me easily distracted and talkative. That was all the information I was given. Every other symptom was just a personal flaw that I should work harder to fix. I’m starting to realize just how intense the effect of my ADHD truly is and I resent the attitude that it is “not as big of a deal”.

PREACH IT UNIDENTIFIED PERSON I SHARE CHARACTERISTICS WITH

Thank you unidentified person I share characteristics with!

lockandminkey:

Hi! Just as a warning, if any of you all plan to see Deadpool, there are some pretty heavy suicide themes to the film. They are NOT treated as a joke in any manner, in fact it’s taken (for a Deadpool film) quite seriously, but I wanted to warn you all in advance that there is a scene in which a character attempts suicide and makes references throughout the film about wanting to die. I do think the movie is very much worth seeing, but I wanted to share because this matter is quite upsetting and triggering to many and I thought a warning was in order.

Why you shouldn’t donate to Trans Lifeline

lesbian-bell:

lesbian-bell:

lesbiandrogynous:

klutris:

lordhaurchefant:

image

Ever since the Presidential Election results came in, there’s been post after post of people spreading around the phone number for a supposed suicide hotline for trans people, called Trans Lifeline.

What people don’t know is that this “hotline” is a huge scam meant to fund the founders’ personal lives, and that the hotline barely answers their calls, if ever.

A twitter was made a while back to cover the small, almost nonexistent amount of operators on the line, but it is now inoperable because the founders found out and shut down the source of the twitter bot’s information, because how dare someone provide the truth.

The founder, who is also trans, frequently posts pictures of her weapons, and even showed up at someone’s house because she didn’t agree with what they had to say about her hotline and her “friends”, then proceeded to make vague physical threats at them on FB. As a mentally ill person, she seems unfit to be handling such a lifeline that barely answers their calls in the first place.

She also spends the organization’s money frivolously, going from one state to the next for who knows what.

Here’s their 2015 annual report.

And here’s a claim that 6,000 hours of volunteer work equals up to $197,000. This is incredibly inflated.

THEY ARE ALSO NOT ACCREDITED BY THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SUICIDOLOGY AND REFUSE TO CALL MEDICAL PERSONNEL IN THE EVENT OF A SUICIDE IN PROGRESS. THIS MEANS THEY WILL NOT CALL 911 IF SOMEONE ON THE LINE IS FUCKING DYING.

Only about 19% of incoming calls were being answered. This is a suicide prevention non-profit where they are only answering less than 19% of calls as of December of last year. When someone does get through, according to this report, they are talking to someone who has only received TWO FUCKING HOURS OF TRAINING.

They train people for two hours, only answer 19% of calls and when that 19% do get through, the policy does not follow the AAS crisis standard with regard to emergency personnel.

Here is a link to their IRS exempt form.

The 2015 submission indicates income of $129,922 and total assets of $22,255 so their income was about 47% more than budgeted.

The 2016 budget is far more interesting given they are expecting $200,000 worth of grants.

The travel bill is also surprising for a non profit, I realise there is a need to engage potential donors but there comes a point where the figure is just ridiculous and it would appear that that point is about a third of that budgeted total.

I see the director of operations “in kind” contributions have been reduced from $80,000 to receiving an actual salary of $28,800 and she is bringing in a personal assistant for herself.

There could be a fucking body count and nobody would know.

I have a friend who called them once, had her call dropped 4 times, only to get a really bored-sounding operator on the other end, then she was yelled at BY THE OPERATOR for using the term ‘dude’. SHE WAS SUICIDAL AT THE TIME. YOU DO NOT YELL AT SUICIDAL PEOPLE:

image
image

On a final note, they are perpetuating the lie that 8 trans people died on the night of the election results.

At the Trans Lifeline we were devastated to hear that eight people — many of whom were teens — died by suicide last night after election results announced that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. We are reaching out to the families to offer support and condolences.
Trans people are among many people who are mourning today. We know that communities of color, muslims, immigrants, and many other groups are feeling the betrayal, sadness, and fear that comes with living in a country where a majority of people voted for a leader who hates you. It is personal. It is tragic. But it is not the end.
Trans Lifeline has received over 350 calls from trans people in crisis, including many suicidal people. Our trans-identified operators are working hard to offer support, guidance, and hope through this difficult time. We’ve answered a staggering 115 calls in 24 hours, demonstrating that we are here for each other. It may feel right now as though hate won out, but we know that love is more powerful.
Even though many in the trans community are giving everything they have to support each other, we have a long way to go to meet the need of trans people in crisis. We need to hire additional staff to train, support, and lead our volunteers. If we can raise 100K this month, then we can hire three full-time staff people to do this life-saving work. Please give now if you can.

If you are trans, we say to you — Keep fighting. We love you. If you are not trans, we say to you — Stand with us. We love you too, and we need you to show up for us. We need staunch allies, real confidants, supportive lovers, close friends, affirming faith leaders, and compassionate strangers. We need to support one another now more than ever. Remember, together we save lives!

Save your time (and your life) and call the national suicide hotline at 1-800-273-8255.

You can also call the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386, and their donation information is here.

Protect trans lives. Don’t fall for a scam that exploits potentially suicidal trans teenagers and young adults. Give to actual charities and hotlines.

This is… wow terrible many states have their own crisis hotlines as well. So if you search for crisis hotline + your state you should be able to find one as well that is more reputable

signal boost the SHIT outta this

i keep seeing trans lifeline on my dash getting attention

and im just letting you know, DONT SUPPORT TRANS LIFELINE

ACTUALLY SAVE TRANS LIVES BY USING THE HOTLINE FOR THE TREVOR PROJECT

honestly im gonna put this on my queue since none of ya understand yet

passepieds:

passepieds:

passepieds:

so when a Black kid gets kidnapped and gets tortured by a group of White people it doesn’t make the news but if a White kid were to get kidnapped…it would make the national news.

13 y/o Zavion Parker was kidnapped and tortured on his way home from school in East Houston by a group of White supremacists (5 teens and 1 adult all with red hair and the adult having a tattoo the confederate flag and another tattoo saying “I hate black people”.) Zavion said when they kidnapped they took him to a shack/cabin with guns and torture items and where he sees other Black people who aren’t moving. Zavion asked why he was kidnapped, the group of White supremacists said “because you’re Black”. As the White supremacists move to the next room to load a gun, Zavion makes his escape. Zavion was found with a torn shirt and no shoes by Camecia Carmouche. Police went to Zavion’s home to follow up the lead. He, his mom, and Camecia lead the officers to the cabin/shack. According to the police they found a wooden chair, shell castings and weapons.

As of now the White supremacists haven’t been caught.

Let’s all make #ZavionPark trend today. 🗣We can’t let this go. BLACK LIVES MATTER.

calystarose:

the-awkward-turt:

profeminist:

Source

Want more info? Here ya go: 

image

This Biology Teacher Disproved Transphobia With Science 

ALSO:

Sex redefined

“The idea of two sexes is simplistic. Biologists now think there is a wider spectrum than that.”

More on anti-trans arguments as bad science

As a biologist I am reblogging this so hard.

Biological sex is not and has never been a binary. The complexity of the natural world cannot be contained in neat little societal boxes. Stop using science to justify your bigotry.

The complexity of the natural world cannot be contained in neat little societal boxes. Stop using science to justify your bigotry.