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What actually *is* AI? Is the term meaningful? Is it always the best answer? This week, Arj and Jordan explore how technologies like AI and machine learning are being approached, and the growing tendency towards "AI solutionism". They also discuss a couple of provocative proposals to entirely abandon the use of the term "AI", and how this might aid our approach to problem solving and policymaking....

This week, Arj and Jordan discuss the merits of the Albanese Government's decision to overhaul the previous government's national cyber security strategy, which included the eye-catching $10 billion funding allocation for Project REDSPICE. They also discuss why organisations continue to consider facial recognition, in spite of the intense uproar over its use in recent weeks and months. This comes...

This week, Arj and Jordan discuss what it means to be identified online. Does a company "know" you if they can't link the data they hold about you to your real world identity, but can still tell that you're the same person moving from one online service to another? What does our concept of what it means to be identified mean for how privacy is regulated and enforced?  Links: Katherine Kemp pa...

In this special episode of This Week in Digital Trust we feature an interview by our friend Jonathan Gadir with Avishai Ostrin, a director with Israeli privacy consulting firm PrivacyTeam. Jonathan and Avishai explore the differing attitudes and approaches to privacy in Israel, many of which stem from underlying cultural attitudes. They also discuss what it's like to be a privacy advocate in a ver...

This week, Arj and Jordan discuss the merits of the proposed new federal privacy law in the US. Also this week - a new once-in-a-decade report from CSIRO also lays out seven megatrends to shape our future, three of which fall squarely into the realm of technology, digital policy and other favourite topics of the podcast. Links: IAPP coverage of American Data Privacy and Protection Act https://iapp...

This week, Arj and Jordan look how China is using various levers to pressure Big Tech into compliance with national goals. They also look at how Meta platforms such as facebook have an impact on a range of human rights, after the US giant published a self-assessment. Links: Meta’s First Annual Human Rights Report https://about.fb.com/news/2022/07/first-annual-human-rights-report/ Platformer analys...

The pod is back after being struck down by illness. With their return, Arj and Jordan take on virality of a different kind: videos showing "random acts of kindness" on social media platform TikTok. They dive into why the videos are problematic from a privacy perspective. While on TikTok, they also explore growing concern about the privacy protections surrounding TikTok user data, and what access t...

This week, Arj and Jordan dive into the growing challenge faced by social media platforms in India, as the Modi government institutes more aggressive approaches to content removal. Also this week is a look at how scams are being carried out, as new data reveals Australians lost $2 billion to scams in 2021. Links: Reuters article about Twitter legal challenge against Indian govenrment https://www.r...

This week, Arj and Jordan get excited about Attorney General Mark Dreyfus' commitment to act on privacy reform within the first term of the recently elected Labor Government, but are given pause by his framing of the issues in terms of individual control and choice. They also re-cap the key reforms being contemplated. Also up for discussion this week is an assessment of how well placed the Home Af...

*** An apology ***   We had some serious audio issues with this episode, due to Arj being in a different environment than usual for the recording of this episode. We've tried to fix it as best we can in editing, but there will be some parts that are hard to hear. Sorry! On this week's show, Arj and Jordan have something of a debate over whether the uproar over facial recognition is really jus...

This week, Arj and Jordan dive deep into facial recognition and how we should regulate it, after a week of strong community reaction against revelations about the use of the tech by Aussie retailers. Arj and Jordan also give their take on the other burning question of the last week - "is AI sentient?" Links: CHOICE report https://www.choice.com.au/consumers-and-data/data-collection-and-use/how-you...

What's an archivist do and how do we think about their role in the context of digitisation and other technology trends? This week Arj and Jordan are joined by archivist and fellow elevenM-er Cassie Findlay to discuss these questions, as the national broadcaster announces a major cut in archivists jobs. They also look at the implications for online anonymity after a Federal court ruling requiring T...

This week, Arj and Jordan take a look at many influences on privacy laws (some more hidden than others) just as the US introduces a draft federal privacy bill. They also discuss a compelling report laying out a vision for how the tech ecosystem should be regulated.  The show kicks off with a quick run through of ministerial appointments and announcements by the new Labor government in Austral...

This week, Arj and Jordan discuss the implications for tech, privacy and cyber policy resulting from the election of a Labor Government (and a large crossbench of Greens and independents) in Australia. They also explore why children's privacy deserves greater focus from privacy regulators, as a new report shines a light on the privacy harms of EdTech. Links: Australian Federal Election 2022 Live R...

In this special episode of This Week in Digital Trust we feature an interview by our friend Jonathan Gadir with Ari Ezra Waldman, a professor of law and computer science and widely published author of "Industry Unbound: The Inside Story of Privacy, Data, and Corporate Power". Jonathan and Professor Waldman discuss the book and a range of related topics including why privacy matters, the limitation...

This week, Arj and Jordan discuss how effective Australia's News Media Bargaining Code has been in addressing power imbalances between publishers and tech platforms. They revisit a favourite topic - the indiscretions of Clearview AI - after yet another ruling against the facial recognition startup. Links: Reset Australia report into News Media Bargaining Code WSJ article about Facebook blocking ne...

This week, Arj and Jordan discuss the deeper privacy implications and associations of the US Supreme Court draft opinion seeking to overturn the Roe V Wade precedent. They also explore the significance of a leaked Facebook document that revealed the social media giant has poor visibility and control over the data it holds. Links: Daniel Solove tweet: https://twitter.com/DanielSolove/status/1521712...

This week, Arj and Jordan offer their take on Elon Musk's proposed acquisition of Twitter and his plans to take it private in the name of free speech. They also discuss the growing use of consultants by governments to delivery tech projects, as opposed to the public service.  Links: InnovationAus coverage: https://www.innovationaus.com/regulator-to-closely-watch-twitter-following-musk-takeove...

This week, Arj and Jordan break down the ideas and arguments behind two big ticket keynote addresses from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) Global Privacy Summit, which took place on April 12-13 in Washington DC. They discuss how Apple CEO Tim Cook used the opportunity to oppose competition law reform, arguing that Apple's ability to protect its users privacy relies on...

This week, Arj and Jordan look at how exemptions in our current privacy regime play a role in the use of microtargeting by political parties in the current Australian election campaign, and the impact of this tactic on democracy. With mixed feelings, they talk once again about notorious facial recognition start-up Clearview AI, which is once again in the press promoting a new use for its technolog...

This week, Arj and Jordan assess how far the Federal Budget cash splash extends to the realms of cyber security and privacy. They also take a closer look at the underlying reasons hackers managed to get their hands on data of customers of Apple and Meta, and discuss recent investigations into the murky worlds of shadow lobbying and PR by the big tech platforms.

This week, Arj and Jordan dig into why we haven't seen the big cataclysmic cyber war in Ukraine that defence hawks have long warned us to expect. A couple of new AI initiatives also bring to focus conflicting philosophies in how we should think about AI, while a new court action against Meta lays bare the contradictions between Facebook as a "neutral platform" and as a sophisticated data-driven ma...

This week, Arj and Jordan dissect Clearview AI's incursion into the war between Ukraine and Russia, as it seeks to further promote its facial recognition technology. The war has also created complications for Meta, particularly in relation to content moderation -  an area that's becoming increasingly topical in Australia as we head towards a Federal election. The guys also get wonky about a c...

This week, Arj and Jordan talk about the human impact of law enforcement uses of facial recognition, and check in again on the Social Media (Anti-Trolling) Bill after a damning round of Senate committee hearings. They also cover the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's (OAIC) current funding challenges and complaints backlog, and talk about why adequate funding for the OAIC is criti...

This week Arj and Jordan touch briefly on a discussion paper from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's ongoing Digital Platform Services Inquiry, and Treasury's review of the News Media Bargaining Code. Then, a discussion about crypto and whether there are any tech policy lessons emerging from the awful war in Ukraine.