Privacy International

This week we speak to Jen Persson, Director of Defend Digital Me, about the technologies being deployed in schools in England and Wales. Links: Read more from Defend Digital Me: https://defenddigitalme.org/research/PI's work on Securitising Education: https://privacyinternational.org/campaigns/securitising-education25 Years old - The Database State report: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/database_state/5 safes principles: https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/help/secure-lab/what-is-the-five-safes-framework/Genomics in Education: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/genomics-in-educationTips and Tricks for submitting a Data Subject Access Request: https://privacyinternational.org/explainer/3845/71-tips-how-make-most-out-your-dsarRequest your information from the Department for Education: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/requesting-your-personal-information-from-dfe

This week we're talking to Gus about his experience being targeted by the Russian government, how it felt at the time, and then how it felt when he found out the government may be trying to undermine the tool he uses to keep himself and his family safe. Read more about Privacy International's challenge against the UK's secret TCN powers.

Join us this week as we discuss stories that have been in the news that we're still wondering about, obsessing about, and are as confused about as you are.Links* 2G phone networks are being shutdown; read the Rest of World story - PI's Low Cost Tech research - Listen to our podcast on connectivity and vertical mergers* Google anti-trust case and potential break up; read the Washington Post story - Google buy Wiz* Impact of USAID cuts; read the NY Times article - UK cuts - PI's work on aid funding surveillance; more of PI's work; even more PI work* Um-ing and Ah-ing; Read the Knowable Magazine story* Israel, data and AI: - AI targeting destruction; read the 972 story and the NPR story- Cellphone data for targeting - LLM tool collating surveillance data; read the Guardian story or the 972 story about this new LLM tool- Facial recognition; read the NY Times article about FRT- Read the BBC article about the US's last Afghanistan attack on an innocent man or find it in the NY Times* Outsourced memory; read The Verge article

This week we're discussing the 2024 incident in which a malformed update of CrowdStrike Falcon caused 8.5 million computers running Microsoft Windows to crash. Links- Read our in-depth article about what happened and what it tells us about the security and robustness of the modern internet- Find more about the 911 outages across several US states- CrowdStrike's own review of the problem- Our podcast on the XZ exploit- Facebook VPN exploitation- The philosopher Caitlin was thinking of was Paul Virilio

This week we're speaking to Eduardo from Transparencia Electoral about modern elections all over the world that they've observed, and Vladimir from R3D about the 2024 elections in Mexico. We find out more about the technologies that are at use in elections all over the world.LinksGeneral- PI's technology, data and elections checklist- Transparencia Electoral's report- Transparencia's index on data protection in LatAm elections- R3D's report: Censura electoralEpisode links- Obama's 2012 targeted social media campaign- Our work on Cambridge Analytica- Deepfake use in elections- Our report with the Carter Center on the Kenyan Presidential elections- Listen to our episode about our work in Kenya (Election Observation: Data, Elections and a trip to Kenya) on our website and where ever you get your podcasts- DemoTech by Transparencia Electoral- Transparencia on the Venezuelan elections- More information on Chinese tech used in Venezuela- Candidate assasinations in Mexico- Ejército Espía

This week we're talking to Peter Bloom from Rhizomatica and Lũa Cruz from IDEC about internet connectivity, what drives social media companies to expand into internet provision, and what an earth is going on with Starlink in the amazon rainforest. Links: - Read PI's research: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5409/decoding-vertical-tech-integrations-why-do-they-matter - Learn more about Rhizomatica: https://www.rhizomatica.org/ - Learn more about Lũa and his work on Starlink: https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/fellowships/lua-cruz/ - We'd love to hear from you! Share your thoughts, case studies, or ideas about vertical mergers using this survey: https://share.privacyinternational.org/index.php/apps/forms/s/MYipyBZjQMrnq9NmaNm5KJ6S - More about X and Starlinks' legal trouble in Brazil: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/sep/04/elon-musk-x-starlink-brazil - Our podcast about competition with Dr Deni Mantzari (No Competition: Big Tech Big Problems): https://privacyinternational.org/video/5148/no-competition-big-tech-big-problems

This week we're talking about facial recognition in the UK. Our research shows that members of parliament (MPs) don't know as much as they should about facial recognition use in the UK. So, what is going on? And what do MPs need to be aware of? Links: Write to your MP: https://pvcy.org/endofprivacypod Our previous research about how much MPs know about facial recognition: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5155/uk-mps-asleep-wheel-facial-recognition-technology-spells-end-privacy-public Read more about the responses we got from MPs: https://privacyinternational.org/advocacy/5476/uk-mps-ignore-concerned-constituents-questions-about-facial-recognition-technology Liberty's case: https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/liberty-wins-ground-breaking-victory-against-facial-recognition-tech/More about Liberty's South Wales case: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/aug/11/south-wales-police-lose-landmark-facial-recognition-case Our work on UK retailers' use of FRT https://www.privacyinternational.org/advocacy/5351/joint-letter-uk-retailers-regarding-potenital-use-facial-recognition-technology-frt

This week we take a deep dive into the issues around the rights and privacy of the global disability community in the digital age. We're joined by Rosemary Kayess - Vice Chair of the UN Committee on the Convention of the Rights for Persons with Disabilities, and the Disability Discrimination commissioner of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Marc Workman - CEO of the World Blind Union (WBU), and Heba Hagrass - UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities. Links World Blind Union: https://worldblindunion.org/ Learn more about Heba's work: https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-disability/heba-hagrass Report from the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilies that Rosemary Kayess worked on: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRPD%2FC%2FGBR%2FFUIR%2F1&Lang=en PI's work so far on this: Submission to the UN CRPD Committee on their inquiry into the UK social protection and rights of persons with disabilities: https://privacyinternational.org/advocacy/5321/un-committee-rights-persons-disabilities-calls-uk-act-ai-human-rights-risks OHCHR Submission and HRC oral statement on the rights of persons with disabilities and digitised social protection schemes: https://privacyinternational.org/advocacy/5107/submission-ohchr-rights-persons-disabilities Long read on the rights of persons with disabilities and digitised social protection schemes: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5170/protecting-persons-disabilities-digitised-world Robodebt Royal Commission report: https://robodebt.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/report An update: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/sep/16/zero-repercussions-victims-of-robodebt-embarrassed-to-have-believed-justice-would-be-done

This week we're talking to Matthew Hodgson, one of the founders of Matrix - a network for secure, decentralised communication, and CEO/CTO of Element - a communications platform built using Matrix, about the regulatory environment matrix lives in, the difficulty of and the passion for interoperable communications at matrix, and the complications of building an encrypted communications platform both technically and in this day and age. Links for description: - Matrix: https://matrix.org/ - Element: https://element.io/ - Telegram's encryption: https://www.wired.com/story/telegram-encryption-end-to-end-features/ - Blah: https://www.vanillaplus.com/2014/05/22/2663-tim-brasil-deploys-amdocs-unified-communications-for-blah-service/ - Anatel Brazil Whatsapp arrest: https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/facebook-exec-jailed-in-brazil-as-court-seeks-whatsapp-data-idUSKCN0W34WA/ - eEuropean commission 42 point going dark plan: https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/first-insight-42-key-points-of-the-secret-eugoingdark-surveillance-plan-for-the-new-eu-commission - Clipper chip: Listen to our podcast - https://privacyinternational.org/video/5332/cryptowars-short-history-encryption-politics - Online Safety Act: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-safety-act-explainer/online-safety-act-explainer - Liberty on the Online Safety Act: https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Joint-civil-society-briefing-on-private-messaging-in-the-Online-Safety-Bill-for-Second-Reading-in-the-House-of-Lords-January-2023.pdf - Adam Langley: https://www.imperialviolet.org/ - Pond.org: https://medium.com/@undercomm/secure-communication-pond-4985bfe85a2c - 'We kill people based on metadata' https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2014/05/ex-nsa-chief-we-kill-people-based-on-metadata - PI and ICRC report: https://privacyinternational.org/report/2509/humanitarian-metadata-problem-doing-no-harm-digital-era - Matrix P2P tracker: https://arewep2pyet.com/ - Alec Muffett v Matthew Hodgson: https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/28/23000148/eu-dma-damage-whatsapp-encryption-privacy - PI's take on the Digital Markets Act: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5356/what-digital-markets-act-and-what-does-it-mean-our-privacy-and-wider-rights - Apple enable RCS: https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/10/24171315/apple-messages-rcs-ios-18-imessage-green-bubble - Chat Control: https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/posts/chat-control/ - Cyber Resilience Act: https://privacyinternational.org/advocacy/5060/our-position-eu-cyber-resilience-act-cra

This week we're talking about a backdoor inserted into a popular Linux file compression tool, which had the potential to massively undermine the security of vast swathes of the internet. What happened? How did it happen? And how was it thwarted? Links - Andres Freund's Mastodon - where he revealed the backdoor: https://mastodon.social/@AndresFreundTec - Read more in Ars Technica's article about it: https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/03/backdoor-found-in-widely-used-linux-utility-breaks-encrypted-ssh-connections/ - Read more in the verge's article about it https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/2/24119342/xz-utils-linux-backdoor-attempt- Read more in Wired's article about it https://www.wired.com/story/jia-tan-xz-backdoor/ - Check out this excellent and very helpful diagram: https://twitter.com/fr0gger_/status/1775759514249445565 - The XKCD comic we mention: https://xkcd.com/538/

Welcome to the last of our short series on encryption. This week we're just talking amongst ourselves, luckily Gus is an expert on encryption - having been working in and around the encryption debate since the '90s. Links - Read more about PI's work on encryption here: ⁠privacyinternational.org/learn/encryption⁠ - Matt Blaze and crypto.com: theverge.com/2018/7/6/17540818/crypto-com-domain-matt-blaze-monaco-mco-cryptology-sale; you can now find Matt at mattblaze.org - More about ITAR and the export of cryptography: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export_of_cryptography_from_the_United_States - More about France's ban on encryption ending in this 1999 article from the Register: theregister.com/1999/01/15/france_to_end_severe_encryption/ - More about the Data Encryption Standard: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Encryption_Standard - Find out more about the Clipper Chip: gizmodo.com/life-and-death-of-clipper-chip-encryption-backdoors-att-1850177832 - Or take a look at this NY Times article from 1994 (paywalled): nytimes.com/1994/06/12/magazine/battle-of-the-clipper-chip.html - Matt Blaze's flaw in the Clipper Chip: wired.com/1994/09/clipping-clipper-matt-blaze/ - NSA Data Center: wired.com/2012/03/ff-nsadatacenter/ - NSA holding data: nytimes.com/2013/09/06/us/nsa-foils-much-internet-encryption.html - An old website that helped you sign up to be an Arms Trafficker: http://online.offshore.com.ai/arms-trafficker/ - Here's some of the RSA illegal tattoos: http://www.geekytattoos.com/illegal-tattoos-rsa-tattoos/ - Phil Zimmerman's release of PGP: mit.edu/~prz/EN/essays/BookPreface.html - A documentary on this topic: reason.com/video/2020/10/21/cryptowars-gilmore-zimmermann-cryptography/ - The Reply All episode on Minitel: https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/8whoda

This week we speak to Ioannis, a senior lawyer at PI, about his and his colleague's work on the landmark case protecting encyrption at the European Court of Human Rights: Podchasov v. Russia. The case dealt with a Russian law obliging telecommunications service providers to indiscriminately retain content and communications data for certain time periods, as well as a 2017 disclosure order by the Russian Federal Security Service requiring Telegram Messenger company to disclose technical information which would facilitate “the decoding of communications”. Links: PI case page: https://privacyinternational.org/legal-action/podchasov-v-russia ECtHR judgment in the Podchasov case: https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-230854 PI's work on encryption: https://privacyinternational.org/learn/encryption PI's report on End-to-End Encryption (E2EE): https://privacyinternational.org/report/4949/securing-privacy-end-end-encryption More information about the Marper case: http://www.genewatch.org/sub-563146

What do you know about cryptography? Have you ever wanted to get a better understanding of some of the maths behind encryption? This week we speak to Ed, a Senior Technologist at PI, about some of the history and basics of encryption. Find out more about encryption: - Computerphile on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/@Computerphile) is a computer science professor with a range of useful and accessible videos on encryption - Cloudflare have a helpful learning centre including this article on how encryption works and why cloudflare use Lava lamps to generate keys: https://www.cloudflare.com/en-gb/learning/ssl/lava-lamp-encryption/ - This is a helpful article on Diffie-Hellman including a diagram of the colours demonstration, which Ed discusses during the podcast: https://www.comparitech.com/blog/information-security/diffie-hellman-key-exchange/ - This article is great for learning more about hashing: https://auth0.com/blog/hashing-in-action-understanding-bcrypt/ - And if you're interested here is the wikipedia page on the Skytale sticks Ed talks about (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scytale) Learn more about PI's work on encryption: - PI's main encryption learn page: https://privacyinternational.org/learn/encryption - A PI report on the importance of End to End Encryption (E2EE): https://privacyinternational.org/report/4949/securing-privacy-end-end-encryption

This week we speak to Mark Nelson, a car mechanic and father of five, who has been forced to wear a GPS tag by the Home Office for the past 20 months, and his lawyer Katie Schwarzmann of Wilsons Solicitors. The pair have been challenging the Home Office's ongoing imposition of GPS tracking on Mark in the courts and are now awaiting a judgement. We explore the legal case, the ways the tag hasn't worked for long periods of time, and a dubious AI the Home Office has been using in decisions as to whether someone remains on a GPS tag. Links - Read more from Katie's law firm, Wilsons Solicitors, about the case: https://www.wilsonllp.co.uk/news/high-court-hears-first-challenge-to-the-governments-policy-of-gps-tagging-migrants - PI's Complaint to the ICO (the UK's Data Protection Authority): https://privacyinternational.org/legal-action/ico-complaint-against-uks-gps-tagging-migrants - Read more about relevant cases in which PI has filed witness evidence: https://privacyinternational.org/legal-action/uk-migrant-gps-tracking-challenges - The five companies at the heart of the UK's GPS tagging system: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5063/who-profits-uks-247-tracking-migrants - We tested GPS ankle tags, read how our experiment went: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5064/life-under-247-gps-surveillance-gps-ankle-tag-experiment - Listen to our last podcast discussing GPS ankle tags: https://privacyinternational.org/video/5074/gps-tracking-migrants-uk-who-profits

This week we talk about good things (or good-ish things) that you might have missed from 2023! Links Companies getting disciplined - Ovulation Tracking App Premom Will be Barred from Sharing Health Data for Advertising Under Proposed FTC Order https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/05/ovulation-tracking-app-premom-will-be-barred-sharing-health-data-advertising-under-proposed-ftc - Facebook getting fined for data exploitation in Norway: https://dig.watch/updates/meta-fined-98500-daily-over-user-privacy-breach-in-norway - CNIL fines Criteo: https://privacyinternational.org/press-release/5075/global-adtech-company-criteo-fined-eu40-million-france-unlawfully-collecting - CNIL fines Doctissimo: https://edpb.europa.eu/news/national-news/2023/health-data-and-use-cookies-french-sa-fines-doctissimo_en - Worldcoin (aspires to be World ID) has been getting some pushback from some countries: https://www.citizen.digital/news/data-protection-office-says-worldcoin-likely-to-tamper-with-data-from-kenyans-seeks-courts-intervention-n325472 Governments abandoning plans, or at least held to account - Kenya drops Huduma Numba and replaces it with new systems (it's not any better and advocacy under way) but it's still a sense of victory that they dropped Huduma Numba that caused some much controversy as highlighted by CSOs in particular through advocacy, research and litigation (which we supported led by Kenyan organisations like Nubian Rights Forum, amongst others) https://www.biometricupdate.com/202303/kenya-huduma-namba-funding-almost-entirely-cut-as-upi-digital-birth-registration-begins - MI5 win: https://privacyinternational.org/press-release/5027/press-landmark-ruling-exposes-years-rule-breaking-mi5 - UK Supreme Court rules against Rwandan policy https://www.ft.com/content/c040946a-c294-4a89-808e-46c8b2f2f414 - Colombia at the UN Human Rights Committee https://privacyinternational.org/advocacy/5080/pis-submission-un-human-rights-committee-regarding-colombias-compliance-iccpr - USA at the UN Human Rights Committee: https://ccprcentre.org/ccprpages/united-states-under-the-microscope-vast-participation-of-american-civil-society-organizations - Brazil at the UN Human Rights Committee: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR%2FC%2FBRA%2FCO%2F3&Lang=en Legal protections emerging - Proposed US Privacy Act: https://www.wired.com/story/government-surveillance-reform-act-2023/ - New data protection laws adopted (they are not perfect but they exist) in India https://www.techradar.com/computing/cyber-security/india-approves-new-privacy-law-but-is-it-really-a-win-for-citizens and Nigeria: https://kpmg.com/ng/en/home/insights/2023/09/the-nigeria-data-protection-act--2023.html Innovations - Apple deciding right to repair actually matters https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/24/23930762/apple-right-to-repair-white-house-iphone

This week we have a think about generative AI. After a concerning Guardian article about deep fake scams, we ask the question: did we really understand the risks when we started a podcast? The audio clips featured in this podcast episode are the intellectual property of Smart Energy GB (Clip 1), Kim Kardashian (Clip 2), the Hollywood Reporter (Clip 3) and Lucasfilm Ltd (Clip 4). All rights are reserved to their copyright owners. Other links: - Experience: scammers used AI to fake my daughter's kidnap: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/aug/04/experience-scammers-used-ai-to-fake-my-daughters-kidnap - 23 and Me hack: https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/23andme-investigating-apparent-credential-stuffing-hack-a-23267 - Deepfakes Can Help Families Mourn—or Exploit Their Grief: https://www.wired.com/story/deepfake-death-grief-hologram-photography-film/

This week we speak to competition expert Dr Deni Mantzari about competition, monopoly, and regulation. Are big tech companies monopolies? And if they are is that a problem? Since we recorded this podcast there has been an update on the Microsoft Activision merger: https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/13/23796552/microsoft-activision-blizzard-cma-approval-uk Links PI competition page (our "very influential work"): https://privacyinternational.org/learn/competition-and-data More about Dr Deni Mantzari: https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/24171 Ecosystems and competition law in theory and practice - a research paper about ecosystems: https://academic.oup.com/icc/article/30/5/1199/6428760 Power Imbalances in Online Marketplaces: At the Crossroads of Competition Law and Regulation - one of Dr Deni's papers looking at peconomic dependence in online marketplaces: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/cles/sites/cles/files/cles_4_2021.pdf Google Android European court case on abuse of dominance: https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=265421&doclang=en and more info here: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2022-09/cp220147en.pdf The Stigler Report: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/research/stigler/news-and-media/committee-on-digital-platforms-final-report The Furman Report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c88150ee5274a230219c35f/unlocking_digital_competition_furman_review_web.pdf German Facebook case: https://www.bundeskartellamt.de/SharedDocs/Meldung/EN/Pressemitteilungen/2019/07_02_2019_Facebook.html;jsessionid=202D25E3738EF7AB3AC859AD9C78C43C.2_cid371?nn=3591568 Meta Data Protection fine: https://edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2023/12-billion-euro-fine-facebook-result-edpb-binding-decision_en The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Roomba decision: https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/amazon-slash-irobot-merger-inquiry and PI's submission to the inquiry: https://privacyinternational.org/advocacy/5071/submissions-uk-and-eu-competition-authorities-amazonirobot-merger The EU Digital Markets Act (DMA): https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-markets-act-ensuring-fair-and-open-digital-markets_en The EU Data Act: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2023-0069_EN.pdf

This month we speak to Dr Leonie Tanczer about her work looking at tech abuse: the use of “everyday” digital systems (computers, smartphones, apps) to coerce, control, and harm a person or groups of individuals. This is increasingly prevalent in the context of domestic abuse - around 85% of victims and survivors in the UK have been subjected to some form of tech abuse. Links Refuge's Tech Safety resources: https://refugetechsafety.org/ Refuge's Tech Safety smart home devices tool: https://refugetechsafety.org/hometech/ Read more about Dr Tanczer and her work: https://www.leonietanczer.net/about.html Find out more about the Gender and Tech at UCL and sign up to the newsletter: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/computer-science/research/research-groups/gender-and-tech PI's guides to improve your own device security: https://privacyinternational.org/act UK MPs discuss smart tech and abuse: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/aug/07/uk-mps-warn-use-smart-tech-domestic-abuse Connected technology: MPs call on Government to tackle growing problem of tech-enabled domestic abuse: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/6686/connected-tech-smart-or-sinister/news/196867/connected-technology-mps-call-on-government-to-tackle-growing-problem-of-techenabled-domestic-abuse/

In this episode we chat with Ben Wizner - Edward Snowden's lawyer, and the director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project - and Caroline Wilson Palow - PI's Legal Director about what it was like to be knee deep in the legal and policy responses to Snowden's revelations, holding British and US intelligence agencies to account for secret powers. Additional audio from The Guardian and from Channel 4 News via the Guardian Links What is Tempora? ⁠https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-cables-secret-world-communications-nsa⁠ Taking angle grinders to the Guardian's hard drives: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/31/footage-released-guardian-editors-snowden-hard-drives-gchq PI's legal cases: https://privacyinternational.org/legal-action/our-cases The ACLU's case challenging upsteam surveillance: https://www.aclu.org/cases/wikimedia-v-nsa-challenge-upstream-surveillance The White House review of the NSA post Snowden: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2013-12-12_rg_final_report.pdf Hear from Ed Snowden directly: https://privacyinternational.org/video/4518/fight-back-edward-snowden

This week we're discussing the UK Home Office's practice of forcing migrants to wear GPS ankle tags or carry GPS fingerprint scanners. Find out more about the policy, its impact on people, how the trackers work and why we think its wrong for a company to profit from all of this. Links Send Capita an email at: pvcy.org/GPSaction Find out more on our website about the campaign: https://privacyinternational.org/campaigns/capital-surveillance Watch the full video testimonies - video 1: https://media.privacyinternational.org/w/cB1gjT7FA4L77NUA2PF7Jd video 2: https://media.privacyinternational.org/w/bMY219Rmd2tXSpmSH4HL9F

This week we're joined by Lucy and Laura to discuss the use of technology in elections, and their time monitoring the Kenyan Presidential Election in 2022. Links Human rights abuses including unlawful killings by police, violence at Kenya's 2017 election: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/08/27/kenya-post-election-killings-abuse Claims of fraud from Kenya's last election: https://www.cartercenter.org/countries/kenya.html PI and the Carter Center's joint election report: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5053/our-final-report-kenyas-2022-election-collaboration-carter-center-election-expert Challenge to the 2022 election result and Supreme Court decision: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-africa-62768439 More about the use of data in elections: https://privacyinternational.org/taxonomy/term/848 Our data and elections checklist: https://privacyinternational.org/advocacy/3093/technology-data-and-elections-checklist-election-cycle

This week we're speaking to Claudia Duque an Human Rights Defender and journalist for over 25 years, reported on crimes occurred during armed conflict and Emi, a Colombian lawyer defending press freedom. Claudia has been subjected to death threats, and was given official protection by the Colombian Government, including an armoured car. However, that protection was used to surveil her, including through a GPS tracker installed in the car without her knowledge. Listen to find out more! Links The organisation who put us in touch with Claudia is called Media Defence, they are an international human rights organisation which provides legal defence to journalists, citizen journalists and independent media around the world who are under threat for their reporting. Find out more about them and their work: https://www.mediadefence.org/ You can also read more about Claudia, her work, and the cases she's taken forward on Media Defence's website: https://www.mediadefence.org/news/hope-and-resilience-claudia-duque/ Claudia's case against the former Administrative Department of Security: https://latamjournalismreview.org/articles/after-more-than-20-years-court-confirms-responsibility-of-the-colombian-state-in-violating-human-rights-of-journalist-claudia-julieta-duque/ More about Claudia: https://www.mediadefence.org/news/hope-and-resilience-claudia-duque/ If you're a climate activist fearing surveillance, these tips might be handy: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5000/how-avoid-social-media-monitoring-guide-climate-activists For more detail on the surveillance experiences faced by human rights defenders, read: https://privacyinternational.org/campaigns/being-target To read more about GPS technology, visit: https://privacyinternational.org/explainer/4796/electronic-monitoring-using-gps-tags-tech-primer

In January 2023, the UK's Investigatory Powers Tribunal handed down a landmark judgment. The Tribunal held that there were “very serious failings” at the highest levels of MI5 - the UK's domestic intelligence agency - to comply with privacy safeguards from as early as 2014, and that successive Home Secretaries did not to enquire into or resolve these long-standing rule-breaking despite obvious red flags. In this episode, we talk to Meg Goulding, a lawyer at the UK-based campaigning organisation, Liberty, who was a solicitor instructed on the case, and Nour Haidar, a lawyer and member of the legal team at PI to discuss what this ruling actually means for the ongoing fight against mass surveillance. The way our data was handled by MI5 amounts to a significant intrusion into potentially millions of people's fundamental right to privacy. This case was a critical mechanism of holding MI5 accountable for failing to handle the data they hold in a lawful manner. Agencies tasked with protecting national security process huge amounts of sensitive information. Due to the nature of their work, their operations can't be subjected to the same levels of scrutiny and transparency that we can demand of other government institutions, yet they are not above the law. That is why this case is so important: it is one of the only tools we have to ensure that our right to privacy is respected by the UK intelligence agencies. Links - PI's Case page for Liberty and PI v Security Service and Secretary of State for the Home Department IPT/20/01/CH - PI's Q&A explaining the judgment - Liberty's case page - PI's Long-read explaining arguments in the case, including key disclosure - Home Secretary statement "as compliant as possible"

This week we're having our own little christmas party, discussing things we've achieved throughout 2022. Read more about the things we've achieved throughout the year, and donate to PI as much or as little as you can afford. Credits: As ever, with a huge thank you to Sepia! dj997 via freesound acclivity via freesound Marta Tsvettsikh via freesound CNN Sky News

This week we speak to Gillian Tully, the UK's former forensic regulator about the importance and challenges that come with trying to ensure that forensic evidence submitted in court is of a high quality. Links More about Gillian Tully: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/gillian-tully Original Phone Extraction podcast: https://privacyinternational.org/video/3786/podcast-extraction GOS tag complaint: Challenge to systemic quality failures of GPS tags submitted to Forensic Science Regulator https://privacyinternational.org/advocacy/4940/challenge-systemic-quality-failures-gps-tags-submitted-forensic-science-regulator Why Forensics Matter: Immigration officers and the quality of evidence in the UK: https://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/4740/why-forensics-matter-immigration-officers-and-quality-evidence-uk Push This Button For Evidence: Digital Forensics: https://privacyinternational.org/explainer/3022/push-button-evidence-digital-forensics Police Linked to Hacking Campaign to Frame Indian Activists: https://www.wired.com/story/modified-elephant-planted-evidence-hacking-police/ Unpacking the evidence elasticity of digital traces: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311886.2022.2103946 Forensic science and the criminal justice system: a blueprint for change (House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee report): https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201719/ldselect/ldsctech/333/33302.htm NIST Computer Forensics Tool Testing Program (CFTT) https://www.nist.gov/itl/ssd/software-quality-group/computer-forensics-tool-testing-program-cftt Post Office Horizon scandal: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56718036 With my fridge as my witness?! https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/3026/my-fridge-my-witness

This week we're talking to Cory Doctorow about his new book Chokepoint Capitalism - coauthored with Rebecca Giblin, his as yet unpublished next book The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation, and how corporate power is shaping our rights. Quick corrections! - GDPR compensation is in theory possible through court action: https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/data-protection-and-journalism/taking-your-case-to-court-and-claiming-compensation/ - GDPR Article 80(2) not Section 20 something as I stated! Links - Cory's website: https://craphound.com/ - Chokepoint Capitalism coauthored with Rebecca Giblin: https://doctorow.medium.com/what-is-chokepoint-capitalism-b885c4cb2719 - Giphy and Meta: https://privacyinternational.org/press-release/4911/uk-tribunal-agrees-metas-acquisition-giphy-harms-competition - Chokepoint Capitalism: the audiobook: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/chokepoint-capitalism-an-audiobook-amazon-wont-sell - How to leave dying social media platforms (without losing your friends): https://doctorow.medium.com/how-to-leave-dying-social-media-platforms-9fc550fe5ab - Cory on Mastodon: https://mamot.fr/@doctorow and https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic - PI on Mastodon: https://mastodon.xyz/@privacyint - Crad Kilodney documentary: https://vimeo.com/108567007 - Algorithms Exposed: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/825974 or https://algorithms.exposed/ - Bush V Gore election scandal: https://www.britannica.com/event/Bush-v-Gore - Goldacre report: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/better-broader-safer-using-health-data-for-research-and-analysis - Amazon and NHS: https://privacyinternational.org/node/3298 - Rida Qadri: https://ridaqadri.net/research/ and some of her writing on tuyul apps: https://www.vice.com/en/article/7kvpng/delivery-drivers-are-using-grey-market-apps-to-make-their-jobs-suck-less - Oh for fuck's sake, not this fucking bullshit again : https://boingboing.net/2018/09/04/illegal-math.html - Dan Kaminsky's work on Colour blindness: https://dankaminsky.com/2010/12/15/dankam/ - How to get the most out of your Data Subject Access Request: https://privacyinternational.org/explainer/3845/71-tips-how-make-most-out-your-dsar

This week we're talking about Education Technology: what is it? Why are schools using it? Is it safe? How can we make sure that children aren't being asked to sacrifice their right to privacy in order to access their right to an education? Links - Read more of our work on EdTech: https://privacyinternational.org/campaigns/edtech - Find out more about Google Classroom in Denmark: https://www.wired.com/story/denmark-google-schools-data/ - Taser drones: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/06/school-taser-drone-programme-paused-after-ethics-board-exodus - We're tracking the use of EdTech around the world, you can find out more here: https://privacyinternational.org/example/edtech

This week we speak to Sebastian Meineck, a journalist from Netzpolitik about PimEyes, a free(ish) face search engine similar to Clearview, but for public consumption. Please note this podcast was recorded before Sebastian and Netzpolitik were able to talk to PimEyes CEO Gobronidze in person. You can read that interview here: https://netzpolitik.org/2022/pimeyes-ceo-the-user-is-the-stalker-not-the-search-engine/ Links Find more of Sebastian's work here: https://sebastianmeineck.wordpress.com/ More of Netzpolitik's work on PimEyes here: https://netzpolitik.org/tag/pimeyes/ Read more of PI's work on facial recognition: https://privacyinternational.org/learn/facial-recognition And our work on Clearview: https://privacyinternational.org/campaigns/get-out-our-face-clearview

In this episode, Alexandrine Pirlot de Corbion, our Director of Strategy, speaks to Nour El Arnaout, from the Global Health Institute, American University of Beirut, Lebanon and Yousef Khader, from the Global Health Development, Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network and the Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan, about digital health in the Middle East and North Africa and in particular digital maternal health and family planning initiatives they are working on, the impact of gender inequality, and the risks involved. Nour El Arnaout is a division manager at the Global Health Insitute at the American University of Beirut, where she also co-ordinates the Institutes's E-Sahha programme focussed on e-health and digital health. She has more than 7 years experience in projects and programmes management, operational management and research, and leads the implementation of large scale field based projects in underserved communities in Lebanon including refugee settlements. She is working on a project called: The Gamification, Artificial Intelligence and mHealth Network for Maternal Health Improvement. Yousef Khaderb is a professor of Epidemiology and biostatistics at the Faculty of Medicine at the Jordan University of Science and Technology, he is a fellow for public health at the royal college of physicians UK through distinction and has published more than 650 scientific papers in highly reputable journals. He is working on a project called: Governing Digital Personal Data to Strengthen Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Services Delivery in Fragile Settings in Palestine and Jordan. Both projects are funded by IDRC: https://www.idrc.ca/en. Links - Read more from Yousef and Nour about their projects, and gender and power in maternal health: https://ai-med.io/analysis/context-gender-power-and-choices/ - Read more about Nour's project: https://ghi.aub.edu.lb/esp/ - You can read more from Yousef in the below papers which he contributed to: - Midwives and women's perspectives on family planning in Jordan: human rights, gender equity, decision-making and power dynamics: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34458635/ - Perceptions Toward the Use of Digital Technology for Enhancing Family Planning Services: Focus Group Discussion With Beneficiaries and Key Informative Interview With Midwives: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34319250/ - Do modern family planning methods impact women's quality of life? Jordanian women's perspective: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31615524/

This week we talk to Ina Sander from Cardiff University about how to talk to people about privacy, drawing on her research looking at how to teach 'critical data literacy' in schools. Links You can find a resource for teachers we've been working with Ina on here: https://privacyinternational.org/learning-resources/teaching-about-data-resource-educators You can read more about critical data literacy here: https://policyreview.info/articles/analysis/what-critical-big-data-literacy-and-how-can-it-be-implemented You can find the database of resources for teaching about big data and algorithmic systems Ina mentions here: https://www.bigdataliteracy.net/database/ You can find PI's guides to help you and your loved ones protect yourselves online: https://privacyinternational.org/act

While being the world's largest provider of aid, Europe also exports surveillance around the world by training police, providing surveillance techand building widescale databases. While the benefits for European arms and security companies is clear, how this helps those it's supposed to is less obvious. We sat down with investigative journalist Giacomo to talk more about the impact of this financial flow to security forces and surveillance. Links Giacomo's report on Europe's Shady Funds to Border Forces in the Sahel https://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/3223/europes-shady-funds-border-forces-sahel Giacomo's report on The European Chase for Saharan Smugglers https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/3347/european-chase-saharan-smugglers Privacy International's disclosures on the EU's surveillance aid https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/4291/surveillance-disclosures-show-urgent-need-reforms-eu-aid-programmes You can follow Giacomo at @giacomo_zando

Hundreds of companies around the world which develop and sell surveillance tech used to spy on people, making everything from malware used by governments to hack into phones to mass internet surveillance tools to monitor nationwide internet traffic. Italy is one of the main producers. We spoke to investigative journalists Lorenzo and Riccardo from IRPI Media who have been digging into these companies. Links You can check out IRPI Media at https://irpi.eu Their series on surveillance (in Italian) is at https://irpimedia.irpi.eu/sorveglianze/ Their report on Med-Or (in English) is at https://irpimedia.irpi.eu/en-surveillances-medor-leonardo-marco-minniti/ Their report on Cy4Gate (in English) is at https://irpimedia.irpi.eu/en-surveillances-cy4gate-united-arab-emirates/

The migration crisis in 2015 brutally exposed the divisions in Europe. People who fled war and make it to Europe are being met with violence and intrusive surveillance at the border at the hands of state authorities. We sat down with Natalie & Sergio from the Border Violence Monitoring Network to learn more about the situation at Europe's borders. This is the first episode in our Border Surveillance series. Join us next week for Surveillance: Made in Italy and sold around the world. Links Josoor International Solidarity's website is at https://www.josoor.net No Name Kitchen's website https://www.nonamekitchen.org Border Violence Monitoring Network's Website is at https://www.borderviolence.eu Their reports documenting violence and trends in Greece and the Balkans route are at https://www.borderviolence.eu/category/monthly-report/ Lighthouse Report's investigations on pushbacks in the Aegean are available at https://www.lighthousereports.nl/investigation/aegean-pushbacks-lead-to-drowning/ Privacy Internationa's disclosures on the EU's surveillance aid https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/4291/surveillance-disclosures-show-urgent-need-reforms-eu-aid-programmes

This is a brief programming note. The next three weeks we'll be releasing episodes of a new mini-series looking at how surveillance is spreading around the world, driven by Europe's war on migration and a complex web of surveillance and arms companies. Join Edin, PI's advocacy director, and some fascinating guests every Friday for the next three weeks for: Border Surveillance. Then we'll be back to our Technology Pill episodes. Enjoy!

This week talk to Franz Wild from the Bureau of Investigative Journalists to discuss how the UK became a haven for the private intelligence industry and how corporate spies have been allowed to run wild. Links: The Enablers by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism: https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/projects/the-enablers PI's report: https://privacyinternational.org/report/4850/briefing-controlling-uks-private-intelligence-industry Submit your podcast questions: pvcy.org/questions Sign up to our mailing list: pvcy.org/podsignup

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-announcement-about-clearview-ai-lot-more-just-ps17-million-fine Use of Clearview AI by police illegal under Belgian law, says Belgian interior minister: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/belgian-police-admit-using-controversial-facial-recognition-software/2388953 Clearview in Ukraine: https://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/4806/clearviewukraine-partnership-how-surveillance-companies-exploit-war Washington Post article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/02/16/clearview-expansion-facial-recognition/ The pledge: https://pvcy.org/dodgydata

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/2017/06/reckless-exploit-mexico-nso/ - Keep up to date with ongoing litigation against NSO Group around the globe here: https://citizenlab.ca/2018/12/litigation-and-other-formal-complaints-concerning-targeted-digital-surveillance-and-the-digital-surveillance-industry/#NSO - Read our report, together with Amnesty International and SOMO, on NSO Group's corporate structure here: https://www.privacyinternational.org/report/4531/operating-shadows-inside-nso-groups-corporate-structure - Find more examples of harm involving NSO group here: https://privacyinternational.org/examples/nso-group - As revelations about the abuses of NSO Group's spyware continue, we took a look at what is being done around the world to challenge the surveillance tech industry and the powers they sell, see our call for a multi-pronged approach here: Taming Pegasus: A Way Forward on Surveillance Tech Proliferation https://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/4602/taming-pegasus-way-forward-surveillance-tech-proliferation - See how hacking can be used at a protest and how you can minimise risks to your data here: https://www.privacyinternational.org/explainer/4493/how-hacking-can-be-used-protest - Government hacking poses unique and grave threats to our privacy and security, here are our recommendations for necesssary safeguards around government hacking: https://www.privacyinternational.org/demand/government-hacking-safeguards - Q&A: PI case - UK High Court judgment on general warrants and government hacking explained: https://www.privacyinternational.org/long-read/4361/qa-pi-case-uk-high-court-judgment-general-warrants-and-government-hacking-explained

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 More information about how Bounty illegally exploited the data of 14 million mothers and babies: https://pvcy.org/podillegalexploitation Sign up to our corporate exploitation email list to find out more about our work on brands and the advertising supply chain: https://pvcy.org/podsignup Original podcast: https://privacyinternational.org/video/3787/podcast-marketing-and-maternity ---------- Orginally Recorded 12th March 2020. We can't believe we're having to say this, but the hours after giving birth are private. If you're a parent, you may have heard of Bounty, a sales and marketing company allowed access to hospital maternity wards and approach women who have just given birth. This doesn't happen on any other hospital ward. Can you imagine coming round from major surgery to find a stranger trying to sell you stuff? The physical invasion of privacy is bad enough, but delving into the company's relationship with you and your baby's personal data reveals some surprises.

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/technology/clearview-ai-valuation.html TRIPS waiver: https://www.devex.com/news/where-are-we-on-covid-19-after-a-year-of-trips-waiver-negotiations-101795 Travel podcast: pvcy.org/PITravel Patent-free vaccine: https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/patent-free-coronavirus-vaccine-protein-subunit/ Mental health podcast: pvcy.org/podmentalhealth David works for the Mental Health Foundation: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/ Google unionise: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/04/technology/google-employees-union.html The 'Great Resignation': https://www.ft.com/content/857bdeba-b61b-4012-ab82-3c9eb19506df PI has been working with two unions on our managed by bots campaign: pvcy.org/podbots Complicated history of plagues and workers: https://www.economist.com/free-exchange/2013/10/21/plagued-by-dear-labour Indian National Education Plan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Education_Policy_2020 Ugandan Election: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c9vyzlr1ek2t/uganda-election-2021 Crypto mining trouble: https://www.wired.com/story/kazakhstan-cryptocurrency-mining-unrest-energy/ US commitment to reduce methane: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-59137828 Cop26 commitments: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/14/india-criticised-over-coal-at-cop26-but-real-villain-was-climate-injustice Apple's valuation: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/1/6/visualising-apples-3-trillion-market-valuation Facebook value drop: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/03/facebooks-232point6-billion-drop-in-value-sets-all-time-record.html The Metaverse: https://www.wired.com/story/what-is-the-metaverse/ Predictions for 2022: pvcy.org/2022predictions

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 Bandwidth: https://www.ft.com/content/09d244a2-34a2-4f62-9747-5064d76cb286 EFF on new Google replacement for cookies: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/03/googles-floc-terrible-idea Google's follow up plan to replace cookies: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/google-floc-cookies-chrome-topics EV cars and the national grid: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/electric-vehicle-charging-market The gates of hell: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/turkmenistan-gates-hell-fire-extinguish South Africa, Omicron, and travel: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/articles/omicron-covid-africa-travel Patent-free covid vaccine: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/15/corbevax-covid-vaccine-texas-scientists Covid vaccine plastic bag shortage: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57024322 James Webb telescope: https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-turns-on-cameras Human trails for Elon Musks' brain chip: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/20/elon-musk-brain-chip-firm-neuralink-lines-up-clinical-trials-in-humans

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/feature/usp/Trouble-In-Toyland Roomba home maps: https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2018/9/6/17817220/irobot-roomba-i7-robot-vacuum-empties-itself-maps-house and concerns from 2017 about Roomba sharing that information: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/25/technology/roomba-irobot-data-privacy.html ICO advice: https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-blogs/2017/11/blog-the-12-ways-that-christmas-shoppers-can-keep-children-and-data-safe-when-buying-smart-toys-and-devices/ Our guides for protecting yourself from online tracking: https://privacyinternational.org/act/protect-yourself-online-tracking Our Amazon Ring report "One Ring to Watch Them All" https://www.privacyinternational.org/long-read/3971/one-ring-watch-them-all Find out more about our legal work: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/4699/brief-history-our-legal-successes Extra audio credit details in order of appearance: acclivity (sleigh bells) dj997 (additional bells) Marta Tsvettsikh (fire sound) waxsocks (ding dong merrily) bilwiss (music box/silent night)

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/learn/data-interception-environment You can find our work about apps sharing data with Facebook here: https://privacyinternational.org/appdata You can download the DIE to have a go with it yourself here: https://github.com/privacyint/appdata-environment-desktop/tree/update-3

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: The end of privacy? The spread of facial recognition

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-read/4603/unhealthy-diet-targeted-ads-investigation-how-diet-industry-exploits-our-data More information on Instagram, targeted ads, and Frances Haugen - the Facebook whistleblower: https://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/4622/reduce-facebooks-harms-teens-target-its-data-hungry-business-model

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 read the report here: https://web.karisma.org.co/useless-and-dangerous-a-critical-exploration-of-covid-applications-and-their-human-rights-impacts-in-colombia/

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 about PI's work with and on humanitarian organisations uses of data here: https://privacyinternational.org/learn/humanitarian-sector Read more about the Humanitarian Metadata Problem in our report on doing no harm in the digital age co-authored with the ICRC here: https://privacyinternational.org/report/2509/humanitarian-metadata-problem-doing-no-harm-digital-era And you can learn more about the history of development and humanitarian donors and agencies rush to adopt new technologies that threaten the right to privacy - in out Aiding Surveillance report from 2013: https://privacyinternational.org/report/841/aiding-surveillance You can find more from Massimo and his work at the ICRC here: https://blogs.icrc.org/law-and-policy/contributor/massimo-marelli/ And you can read the ICRC's Handbook on data protection in humanitarian action here: https://www.icrc.org/en/data-protection-humanitarian-action-handbook You can join the ICRC's 'Digitharium' - a global forum to discuss and debate digital transformation within the humanitarian sector, with a focus on humanitarian protection, policy, ethics and action here: https://www.icrc.org/en/digitharium You can sign up to learn more about working in data protection at humanitarian organisations here: https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/events/data-protection-officer-dpo-humanitarian-action-certification

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 Foundation here: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/ If you're worried about your mental health and want to try the NHS's mood self-assesment you can find it here: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mood-self-assessment/ Read our work on mental health here: https://privacyinternational.org/campaigns/your-mental-health-sale

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: Confessions of Punk Rock's Most Infamous Anarchist Sellout by Laura Jane Grace Millie's recommendations - you might recognise Millie's voice from our Phone Extraction podcast - Cack-Handed: A Memoir by Gina Yashere - Man search for meaning by Viktor Frankl - Emma Barnet (mention) - Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart - Do Humankind's Best Days Lie Ahead? by Malcom Gladwell, Matt Ridley, Steven Pinker, and Alain de Botton Laura's recommendations - Pachinko by Min Jin Lee - On Earth we're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong - Bleak House by Charles Dickens - A World for Julius by Alfredo Bryce

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 (If you're a European Citizen you can even sign it!) - You can find EDRi's masks (and their masks for MEP programme) here: https://edri.org/take-action/donate-mask/ and you can find out more about the project here: https://edri.org/our-work/can-a-covid-19-face-mask-protect-you-from-facial-recognition-technology-too/ - You can take the Paper Bag Society challenge on mosts social media platforms - check out the #PaperBagSociety hashtag to find out more - Watch this space (or sign up for our email at https://action.privacyinternational.org/) to find out more about how you can get a mask from PI - The podcast survey is here: pvcy.org/tpsurvey - You can find our Spotter's Guide to Facial Recognition here: https://privacyinternational.org/video/4489/spotters-guide-facial-recognition

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 Society at https://cis-india.org/ CIS also have a podcast, it's called In flux and you can find it on all your favourite podcast apps and at https://in-flux.cis-india.org/ Like and subscribe to the podcast on which ever platform you use. It's also available on our website at privacyinternational.org