Technology Pill

This week's episode is a grab bag of Clearview updates - from our latest campaign to their latest fine.  Links Italy fine: https://www.garanteprivacy.it/web/guest/home/docweb/-/docweb-display/docweb/9751362 Our legal action: https://privacyinternational.org/legal-action/challenge-against-clearview-ai-europe ;  The ICO decision: https://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/4714/icos-ann...

This week we're taking a look at NSO Group - a tech firm that sells a hacking capability to governments around the world - and government hacking more generally.  Links - Edin mentioned 'a journalist and her son' being targeted; their names are Carmen and Emilio Aristegui. You can find out more about people targeted in Mexico by a government buyer of NSO Group tech: https://citizenlab.ca/2017...

In 2020, two weeks before the UK headed into the first nationwide lockdown, we published a podcast about a marketing company being given access to hospital maternity wards. Now, almost 2 years to the day, we're coming back to you with an update about how companies operating data broking services, as Bounty did, are causing headaches for brands using personal data for targeted advertising. Links Mo...

This episode we look back at the predictions we made about 2021, What turned out to be true? What turned out better than we could have hoped? What turned out worse?  Links Our predictions from 2021: pvcy.org/2021predictions Clearview UK provisional fine: pvcy.org/clearUKfine Clearview legal trouble in France: pvcy.org/clearFrance Clearview investments: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/21/techn...

In this episode we look forward at the rest of 2022 and make our predictions about what to look out for in the year ahead.  Links Teens and Facebook: https://fortune.com/2021/10/25/facebook-teens-usage-harm-studies/ Frances Haugen and Instagram: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-59038506 Facebook and Metaverse: https://www.ft.com/content/76d40aac-034e-4e0b-95eb-c5d34146f647 Metaverse and...

Merry Christmas. We hope you enjoy your day tomorrow. This week we're bringing you tips for how to spot and deal with things that worry you about the gifts you or your kids may recieve tomorrow. Links Donate to PI and get your facemask: pvcy.org/donatepill Mozilla's *privacy not included project: https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/ US PIRG's Trouble in Toyland: https://uspirg.org...

Today we're launching our Data Interception Environment for everyone to use. We've used it to research everything from low cost phones, to menstruation apps, and now we’re making it available so that you can do your own research on how your apps use your data. Links You can read more about the DIE, including some of the research we've done that's used it here: https://privacyinternational.org/lear...

The ICO has provisionally issued a £17 million fine against facial recognition company Clearview AI Links Read more about the ICO's provisional decision here: https://privacyinternational.org/press-release/4706/victory-ico-provisionally-issues-ps17-million-fine-against-facial-recognition Support our work here: pvcy.org/donatepill You can find out more about Clearview by listening to our podcast: T...

This week we talk to Daniel Magson, who has been campaigning to stop diet ad companies from targeting people with eating disorders, and Eva Blum-Dumontet, who wrote PI's recent report on the data collected by diet companies. Links Daniel's petition: https://www.change.org/p/uk-parliament-ban-advertisers-from-targeting-eating-disorders PI's diet ads report: https://privacyinternational.org/long-rea...

This week we talk to Juan Diego from Fundación Karisma - one of our  partners based in Colombia - about the use of technology in the response to the Covid pandemic and their report "Useless and Dangerous: A Critical Exploration of Covid Applications and Their Human Rights Impacts in Colombia".   You can find out more from Karisma here: https://web.karisma.org.co/   You can...

This week we talk to Massimo Marelli, Head of the Data Protection Office at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to discuss the use of data by humanitarian organisations in light of the serious concerns around data left behind in the US's withdrawal from Afghanistan and the risks presented by humanitarian agencies' increasing collection and use of data.  Links Find out more ab...

In honour of Mental Health Awareness Day in the UK we're bringing back this episode from last year. We talk to Dr David Crepaz-Keay from the Mental Health Foundation to find out what happens to your data when you visit a mental health website? How can technology help people dealing with a mental health issue? And what can happen when things go wrong? Find out more about the Mental Health Foundatio...

This week we take a look at travel during the pandemic - we chat to staff about where they've been, what it was like, and most importantly: how they got there. 

This week we come back from our break to chat to PI staff about what we've been reading or plan to read this summer. Links Lucie's recommedations - A history of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russel - John le Carré - La Horde du Contrevent by Alan Damasio - The Right to Choose by Gisèle Halimi Clara's recommendations - Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury - Republic of Lies by Anna Merlan - Tranny: Conf...

This week we’re talking to Andreea Belu - Campaigns and Communications Manager at EDRi - about evading facial recognition. We talk about our European Citizen's Iniative to ban facial recognition and how hard it is to guarantee that tools built to allow people to evade facial recognition will actually work.  Links  - You can find out more about the ECI here: pvcy.org/banbiometrics (I...

This week we speak to Pallavi Bedi, Senior Policy Officer at the Centre for Internet and Society in India, about the technology being used in India to co-ordinate vaccine distribution and the response to the pandemic. Links You can find the Co-win vaccination website here: https://www.cowin.gov.in/ You can support PI at pvcy.org/donate and you can find out more about the Centre for Internet and So...

This week we discuss our experience of Covid so far, where we've been, where we are, and where we're going. Links - Locked down, our recommedations podcast: privacyinternational.org/video/3788/podcast-locked-down - Schools and Covid: https://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/3709/schools-and-covid-19 - Proctoring software and racism: https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/8/22374386/proctorio-racial...

Biometric data collection and use in the name of countering terrorism has been accelerating around the globe, often abusively, without being effectively regulated or subject to accountability mechanisms This week we talk to Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights & Counter-Terrorism, Nina Dewi Toft Djanegara about biometrics in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Keren Weitzberg about...

This week we’re passing the podcast over to Edward Snowden. We found out this week that the judgement in our case at the European Court of Human Rights challenging the UK’s mass surveillance programme of bulk interception, and the UK’s access to information gathered via bulk surveillance by the USA is coming very soon - on the 25 May.  It’s been a long road, starting at the UK’s Investigatory...

On Tuesday, we said goodbye to Yahoo Answers in the appropriate spirit - by answering questions from the Computers and Internet section of Yahoo. Links  - Listen to Love Letter and find more from Sepia on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/sepiamusicuk/love-letter (he's also on most other music platforms!) - Find out more about Dark Patterns: https://www.darkpatterns.org/ - The Electronic Fre...

This week we talk about the different kinds of facial recognition and which you might see where. We also chat about the Facebook leak of 553million records. Remember: sign our ECI! pvcy.org/banbiometrics And you can find our survey here: pvcy.org/tpsurvey Links Facebook Leak - Facebook Leak: https://www.businessinsider.com/stolen-data-of-533-million-facebook-users-leaked-online-2021-4?r=US&IR=...

This week we're rebroadcasting a coversation we had last year with PI's Tech Co-ordination Groups, bringing you tips and tricks about how to start cleaning up and securing your phone or computer. Please note - Whatsapp does now offer disappearing messages. Episode notes  Useful info Tech pill survey: pvcy.org/tpsurvey How to minimise targeted ads: privacyinternational.org/act/minimise-targete...

Content warning: this episode includes some disturbing stories of people  who have died after having their benefits cut or withdrawn by the UK  Department of Work and Pensions  This week we're looking at the ways in which the UK Department of Work  and Pensions surveil benefit recipients. Links  You can find out more about the DWP's surveillance here: https://privacyintern...

This week we're joined by Dr Courtney Thompson to discuss the history of phrenology and physiognomy and their relationship to modern technologies and culture.  Links - Find more of Dr Thompson's work and her book 'An Organ of Murder: Crime, Violence, and Phrenology in Nineteenth-Century America': history.msstate.edu/people/courtney-thompson/ - Or you can find her on twitter at: twitter.com/Dr...

We hear that we're paranoid a lot - but what is paranoia? What does it mean to be paranoid? And is it all bad? We spoke to Dr David Crepaz-Keay from the Mental Health Foundation to find out.  Links - Learn more about mental health at the mental health foundation's website: mentalhealth.org.uk/ - Learn more about PI's work at: privacyinternational.org - You can listen to our first episode with...