Underhanded Unicode; Atlas Of Surveillance; Project 2025 Tracker

I felt compelled to introduce the resource in the last section due to gestures wildly, but also felt compelled to steer pretty clear of it in the other two sections. All three do deal with deception of some sort, and I thought the technique outlined in the first section was pretty darned clever.

TL;DR

(This is an AI-generated summary of today’s Drop using Ollama + llama 3.2 and a custom prompt.)

• Paul Butler’s research demonstrates an innovative technique for encoding hidden data within Unicode characters using variation selectors, potentially allowing content to bypass human moderation systems. (https://paulbutler.org/2025/smuggling-arbitrary-data-through-an-emoji/)
• The Atlas of Surveillance is a comprehensive database of law enforcement surveillance technologies in the United States, aggregating information from public sources and tracking their adoption across jurisdictions. (https://atlasofsurveillance.org/about)
• Project 2025 is a governing agenda for a potential second Trump presidency, outlining radical changes to the federal government and proposing dangerous policies such as mass deportation programs and eliminating critical social programs. (https://www.project2025.observer/)

Underhanded Unicode

Paul Butler’s research demonstrates an innovative technique for encoding hidden data within Unicode characters, particularly emojis, using variation selectors. The method exploits Unicode’s variation selector system, which consists of 256 special codepoints that modify character presentation without changing their visible appearance.

The technique works by converting bytes into corresponding variation selectors and concatenating them after any Unicode character. The encoding process uses two ranges of variation selectors:

• U+FE00 to U+FE0F (first 16 selectors)
• U+E0100 to U+E01EF (remaining 240 selectors)

fn byte_to_variation_selector(byte: u8) -> char {
  if byte < 16 {
    char::from_u32(0xFE00 + byte as u32).unwrap()
  } else {
    char::from_u32(0xE0100 + (byte - 16) as u32).unwrap()
  }
}

While this method cannot be used to smuggle malware or executable code, it presents two avenues of other types of “exploitation”. One is that messages encoded using this technique remain invisible when rendered, potentially allowing content to bypass human moderation systems. The other suggests that this method could be used to watermark sensitive documents, enabling tracking of copied content across the internet.

“AI” systems have shown capability in detecting these hidden messages. While models like GPT and Gemini preserve variation selectors, they can successfully extract hidden messages when paired with code interpreters. This suggests the possibility of developing automated detection tools to counter potential abuse.

The technique relies on Unicode’s handling of variation selectors, which are designed to modify character appearance but are preserved during text transformations. While there’s no explicit limit on the number of variation selectors that can follow a character, practical implementations may vary in how they handle multiple selectors.

You can avoid “AI” and just use this web app to encode/decode your seekrits. In other news, there’s definitely nothing to see󠅉󠅟󠅥󠄐󠅑󠅢󠅕󠄐󠅒󠅕󠅙󠅞󠅗󠄐󠅜󠅙󠅕󠅔󠄐󠅤󠅟󠄞, here, in this paragraph. Just move along quietly. I also wonder what happens if you solve the maze in the section header.

Atlas Of Surveillance

The Atlas of Surveillance is a collaboration between the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the University of Nevada, Reno Reynolds School of Journalism, creating the most comprehensive database of law enforcement surveillance technologies in the United States. The project aggregates information about surveillance technologies from public sources like news articles, government meetings, press releases, and social media posts to track their adoption and spread across jurisdictions.

The database currently encompasses over 11,500 datapoints across more than 5,500 jurisdictions, focusing on prevalent surveillance technologies including:

• Drones
• Body-worn cameras
• Facial recognition systems
• Cell-site simulators
• Automated license plate readers
• Predictive policing tools
• Camera registries
• Gunshot detection systems

The researchers employ a hybrid approach combining crowdsourcing and data journalism, with contributions from more than 1,300 individuals, including students, teachers, journalists, and volunteers. The research effort spans multiple academic institutions and organizations, with specialized teams focusing on areas such as body-worn camera programs, real-time crime centers, and border surveillance.

The Atlas serves as a useful resource for journalists, academics, and the public to monitor local surveillance technology acquisitions and their nationwide proliferation. The most recent data update occurred on February 13, 2025, though researchers acknowledge that the current findings represent only a fraction of existing surveillance infrastructure.

The project underscores the critical need — especially now — for continued transparency in criminal justice agencies’ surveillance practices, providing a foundation for informed public discourse and accountability.

Project 2025 Tracker

Project 2025 is a Heritage Foundation initiative creating a comprehensive governing agenda for a potential second Trump presidency. The 900+ page manifesto outlines radical changes to the federal government, including plans to dismantle numerous federal agencies, eliminate critical social programs, and consolidate executive power.

Key dangerous proposals include:

• Mass deportation programs using military and law enforcement
• Eliminating Head Start and other education programs
• Gutting environmental protections and increasing fossil fuel production
• Ending federal efforts to combat online disinformation
• Criminalizing aspects of voting and abortion access
• Replacing career civil servants with political loyalists
• Drastically cutting corporate taxes and potentially abolishing the Federal Reserve

The initiative involves over 400 policy experts and former Trump administration officials, with 27 of its 37 core agenda authors coming from Trump’s previous administration or close orbit. Stephen Miller, Trump’s former senior advisor known for hardline immigration policies, serves as a key advisor.

You can track the implementation progress of Project 2025’s initiatives at https://www.project2025.observer/.

This comprehensive plan represents one of the most significant threats to American democratic institutions and civil rights in recent history, aiming to fundamentally reshape federal governance through executive action, even without congressional approval.

FIN

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