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
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41:34
Crash 8.5 million computers with this one weird trick: A CrowdStrike story
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
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34:26
Counting every vote: Technology and voter data in Latin American elections
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
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1:26:54
Vertical Mergers: Competition, Connectivity, and Starlink
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
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1:41:18
The End of Privacy in Public: Facial Recognition and the UK Parliament
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
New Zealand