Technology Pill

Why governments struggle with ID

27 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're speaking to Professor Edgar Whitley - an expert on the design and implementation of ID systems. Links- More about Edgar: https://w...

Ghosts in the SheLLM: Chatbot ethics with James Muldoon

13 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Sand in Trump's Gears: Lessons from America

13 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Moving Stories: Border Violence and Surveillance

12 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 - Da...

End of Life: Time to X goodbye to Windows 10

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 wh...

Militarisation of Tech: Redefining the Battlefield

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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

What's News? Back to work!

19 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're back to discussing stories that have been in the news over the past few months - in particular the stories that have stayed with u...

Rewilding the Internet with Maria Farrell

15 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week Gus and Caitlin are rewilding the Internet with Maria Farrell. What do you want using the internet or your devices to feel like? What can ec...

Cycles of Control: Reproductive rights and digital risks

18 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're talking to Martha Dimitratou from ReproUncensored, and PI's own Sarah Simms about the international landscape for reproductive...

Learning about learners: Protecting Children's Data

13 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 m...

Why is my government undermining my security?: targeted and betrayed

16 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 fo...

What's News?

18 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Crash 8.5 million computers with this one weird trick: A CrowdStrike story

14 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're discussing the 2024 incident in which a malformed update of CrowdStrike Falcon caused 8.5 million computers running Microsoft Wind...

Counting every vote: Technology and voter data in Latin American elections

14 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're speaking to Eduardo from Transparencia Electoral about modern elections all over the world that they've observed, and Vladimir...

Vertical Mergers: Competition, Connectivity, and Starlink

17 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're talking to Peter Bloom from Rhizomatica and Lũa Cruz from IDEC about internet connectivity, what drives social media companies to...

The End of Privacy in Public: Facial Recognition and the UK Parliament

16 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 abou...

Data and Disability: Rights in a Digitised world

15 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 R...

Enter the matrix: How to run an encrypted communications platform

18 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

The XZ exploit: The day the internet got lucky

27 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're talking about a backdoor inserted into a popular Linux file compression tool, which had the potential to massively undermine the s...

The Cryptowars: A short history of encryption politics

14 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 - ha...

A letter from the Russian government: Defending encryption in Court

30 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 Europea...

What is Encryption? Codes, Keys, and Hashes

23 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

GPS tracking of migrants in the UK: Performative cruelty and dodgy tech

13 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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,...

Good News: Things you might have missed in 2023

15 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week we talk about good things (or good-ish things) that you might have missed from 2023! Links Companies getting disciplined - Ovulation Trac...

Generative AI: Our hot takes on deep fakes

20 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 understan...

No Competition: Big Tech, Big Problems

18 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week we speak to competition expert Dr Deni Mantzari about competition, monopoly, and regulation. Are big tech companies monopolies? And if they ...

Tech Assisted Abuse: How smart devices can facilitate abuse

25 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This month we speak to Dr Leonie Tanczer about her work looking at tech abuse: the use of “everyday” digital systems (computers, smartphones, apps...

10 years since Snowden: Legacy, Law, and Litigation

28 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

GPS tracking migrants in the UK: Who profits?

23 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ou...

Election Observation: Data, Elections and a trip to Kenya

05 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 i...

Protecting the protectors: a case from Colombia

05 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're speaking to Claudia Duque an Human Rights Defender and journalist for over 25 years, reported on crimes occurred during armed conf...

MI5 Lied...for years: a win for privacy

03 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In January 2023, the UK's Investigatory Powers Tribunal handed down a landmark judgment. The Tribunal held that there were “very serious failings”...

Producing Real Change: Our 2022

23 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're having our own little christmas party, discussing things we've achieved throughout 2022.  Read more about the things we've achiev...

How to Investigate Digital Forensics: Speaking to the UK's Former Forensics Regulator

16 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week we speak  to Gillian Tully, the UK’s former forensic regulator about the  importance and challenges that come with trying to ens...

Corporate Power with Cory Doctorow

09 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're talking to Cory Doctorow about his new book Chokepoint Capitalism - coauthored with Rebecca Giblin, his as yet unpublished next book T...

EdTech needs Schooling

17 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Got PimEyes on you

23 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week we speak to Sebastian Meineck, a journalist from Netzpolitik about PimEyes, a free(ish) face search engine similar to Clearview, but for pub...

Maternal Health and Family Planning in the Middle East: Gender and Power

05 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Alexandrine Pirlot de Corbion, our Director of  Strategy, speaks to Nour El Arnaout, from the Global Health Institute,  Ame...

Talking to People about Privacy

10 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 tea...

The EU, the Sahel and the Externalisation of Surveillance

03 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

While being the world’s largest provider of aid, Europe also exports  surveillance around the world by training police, providing surveillance ...

Surveillance: Made in Italy and sold around the world

27 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Hundreds of  companies around the world which develop and sell surveillance tech used  to spy on people, making everything from malware used...

Violence at the EU’s borders: Tech and surveillance in Europe’s Human Rights Crisis

20 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Upcoming: Border Surveillance

18 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Corporate Spies Gone Wild

06 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 a...

Not Fine: A Clearview Update

15 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week's episode is a grab bag of Clearview updates - from our latest campaign to their latest fine.  Links Italy fine: https://www.garantepri...

NSO Group: Civil society's battle against government hacking

22 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Update: Marketing, Maternity, and the data supply chain

04 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 hos...

2021: Looking back

04 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 tur...

2022: Looking forward

04 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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 Faceb...

Christmas Present Privacy

24 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Tech Research: includes a free gift

17 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Today we're launching our Data Interception Environment for everyone to use. We've used it to research everything from low cost phones, to menstruatio...

Victory! A Clearview update: some (provisionally) good news from the UK

03 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The ICO has provisionally issued a £17 million fine against facial recognition company Clearview AI Links Read more about the ICO's provisional deci...

Unhealthy diet of targeted ads

26 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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-Dumon...

Covid and Tech: A view from Colombia

12 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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&nb...

Humanitarian data after Afghanistan

29 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Rebroadcast: Your mental health for sale?

15 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Cargo planes, Trains, and Automobiles

01 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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 g...

Summer Reading

17 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Evading facial recognition

25 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week we’re talking to Andreea Belu - Campaigns and Communications Manager at EDRi - about evading facial recognition. We talk about our Eu...

Covid and tech: a view from India

09 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Covid: Where have we been? Where are we now?

18 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week we discuss our experience of Covid so far, where we've been, where we are, and where we're going. Links - Locked down, our recommedations po...

Biometrics domination under the pretext of combating terrorism

04 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Biometric data collection and use in the name of countering terrorism has been accelerating around the globe, often abusively, without being effective...

The fight back with Edward Snowden

21 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week we’re passing the podcast over to Edward Snowden. We found out this week that the judgement in our case at the European Court of Human Rig...

A eulogy to Yahoo Answers

07 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On Tuesday, we said goodbye to Yahoo Answers in the appropriate spirit - by answering questions from the Computers and Internet section of Yahoo. Link...

A spotter's guide to facial recognition

16 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week we talk about the different kinds of facial recognition and which you might see where. We also chat about the Facebook leak of 553million re...

Spring Cleaning (rebroadcast)

02 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're rebroadcasting a coversation we had last year with PI's Tech Co-ordination Groups, bringing you tips and tricks about how to start cle...

Big Brother pays your benefits: We read 995 pages on how to surveil people so you don't have to

19 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Content warning: this episode includes some disturbing stories of people  who have died after having their benefits cut or withdrawn by the UK &n...

What does your face say about you? Phrenology, physiognomy and society

05 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're joined by Dr Courtney Thompson to discuss the history of phrenology and physiognomy and their relationship to modern technologies and ...

Are you paranoid?

19 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We hear that we're paranoid a lot - but what is paranoia? What does it mean to be paranoid? And is it all bad? We spoke to Dr David Crepaz-Keay from t...

General warrants: Victory at the UK High Court and 250 year old law

05 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

General warrants have been used to authorise wide-ranging property interference and certain forms of computer hacking of large numbers of devices - su...

Data exploitation in reproductive healthcare in Chile

25 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

PI's Reproductive Rights and Privacy Project speaks with Paz Peña, an  independent consultant based in Chile, about data exploitation in sexual ...

Trans identity in the Philippines

22 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We've recently released a report looking at the impact of ID systems on transgender people in Argentina, France and the Philippines. To celebrate we'r...

The end of privacy? The spread of facial recognition

15 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A year ago on Monday the New York Times published an article, by a fantastic tech journalist called Kashmir Hill, about a facial recognition company c...

2021: What can we expect?

09 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We give you the run down on the things we expect and are excited for and sometimes apprehensive of in 2021 and give you the lowdown on what's written ...

Data exploitation in reproductive healthcare in Kenya

28 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

PI's Reproductive Rights and Privacy Project speaks with Nerima Were, who is the Program Manager on Sexual Reproductive Health Rights from  KELIN...

EU Exporting Surveillance

04 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

**Language advisory: Gus does several swearwords this episode including one f-word at 9:45 This week we talk to Edin, PI's Advocacy Director, about do...

Data exploitation in reproductive healthcare in Peru

23 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

PI's Reproductive Rights and Privacy Project speaks with Denisse Albornoz from Hiperderecho in Peru, which is Peruvian non-profit civil  associat...

Your mental health for sale?

06 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

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 ca...

Medically inaccurate reproductive health information at pregnancy resource centres in the US

26 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

PI's Reproductive Rights and Privacy Project speaks with Dr. Andrea Swartzendruber about crisis pregnancy centres in the US.  Dr. Andrea &nb...

Smart for Whom? A tale of smarter cities

23 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week we talk to Dr Ellie Cosgrave - an Associate Professor at UCL, Dr Lakshmi Priya Rajendran - a Senior Research Fellow looking at future cities...

Judgement Day

09 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The European Union's top court rules that UK, French and Belgian mass surveillance regimes must respect privacy. But what does that mean for governmen...

Data exploitation in reproductive rights in Indonesia

21 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

PI's Reproductive Rights and Privacy Project speaks with Lintang Setianiti and Miftah Fadhli from the Institute for Policy  Research and Advocacy...

Data exploitation in reproductive healthcare in Argentina

24 Aug 2020

Contributed by Lukas

PI's Reproductive Rights and Privacy Project speaks with Maite Karstanje  and Nadia Ferrari from Equipo Latinoamericano de Justicia y Género &nb...

How misleading health info can spread from online discussions to policy and legislative debates

27 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

PI's Reproductive Rights and Privacy Project speaks with Dr. Subasri Narasimhan and Dr. Dabney Evans from the Rollins School of Public Health at ...

Immunity Passports

24 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week we talk to a whole host of guests, including María Paz Canales Executive Director of Derechos Digitales, about the issues with coronavirus ...

Spring Cleaning

10 Jul 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week we talk to PI's Tech Co-ordination Groups to bring you tips and tricks about how to start cleaning up and securing your phone or computer. E...

Google/Fitbit merger? Not on our watch

26 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Why do Google want to buy Fitbit? What do they get out of it? And why should competition regulators be concerned? Gus talks to two of PI's lawyers - A...

How opposition groups are using misinformation to delay people from accessing safe abortion care

22 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

PI's Reproductive Rights and Privacy Project speaks with Ruth Taylor, the CEO of the UK-based charity Abortion Support Network about how  opposit...

The trouble with Identity in Kenya

12 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

From double registration to exclusion and discrimination - this week we talk to Yusuf Bashir, Executive Director of Haki na Sheria, and Keren Weitzber...

Protest surveillance: before, during, and after

05 Jun 2020

Contributed by Lukas

With huge numbers of people out on the streets standing up for their rights in the US and Hong Kong, and around the world - we take a look at  th...

Is there an app for Covid-19?

22 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A quick catch-up on the state of play of apps round the world - though we end up mostly discussing India and the UK - and we celebrate a very special ...

Covid-19 news

08 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week Gus chats with Edin, PI's Advocacy Director, about the latest Covid-19 news and the trends we're seeing around the world.  Find out mor...

Reproductive rights and privacy in India

04 May 2020

Contributed by Lukas

PI's Reproductive Rights and Privacy Project speaks with Tasneem Mewa and Ambika Tandon from the Center for Internet and Society about data  expl...

Announcement: New mini-series

27 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

We're happy to announce, we're launching a new mini-series!  Every last monday of each month we'll be releasing a new podcast - focusing on repro...

Covid-19: the global response

24 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Tech companies, governments, and international agencies have all announced measures to help contain the spread of the COVID-19, otherwise known as the...

Locked down

10 Apr 2020

Contributed by Lukas

This week: it's a weird one - rather than our normal look at technology, we've got recommendations for movies and games you might enjoy while you're l...

Marketing and Maternity

27 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Recorded 12th March.  We can’t believe we’re having to say this, but the hours after giving  birth are private. If you’re a parent, yo...

Phone Extraction

10 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

You’re a witness or a victim or a suspect of a crime; or even just travelling going on holiday. Officials demand your phone, then disappear with it....

Low Cost Tech

10 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Find out why 53 organisations from all over the world  are telling Google it's time they take action on pre-installed apps  (bloatware). Sig...