Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast

Welcome to the CPDP special series: Governance and the voice of the people, dedicated to the intersection of activism & tech governance.

In this highly informative episode, poet & organizer Tawana Petty talks about her data justice centered work, how she empowers her community to think about alternative systems that are not hyper surveilled and rather create a sense of community through her non-profit Petty Propolis, how facial recognition impacts marginalized communities, and much more. These are tough topics as always, but Ta...

Can an algorithm really predict who would be your best dating match? Can love be coded and people categorized accurately? And is it ethical? To answer these questions and uncover how dating apps impact our relationships, I had the pleasure to talk with Dr Liesel Sharabi, Associate Professor at Arizona State University and director of the Relationships and Technology Lab. Dr Sharabi studies how com...

Amira Dhalla is an expert in privacy and security with over a decade of experience in the field, they focus on security and privacy with an equity and Human Rights lens. On top of being an advocate and educator, Amira was previously the Director of Impact Partnerships at Consumer Reports where they worked with organizations on projects to improve the safety, security, and privacy of consumer produ...

In this episode, Melissa Newcomb, democracy development professional, touched on several topics including the digital silk road initiative, Chinese hardware investments in Africa, democratic resilience, AI regulation, Human Rights, and how soft power and the online narratives of the Chinese Communist Party are shaping global opinions about China. Created, hosted and produced by Mélissa M'Raidi-Kec...

I spoke with Dr Ann Cavoukian, aka the Queen of Privacy, former privacy commissioner of Ontario and Founder of the Global Privacy & Security by Design Centre. In this episode, Dr Cavoukian talks about her work in privacy, her Armenian heritage, the time she stepped down from a Google project (which led to global headlines about the story!), and more. Created, hosted and produced by Mélissa M'R...

To understand tech law you have to understand the history of law, and Dr Lee takes us on a journey in this episode! Starting with a fascinating overview of the origins of law, Dr Lee talks about data colonialism, the use of data in law enforcement, intrusive tech (including brainwave monitoring technologies), surveillance capitalism, how culture impacts tech policy making, and much more! Created,...

Protecting kids online has been a very hot topic this year, especially since the reintroduction of the Kids Online Safety Act in the US Senate, which aims to protect minors online by restricting access to their data, but also by mitigating harms that specifically arise from using social media, such as online bullying, eating disorders, exposure to sexual content, and trafficking. In this episode,...

2023 was a big year for AI Policy, with AI regulation frameworks being developed all across the world, and a notable event in the European Union, with the EU AI Act. This is the first global AI regulation framework to be adopted by a major standard setter. AI regulations aim to mitigate the harms that AI systems have on tech users and citizens, leading for example to racial profiling, over policin...

Dr Nakeema Stefflbauer is the founder and CEO of FrauenLoop, a non-profit dedicated to train women from various backgrounds to join the tech industry by providing classes and workshop. In this episode, Dr Stefflbauer, graduate from Harvard & Brown University and who has over a decade of experience working in tech. She is passionate about inclusion and empowering women in tech, and her work at...

The first ever episode of Activists Of Tech is out! To open this season, I interviewed the founder of All Tech Is Human, the responsible tech space, David Polgar. In this episode, David talks about responsible tech, his journey building All Tech Is Human, the importance of breaking down silos to create spaces that are diverse, and much more! Created, hosted and produced by Mélissa M'Raidi-Kechichi...