Technology Pill

This 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/

This 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.

Links
ACLU report: https://www.aclu.org/campaigns-initiatives/aclu-vs-trump
Kyllo case: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyllo_v._United_States
Underground 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-government
Yale lectures on National Security law: https://epe.yale.edu/videos/above-law-or-beneath-it-how-national-security-law-subverts-accountability-and-weakens-0
Asylum for White South Africans: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/us/politics/trump-refugee-admissions-white-south-africans.html
FISA reauth: https://theintercept.com/2026/01/29/nsa-702-fisa-surveillance/

Join 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 work
BVMN's website https://borderviolence.eu/
Surveillance Tech Serbia Report: https://borderviolence.eu/reports/surveillance-technologies-at-european-borders-serbia
Cyprus Borderscape: https://cyprusborderscape.com/

BalkanDac: https://borderviolence.eu/reports/decoding-balkandac-navigating-the-eu-s-biometric-blueprint
Samos CCAC : https://borderviolence.eu/reports/controlled-and-confined-unveiling-the-impact-of-technology-in-the-samos-closed-controlled-access-centre
Use 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-cyprus

Al Otro Lado:
Al Otro Lado’s Programs: https://www.alotrolado.org/our-programs
Merch: https://www.bonfire.com/al-otro-lado/?srsltid=AfmBOoqZMoeVG0Ggysn-YhlXQ7YPehx_4tnFPY5O2K236THD3U7p7_SG
PI work
Drivers of Surveillance: http://privacyinternational.org/challenging-drivers-surveillance
When 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-policing
Migration and borders: https://privacyinternational.org/learn/migration-and-borders

This 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

This week we talk to Ilia and Serhat about the creeping militarisation of technology, and with it our societies.

Links

All of our militarisation work: https://privacyinternational.org/campaigns/militarisation-of-tech

What is Militarisation of Tech?: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5668/what-militarisation-tech
Key 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-york
How Data Drives the Militarisation of Tech: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5667/how-data-drives-militarisation-tech
On 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-and
We have a mailing list specifically for our militarisation work that you can find here: https://action.privacyinternational.org/user/register