News feeds, search results, directions across town, even job or rental applications - opaque algorithms determine an increasingly large proportion of our lives. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission is going after landlords for using algorithms to illegally fix rental prices. Back home, a secret algorithm determines how detainees in immigration detention are treated. Through the lens of these two recent news stories, we explore the consequences of an increasingly algorithmically determined wor...
Apr 23, 2024•28 min
This week we break down the US Department of Justice's suit against Apple, claiming the tech giant is engaging in unlawful behaviour. In particular we examine the DOJ's charge that Apple has long justified anti-competitive behaviour on the basis of claims about better privacy and security. The suit raises interesting questions about the the tradeoffs between privacy and competition, and the best way to regulate tech platforms. Links: DOJ filing https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-s...
Apr 15, 2024•28 min
This week on the podcast we analyse a US plan to force TikTok owner ByteDance to divest or sell the platform, or be banned from US platforms. The move - strongly supported by the US House of Representatives - follows years of proposed plans and attempts to ban TikTok in various ways. We unpack the concerns about the wildly popular social media platform, and explore criticisms of the ban ranging from its likely ineffectiveness in preventing Chinese data collection to the claims of hypocrisy. Link...
Apr 08, 2024•28 min
This week Jordan asks Dr James Meese to explain Meta's announcement that it doesn’t intend to renew the commercial deals it made with Australian media companies under the News Media Bargaining Code. Dr Meese (full bio below) is an Associate Professor at RMIT University, where he researches personalisation and recommendation in the news media sector and has recently published a book examining the complex relationship between Digital Platforms and the Press (link below). James talks us through som...
Mar 25, 2024•25 min
** Content warning: This episode contains discussion of Child Sexual Abuse Material ** Australia's eSafety Commissioner is trying to force tech giants to scan cloud storage for illegal and harmful content. Apple says this could undermine security protections and facilitate mass surveillance. This is just the latest skirmish in the crypto wars - a 50 year old policy debate about how to balance strong encryption (which is essential to privacy and security online) with law enforcement access to cru...
Mar 19, 2024•25 min
To mark 100 episodes, this week we reflect on the topics covered on This Week in Digital Trust since its inception. Arj and Jordan also share four key insights and learnings that have emerged through their discussions, and how these have shaped (and are shaped) their world views. If you'd like to share some feedback with us, we'd love to hear it. https://forms.office.com/r/6HxEztcC85 Credits : Editing and post-production by Martin Franklin (East Coast Studio) eastcoaststudio.com.au Music by Bens...
Mar 11, 2024•33 min
Supermarkets have been under intense scrutiny in Australia over a range of issues, including alleged profiteering in a cost of living crisis, and poor treatment of workers and suppliers. In this episode, we explore how the use of advanced technologies and digital platforms by the two supermarket majors may be contributing to these issues, and further entrenching market dominance. Links: Four Corners investigation https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-19/super-power-the-cost-of-living-with-coles-an...
Mar 04, 2024•27 min
This week we go deep on doxing, the practice of "dropping docs" on someone in order to expose their information to a hostile digital audience. Our conversation is triggered by some recent doxing examples in the Australian media, which has prompted the Federal Government to propose a new law against dxxing as part of its privacy reform agenda. We discuss the origins of doxing, prominent examples, the potential harms, and the merits of various public policy approaches. Links: Explainer on doxing (...
Feb 26, 2024•27 min
In the face of tech and AI hype, there's an emerging march away from technology taking place around the globe. This week we explore recent developments fitting this trend, including a proposed law in Australia that give will employees a "right to disconnect" from work, and another that seeks to improve conditions for gig workers. We also take a deep dive into the resurgence of the Luddite movement - a cohort of workers, critics, academics, organisers and writers who claim they are pushing back o...
Feb 19, 2024•28 min
With more than 60 elections taking place around the world this year, the risks posed by deepfakes was already a bubbling concern - until Taylor Swift took the issue stratospheric. Deepfake explicit images of the US musician created by generative AI went viral on X, prompting officials and analysts to start to properly reckon with the problems posed by the technology. We explore the scenarios in which synthetic media created by generative AI are posing problems, the way platforms like OpenAI are ...
Feb 13, 2024•28 min
Ever wondered what can be inferred about you just from the way you walk? This might be a growing concern as the use of biometric technologies - which include solutions that offer "gait analysis" - become more common. This week we explore how biometrics like fingerprints, faceprints and behavioural attributes are being used in different contexts, for purposes including identification, verification and analysis. The convenience appeal of these technologies is hard to resist - as anyone with facial...
Feb 06, 2024•28 min
This week it's the next instalment of the Australian Government's consultation on Safe and Responsible AI. Arj and Jordan break down the government's 'interim response' to the consultation, and the case for regulation that it puts forward. Though the detail is yet to come, we evaluate the government's proposals - new mandatory guardrails, updates to existing laws, international engagement and domestic investments - what will they mean for AI adoption in Australia, and is our legal system already...
Jan 29, 2024•29 min
This week we dive into the murky world of data brokers, courtesy of a new report by Reset Tech Australia. The report provides a fascinating window into how data brokers operate - particularly the granular categories and segments that online users are categorised into. This data is sold to advertisers and, in some cases, even law enforcement bodies and other authorities. We share our reactions about the report and discuss how the availability of data about sensitive topics such as gambling, alcoh...
Jan 22, 2024•24 min
This week we explore the world of trust and safety, those teams at digital platforms and other tech service providers entrusted with ensuring services are safe for users. These teams have grown in size and influence over the past decade, in response to the growth in the use of social media as well as the emergence of challenges including mis- and disinformation and increasing hate speech. But they’ve also come under fire - from ideological opponents who see them as biased censors, as well being ...
Jan 16, 2024•26 min
*** SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK *** We'd love to hear your thoughts on the podcast: https://forms.office.com/r/6HxEztcC85 ********* We're signing off for 2023 with a relaxed re-cap of the year. We reflect on the big conversation topics of the year (AI and privacy reform), what surprised us, what disappointed us and what we're looking forward to in 2024. Thanks to everyone who listened, appeared as a guest, or otherwise supported us. Have a safe break and see you again on January 16....
Dec 18, 2023•21 min
This week we explore the human side of cybercrime, via a conversation with Dr Jonathan Lusthaus, director of The Human Cybercriminal Project at the University of Oxford. Jonathan (full bio below) has spent over a decade researching who cybercriminals are, what drives them, and how they organise themselves, collaborate and innovate. We explore his findings – which he chronicled in his book Industry of Anonymity (link below) – and why he ultimately believes that the cybercrime industry is “a trage...
Dec 11, 2023•31 min
This week we unpack the soap opera that was Sam Altman's firing-then-reinstatement at OpenAI (makers of ChatGPT). Beneath the drama, and there was a lot of it, the saga potentially stands as a commentary on the state of AI safety approaches within the tech community, and on the effectiveness of self-governance. We also touch on the US Government's executive order on safe and trustworthy AI and the UK governments AI Safety Summit, both from the last month or so. Links: Article on Sam Altman's fir...
Dec 04, 2023•33 min
This week we explore the issue of privacy in the workplace. Historically employers have been exempt from Privacy Act in Australia, but this is a live issue again with the privacy reform process underway and the Government having agreed in-principle to extending privacy protections to workers. We also explore how the problem space is expanding in the era of hybrid working and as technologies for tracking and quantifying work continue to evolve. Links: Privacy Act Review final report: https://www....
Nov 27, 2023•24 min
This week, Jordan sits down with elevenM privacy communications expert Tessa Loftus to debate whether we should just give up on privacy policies. Historically, privacy regulation has leant heavily on transparency and consumer choice - the idea that if we just give consumers the right information, then they can take control of their privacy. But the reality is that most privacy policies are an unintelligible to most people, and we've all lost control. So what's the answer? Can businesses communic...
Nov 20, 2023•28 min
The importance of tech policy as a subset of public policy has emerged forcefully into the spotlight in recent years. With new technologies rapidly transforming societies, countries and governments all around the world are now grappling with the best way to shape these technologies to serve our collective long-term interests. This week we sit down with Johanna Weaver, Director of the Tech Policy Design Centre at the Australian National University, to discuss this important area of policy. We exp...
Nov 13, 2023•31 min
This week Jordan sits down with Brett Watson, elevenM's resident expert on Digital ID to figure out how far we are from proving who's a dog on the internet. The Optus data breach led to a renewed commitment to modernising the way that we prove our identity online. Today there is a huge amount of activity in this complex space. In just the last few weeks, the Australian government released draft legislation to establish a national digital identity framework, and the several major banks and a majo...
Oct 30, 2023•37 min
This week we deconstruct the idea of social license in tech, starting with the story of a technology that Google and Facebook didn't dare release, but which is now available to everyone. Originally coined in the context of mining and extractive industries, 'social license' refers to community acceptance of a company's business practices. For some companies, maintaining social license can be an effective check on behaviour, but for tech startups like ClearviewAI and PimEyes, well, not so much. Li...
Oct 23, 2023•32 min
This week we discuss revelations from a US Department of Justice investigation into X (formerly Twitter), which raises questions over how it can comply with existing privacy orders given large workforce departures since Elon Musk's takeover. The situation provides insight into the reliance of all organisations on well-resourced and skilled privacy teams in order to meet privacy compliance challenges - and the growing difficulty finding skilled people to make up these teams. Links: Article on DOJ...
Oct 16, 2023•27 min
This week we discuss the privacy and security risks of the automobile. Modern cars are basically operating systems on wheels, and have many of the same data challenges as other digital platforms. Sadly, a recent study from Mozilla suggests cars are the worst product category when it comes to privacy. Links : Mozilla report on cars https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/privacynotincluded/articles/its-official-cars-are-the-worst-product-category-we-have-ever-reviewed-for-privacy/ POLITICO report on ca...
Oct 09, 2023•29 min
This week we discuss and react to the Federal Government's response to the Privacy Act review report. The Government's long-awaited response comes after several years of discussion and debate about the way forward for Australia's privacy regime. We break down which proposals the Government is moving forward with, which ones it won't, and which ones are slated for further discussion. Links: Government response to the Privacy Act Review Report https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/publicati...
Oct 03, 2023•39 min
This week we feature an interview with Peter Warren Singer, a US strategist and scholar on warfare and digital threats. Our conversation starts with lessons from the conflict in Ukraine on how threats and adversarial tactics are evolving. We also explore the continued use of social media as a weapon, and the nature of evolving threats to critical infrastructure and the motivations of state actors in our region such as China. We also explore the idea of using fiction and narrative help organisati...
Sep 25, 2023•32 min
This week we revisit the hard problem of age verification, which we last discussed in episode #64. In order to protect kids from explicit content and other harmful effects of online platforms, we first need to be able to identify them. But can we do that without major risks to privacy and free speech? The eSafety Commissioner's Roadmap to Age Verification has the answer. Kind of. We'll dig through the findings and recommendations in the recently published roadmap report, including the state of c...
Sep 19, 2023•35 min
This week we explore the privacy risks in otherwise publicly visible information, after a dozen privacy regulators from around the world issued a joint statement on the issue of data scraping. The regulators' statement emphasises that even personal information that is publicly accessible is subject to data protection and privacy laws, and calls out social media platforms to do more to prevent the practice. We explore the factors behind the uptick in data scraping, and who should be most responsi...
Sep 11, 2023•29 min
This week we explore the tension between the competing values of privacy and public interest journalism. Today, journalists enjoy a broad exemption from privacy laws. However, reform proposals have ignited debate about whether that free pass is still appropriate. We discuss the scope and merits of these reform proposals and explore the arguments by journalists on why the exemption is necessary. Links: Article on journalism exemptions (Guardian) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/11/consu...
Sep 04, 2023•29 min
This week we review responses to the Australian Government's open consultation on how to mitigate the potential risks of AI. In June, the Government called for submissions to its discussion paper titled "Safe and responsible AI in Australia". While the submissions haven't been published, several have made their way into the public domain. As well as sharing the recommendations of our own (elevenM) submission, we explore proposals from big tech giants Microsoft and Google, various members of acad...
Aug 28, 2023•28 min
