Podcast
Technology Pill
Hosted by Privacy International · EN
Find out how technology is reshaping our lives every day and explore the new powers of governments and companies.
24episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Community Health: Young people in Ghana and Vietnam
1w ago00:43:32Summary readyThis is the third and final edition of our series on young peoples’ digital health and human rights.Today we’re talking to Alberta Nadutey - a research officer for working on the Digital Health and Rights project about how young people in Ghana interact with digital health, and Minh Anh a young person from the Vietnam community advisory team about her participation in the research in Vietnam, and what she sees as the biggest digital health concerns as a medical student interested in public health policy.LinksDHRP report: https://digitalhealthandrights.com/resource-library/report-paying-the-costs-of-connection/Ghana policy brief DHRP: https://digitalhealthandrights.com/resource-library/national-policy-brief-navigating-human-rights-and-risks-online-young-ghanaians-and-the-future-of-digital-health/Vietnam policy brief DHRP: https://digitalhealthandrights.com/resource-library/paying-the-cost-of-connection-vietnam-policy-brief/Ghana law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghanaian_anti-LGBTQ_bill
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Community Health: Colombia dating app dilemma
4w ago00:52:19Summary readyThis week we're talking to Natalia Andrade and Laura Grisales Silva from Fundación Karisma about dating app data, the commodification of intimacy, and talking to Colombian young people about their experiences.Fundación Karisma are a member of the Digital Health and Rights Project. LinksMore from Fundación Karisma: https://info.karisma.org.co/2018 Grindr shared HIV status and more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-436243282021 Norwegian DPA fines Grindr: https://www.edpb.europa.eu/news/national-news/2021/norwegian-dpa-imposes-fine-against-grindr-llc_enOngoing UK case in which Grindr is being sued: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj7mxnvz42no$40 million Bumble and Badoo class action settlement: https://www.jjlmlaw.com/news/bumble-biometric-privacy-40-million-settlement-approvedCriteo loses appeal on their fine: https://cybernews.com/privacy/french-ad-tech-giant-criteo-eur40m-privacy-fine/Karisma's work on WorldCoin in Colombia: https://blog.karisma.org.co/investigar-lo-invisible-del-iris-a-worldcoin-herramientas-de-investigacion-para-transformar-la-curiosidad-en-accion/WorldCoin in Colombia: https://cadeproject.org/updates/colombia-orders-worldcoin-shutdown-over-biometric-data-violations/
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Community Health: Kenya Data Debt Spiral
May 100:41:36Summary readyThis week we're talking to Joan Musenya about life in Kenya as a young person - from mobile money, to data protection, to government surveillance. Joan is a member of the Kenyan Community Advisory Team (K-CAT) helping to steer the Digital Health and Rights Project. Links- Digital Health and Rights Project report: https://digitalhealthandrights.com/resource-library/report-paying-the-costs-of-connection/- Find more from Joan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joan-musenya/- PI's low cost tech work: https://www.privacyinternational.org/campaigns/privacy-shouldnt-be-luxury- More about shame based debt collection in Kenya: https://biznakenya.com/digital-lenders-kenya-debt-collection-warning/- More about what to do if you're experiencing harassment from debt collectors in Kenya: https://dealfish.co.ke/2025/03/mobile-loan-recovery-harassment-in.html- More about the history of M-Pesa: https://www.forbes.com/sites/christianstadler/2024/06/11/m-pesa-why-the-worlds-first-large-mobile-payment-platform-keeps-on-winning/- CNN apology to Kenya: https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/121633/Latest%20News/cnn-boss-apologizes-to-kenya-over-terrorism-slur- PI's work on sim card registration: https://privacyinternational.org/learn/sim-card-registration
SummaryWar Machines feat Stop Killer Robots and PAX
Apr 1000:48:34Summary readyThis week we're joined by Professor Peter Asaro from Stop Killer Robots, and Frank Slijper, Arms trade project lead at PAX to discuss military uses of AI, including Anthropic's stand-off with the US Department of Defense.Please note this podcast was recorded on the 20th March.**Links**Stop Killer Robots: https://www.stopkillerrobots.org/stop-killer-robots/Pax: https://paxforpeace.nl/who-we-are/organization/Stop Killer Robots at the UN: https://www.stopkillerrobots.org/news/reports-of-ai-enabled-targeting-in-iran-bring-real-world-impacts-to-the-un/Stop Killer Robots on Anthropic stand off: https://www.stopkillerrobots.org/news/press-release-stop-killer-robots-responds-to-the-anthropic-pentagon-standoff/**The Case**- The Anthropic case: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq571w5vllxo- The Anthropic supply chain designation: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn5g3z3xe65o- Access, Tech Justice, and more's amicus: https://techjusticelaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Anthropic-amicus-press-release_updated.pdf**War and AI systems**- : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/12/who-bombed-the-iranian-girls-school-killing-more-than-170-what-we-know- Lavender and Where's Daddy: https://www.972mag.com/lavender-ai-israeli-army-gaza/- Project Maven: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/project-maven-ai-us-airstrike-iraq-anthropic-b2929138.html- More on Project Maven: https://www.businessinsider.com/palantir-project-maven-ai-demonstration-pentagon-2026-3?op=1- More on Project Maven: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Maven
SummaryWhy governments struggle with ID
Mar 2701:03:09Tap to summarizeThis week we're speaking to Professor Edgar Whitley - an expert on the design and implementation of ID systems. Links- More about Edgar: https://www.lse.ac.uk/people/edgar-whitley- More about the London School of Economics and ID: https://www.lse.ac.uk/research/research-impact-case-studies/scrapping-costly-controversial-proposals-identity-cards- Gus and Edgar's joint publications: - Global challenges for identity policies: https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Global_Challenges_for_Identity_Policies.html?id=P7hsCwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y - Global Identity Policies and Technology:Do we Understand the Question? An open access paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1758-5899.2010.00028.x - Book chapter on Aadhaar: https://researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/90490/- Edgar's report on Women and ID: https://silkstart.s3.amazonaws.com/1967006c-a430-414e-9982-75e204478d6e.pdf- More information on Aadhaar in India: https://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/819/aadhaar-scheme-faq- The Indian Supreme Court decision: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/2299/initial-analysis-indian-supreme-court-decision-aadhaar and https://www.scobserver.in/cases/beghar-foundation-ks-puttaswamy-aadhaar-review-case-background/- The Windrush scandal: https://jcwi.org.uk/reportsbriefings/windrush-scandal-explained/- Interview with people in Kenya who had been double registered: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz3h0TjXz7gXB4xg4WNdg9_8JyBftx_kP- Yes Minister TV show: https://archive.org/details/yes-minister-1980-1984 including the famous Big Brother episode: https://archive.org/details/yes-minister-1980-1984/Yes+Minister+-+S01E04+-+Big+Brother.mp4- The Clarkson toothpick incident: https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/nationals/jeremy-clarkson-victim-of-id-fraud-after-publishing-bank-details/- The Washington Post raid: https://theintercept.com/2026/01/30/washington-post-hannah-natanson-fbi-biometrics-unlock-phone/Previous podcasts:- Double Registration - The trouble with Identity in Kenya: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65VVbcXVK_0&feature=youtu.be
Transcribe →Ghosts in the SheLLM: Chatbot ethics with James Muldoon
Mar 1300:37:36Tap to summarizeThis week we're discussing what happens when AI is trained on a dead person's data to bring them back as a chatbot. Find out more from Gus and Caitlin, and their guest James Muldoon, Reader in Management at Essex Business School and Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute, about the ethics, the grief, and the companies making it happen.Links- https://jamesmuldoon.org- https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571399277-love-machines/
Transcribe →Sand in Trump's Gears: Lessons from America
Feb 1300:53:11Tap to summarizeThis week we're talking to Ben Wizner from the American Civil Liberties Union about what the ACLU have been doing in the first year of Trump's second term, what the difference is between this time and last time, and how an earth they can keep up. LinksACLU report: https://www.aclu.org/campaigns-initiatives/aclu-vs-trumpKyllo case: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyllo_v._United_StatesUnderground Empire book: https://henryfarrell.net/underground-empire-2/Swift work between PI and ACLU: https://privacyinternational.org/blog/1355/pi-and-aclu-show-swift-auditor-has-extensive-ties-us-governmentYale lectures on National Security law: https://epe.yale.edu/videos/above-law-or-beneath-it-how-national-security-law-subverts-accountability-and-weakens-0Asylum for White South Africans: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/us/politics/trump-refugee-admissions-white-south-africans.htmlFISA reauth: https://theintercept.com/2026/01/29/nsa-702-fisa-surveillance/
Transcribe →Moving Stories: Border Violence and Surveillance
Dec 1201:11:11Tap to summarizeJoin us as we discuss Border Externalisation - what is it, and why does it drive violence at the border? We're joined by two fantastic guests - Dan from the Border Violence Monitoring Network to discuss the EU's Border Externalisation, and Kathy from Al Otro Lado to discuss the America's.Border Violence Monitoring Network’s workBVMN's website https://borderviolence.eu/Surveillance Tech Serbia Report: https://borderviolence.eu/reports/surveillance-technologies-at-european-borders-serbiaCyprus Borderscape: https://cyprusborderscape.com/BalkanDac: https://borderviolence.eu/reports/decoding-balkandac-navigating-the-eu-s-biometric-blueprintSamos CCAC : https://borderviolence.eu/reports/controlled-and-confined-unveiling-the-impact-of-technology-in-the-samos-closed-controlled-access-centreUse of mercenaries for pushbacks in Cyprus. https://borderviolence.eu/reports/submission-to-the-ohchr-for-the-upcoming-visit-of-the-working-group-on-the-use-of-mercenaries-to-cyprusAl Otro Lado:Al Otro Lado’s Programs: https://www.alotrolado.org/our-programsMerch: https://www.bonfire.com/al-otro-lado/?srsltid=AfmBOoqZMoeVG0Ggysn-YhlXQ7YPehx_4tnFPY5O2K236THD3U7p7_SGPI workDrivers of Surveillance: http://privacyinternational.org/challenging-drivers-surveillanceWhen Spiders Share Webs: EU-Funded INTERPOL policing programme in West Africa: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5346/when-spiders-share-webs-unveiling-privacy-threats-eu-funded-interpol-policingMigration and borders: https://privacyinternational.org/learn/migration-and-borders
Transcribe →End of Life: Time to X goodbye to Windows 10
Nov 1401:06:26Tap to summarizeThis week we're discussing the end of support (kind of) for Windows 10 - find out more from Chris and Tom about what you should worry about and what you can do now Windows 10 is officially (mostly) End of Life. Links- Read more about your options: https://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/5686/end-line-windows-10- Learn more about PI's position on the Cyber Resilience Act: https://privacyinternational.org/advocacy/5060/our-position-eu-cyber-resilience-act-cra
Transcribe →Militarisation of Tech: Redefining the Battlefield
Oct 1700:39:24Tap to summarizeThis week we talk to Ilia and Serhat about the creeping militarisation of technology, and with it our societies.LinksAll of our militarisation work: https://privacyinternational.org/campaigns/militarisation-of-techWhat is Militarisation of Tech?: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5668/what-militarisation-techKey Concerns Regarding Governance in the Era of Militarisation of Tech: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5671/key-concerns-regarding-governance-era-militarisation-tech“Killer Robots”: Read PI statement during informal consultations on autonomous weapons systems in New York: https://privacyinternational.org/advocacy/5589/pi-statement-during-informal-consultations-autonomous-weapons-systems-new-yorkHow Data Drives the Militarisation of Tech: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5667/how-data-drives-militarisation-techOn the Applicable Legal Frameworks and Regulatory Gaps: International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5670/applicable-legal-frameworks-and-regulatory-gaps-international-humanitarian-law-andWe have a mailing list specifically for our militarisation work that you can find here: https://action.privacyinternational.org/user/register
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