Technology Pill

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