On r/technology today, the throughline is trust: who we trust with our data, who polices AI and content, and whether big tech can still deliver reliable products. The community weighed policy moves and product misfires through a pragmatic lens: what protects users without breaking the experience—or the social contract.
AI governance, privacy, and the new gatekeepers
Privacy expectations are getting reset as platforms expand AI features. Users spotlighted reports that Gmail can read emails and attachments to train its AI unless you opt out, while industry pressure intensified with Pornhub’s push for age verification at the device level—a move that could shift identity checks from websites to operating systems and hardware.
"Basically, in the name of keeping kids from rotting their brains on porn, we’ve painted ourselves into a corner where we have to accept either increased surveillance from tech overlords or trust our information to shady third-party firms. So, that’s not great" - u/betweentwoblueclouds (473 points)
Regulators, meanwhile, are moving faster as AI crosses red lines: the community debated France’s investigation into Grok after Holocaust denial claims alongside new research that Grokipedia is sourcing from extremist and unreliable outlets. And beyond AI, platform policies continue to redraw boundaries of participation and safety, as seen in OnlyFans’ plan to run criminal background checks on new creators, raising questions about fairness, accuracy, and real-world risk trade-offs.
State power meets encrypted spaces
Even end-to-end encryption doesn’t end surveillance debates. Records surfaced showing the FBI spied on a private Signal group of immigration activists, underscoring how metadata, infiltration, or device access can erode perceived sanctuaries and chill civic oversight.
"COINTELPRO is alive and well" - u/fricken (232 points)
Fragility of evidence also took center stage with allegations that ICE lost critical abuse-case video after a ‘system crash’. The timing and transparency concerns echoed a broader theme in the thread: when the justice system relies on digital records, integrity, retention, and independent recovery become as vital as the footage itself.
Reliability, monetization, and the customer backlash
Trust is also fraying on the consumer front. Users dissected Microsoft’s acknowledgment that core Windows 11 features have been breaking for months, an episode viewed as the cost of complexity—and of shipping automation faster than stewardship.
"Are these the same people who were bragging about having AI write their code?" - u/wordwords (11215 points)
Monetization pressure is intruding right into daily drives and developer ranks. The subreddit bristled at Stellantis spamming owners’ infotainment screens with pop-up ads, while noting the strategic whiplash in Amazon cutting more than 1,800 engineers while insisting it must ‘innovate faster’. Together, these threads map a market where short-term tactics can erode long-term trust—and users are increasingly quick to call it out.
"Your collision avoidance system will be reactivated if you hit accept" - u/A_Pointy_Rock (355 points)