I don't know whether to commend the bravery of somebody trying to make OStatus private (ProTip: You can't catch water in net), or break down in hysterics at the fatuousness of the implementation.

I secretly like Mastodon (don't tell anyone I said that though), but seriously, you can't have privacy and ostatus at the same time. Everything You Need to Know About Mastodon's New Privacy Settings | MastoBlog