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This week we unpack the national conversation about AI's role in solving Australia's productivity challenges. The Productivity Commission recently published a report arguing for a cautious approach to AI regulation, on the basis that it could prevent Australia from "unlocking a surge of productivity". Business and technology advocates have also doubled down, using the moment to c...

This week we take a deeper look at recent high-profile cyber attacks, which have breached organisations like Qantas and Marks & Spencer. For all the talk of technical sophistication, especially in the time of AI, hackers like Scattered Spider are relying less on fancy code and more on their ability to exploit gaps in our systems of trust. We explore how the biggest vulnerabilities in our syste...

This week we explore why so many organisations fall short in how they respond publicly to a cyber incident or data breach. Even for organisations that have a well-exercised "crisis communications" muscle, too often a data breach results in a response that infuriates and erodes trust in equal measure. We explore why standard crisis comms principles don't always apply in a data breach,...

This week we revisit the conversation around banning under 16s from social media, and the range of technologies being considered to verify the ages of would-be social media users. We examine the preliminary findings of a government-commissioned trial of age assurance technologies, as well as some independent media reporting on technologies in the trial. The preliminary results have received mixed...

This week we explore growing tension between the importance of safeguarding user privacy online, and the public and social value that comes from researchers having access to growing volumes of data on social media platforms. In recent years, researchers have used platform data to shed useful light on a range of issues including mental health, social and cultural dynamics, the evolution of democrac...

This week we discuss the increasing prevalence of AI generated content online (aka 'AI slop'), on social media and even in books, journalism and academic journals.  We explore how AI tools are enabling the generation of slop at scale, unleashing a flood of low quality content that is degrading our information ecosystem, making it harder to access high quality, verified information, and even gettin...

This week we discuss the observable global shift in mood away from AI regulation and safety towards acceleration and innovation. It's a trend we observed several episodes ago, but appears to be gathering further speed with announcements by global political and business leaders of the urgency of re-doubling efforts to enhance AI capability. With Trump setting the tone at a federal level in the US,...

This week we reflect on one of the most visible and annoying features of the recently concluded federal election campaign - the incessant spam from political parties. We break down the various exemptions and carve-outs that make it legal for political parties to collect information about voters and spam us without consent. While the premise of the exemptions is to preserve the freedom of political...

This week we're in conversation with Rys Farthing, who is Research Director at Reset. Tech Australia, a Not-for-profit that aims to develop evidence around digital issues so that policy makers can be more informed. We explore some of the challenges for effective digital policy making in Australia and around the world, and discuss our hopes and expectations for the Children's Online Privacy...

This week we discuss how recent turbulence in geopolitics is translating into impacts on the digital environment. We explore how the Trump tariffs and general shift towards increased trade protectionism might impact a swathe of tech policy initiatives around the world. We also look at the increasingly cavalier attitudes to security, privacy, and risk management from the US Government, primarily th...

This week we discuss increased the scrutiny on how charities and not-for-profits manage the data they collect. Several breaches in recent years have led the Australian privacy regulator to issue specific guidance on privacy obligations to the NFP sector, particularly warning them against the practice of retaining donor data longer than necessary. We explore the challenges charities face in getting...

This week Jordan is joined by fellow Victorian elevenM-er and OVIC alumnus Piotr Debowski to explore some of the challenges, trends and quirks of privacy complaints in Victoria and to introduce a new, free, elevenM resource: The Victorian Privacy Case Notes Database. Piotr led the development of the database, which provides case notes and commentary on Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal a...

This week we explore the how the Australian privacy regulator is transforming itself in an attempt to have a stronger impact - in the face ongoing funding pressures and a reform agenda that hasn't quite met the expectations of privacy advocates. A year into the tenure of Carly Kind as Australian Privacy Commissioner, we are seeing a more public and vocal regulator, a series of targeted enforce...

This week we analyse what appears to be a global shift in sentiment away from AI safety. Our discussion is triggered by the AI Action Summit in Paris, where world leaders overtly sought to minimise focus on AI risks and regulation in favour of an acceleration agenda. Links: AI Action Summit (Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_Action_Summit Report on AI Action Summit (Politico) https://www...

This week we dive into the hype and fear around DeepSeek, the Chinese AI start-up taking the tech world by storm. We break down the apparent concerns driving the collective freakout over the app, which include bans by various national governments. We also explore the broader takeaways for Australia's AI capability and ecosystem and the responsible AI movement.   Links: DeepSeek FAQ (Stratecher...

We're back in 2025. In this episode we break down Meta's decision to cease factchecking and permit dehumanising speech on its platforms. We explore the likely motivations and impacts of these changes, and the broader takeaways for Australia. Links: Article about Meta's factchecking changes (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta-ends-third-party-fact-checking-program-adopts-x...

For our final episode of 2024, we take an optimistic look at the year that was (after a bit of a throat clearing on the things that bugged us), and what we're looking forward to in 2025. Our conversation covers developments in AI, privacy reform, social media and the growing digital rights community in Australia. We'll be taking a break over the summer holidays and will be back in late January. Li...

This week we discuss the Australian Government's plan to make 16 the minimum age to access social media. The plan has broad political support and resonates with many concerned parents, but there's more to it than meets the eye. We discuss the specifics of how the ban will be implemented (with key elements not yet solved and potentially problematic), and interrogate the underlying philosophical app...

Awareness is growing that the power of many AI tools derives from the fact that they are trained on our personal information. We discuss how regulators (like Australia's OAIC) are now stepping up their expectations that privacy obligations be adhered to by developers and deployers of AI. We also explore the case study of Australian start-up harrison.ai - whose AI tool was trained on hundreds of th...

This week on the podcast, our eyes are opened to a remarkable online advertising practice called "real-time bidding". RTB is where an auction involving the sensitive information of online users is initiated as they load up a web page, with advertisers bidding for the space on the page. Recent reports from Reset. Tech Australia and the Irish Council of Civil Liberties reveal the practice has led to...

This week on the podcast, we're looking at a promising development in helping Australian organisations manage AI risks. The Australian Government has released its Voluntary AI Safety Standard, as part of its safe and responsible AI agenda. The Standard features 10 guardrails as a practical blueprint for how Australian organisations can safely and responsibly use and innovate with AI. We provide ou...

This week on the podcast, we discuss how the conversation about AI risks seems to be shifting away from the catastrophic, existential, wiping-out-of-humanity type of scenarios. While the X-risk proponents are still out there, media coverage, regulators and the public at large seem to be homing in on more immediate and tangible AI concerns like discrimination, privacy violations, and misinformation...

After five years of consultation on privacy reforms, the Federal Government has finally introduced legislation into the parliament. Its been billed by the Attorney General as the "first tranche" and a "first step", with promises of more reforms to come. In this episode, we share our reaction to the bill and break down what's in and what's been left for a later day. We a...

This week Arj is joined by elevenM’s resident digital ID ‘aficionado’ Brett Watson to discuss all things digital identity. In Episode 85 Jordan and Brett unpacked what a digital ID is, what it can do, and the various services and components that make up a digital ID system. Since then, the Australian Government has passed enabling legislation for its digital identity system and is currently consul...

This week, Arj is joined by elevenM colleague Jonathan Gadir to explore how the outcome of the upcoming US presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris might impact tech policy. Drawing on the candidate's statements and constituencies, and the existing commitments of their parties, we explore the potential implications of the November election result on AI, privacy, cyber and t...