It happened. Substack leaked your data.

Who could possibly have seen this coming...

A couple of weeks ago, I made a short video essay about Substack jumping the gun and hiring the services of the odious 3rd party Persona to collect facial scans and/or government IDs from Substack users in Australia, despite not being required to do so by Australian law.

In the video, among other things, I point out how I simply do not trust Substack, Persona, or any other Big Tech with such sensitive personal information and highlight just how frequently data leaks occur. Well, it happened; Substack “allowed an unauthorised third party” to access our emails, phone numbers and other meta data (and let’s be honest, who knows what else).

See an email from their Best CEO below.

I’m left wondering WHO this third party is? Was it Persona?

Whomever it was, this just neatly reinforces my issues with Substack willy-nilly collecting sensitive data when they’re not required to. My partner is still locked out of her fledgling Substack due to demands she scan her face, so this is an ongoing issue.

Substack, like other Big Tech, is not our friend and we should use this platform with warranted suspicion.

Here’s the video (on a different Big Tech platform) where I point out all the issues with what Substack, the campaign behind the social media ban, and the Australian government are doing and how Big Tech writ large is out of control and a real risk to the well being of individuals and society at large.

Stay vigilant.

Fargo.