Activists Of Tech — The responsible tech podcast Mélissa M'Raidi-Kechichian

In this highly informative episode, poet & organizer Tawana Petty talks about her data justice centered work, how she empowers her community to think about alternative systems that are not hyper surveilled and rather create a sense of community through her non-profit Petty Propolis, how facial recognition impacts marginalized communities, and much more. These are tough topics as always, but Tawana really made it a feel-good episode full of hope thanks to her energy.

Can an algorithm really predict who would be your best dating match? Can love be coded and people categorized accurately? And is it ethical? To answer these questions and uncover how dating apps impact our relationships, I had the pleasure to talk with Dr Liesel Sharabi, Associate Professor at Arizona State University and director of the Relationships and Technology Lab. Dr Sharabi studies how communication technologies are used to initiate, maintain, and dissolve interpersonal relationships. She is especially interested in technology’s role in modern romance, the role of algorithms and AI in facilitating relationships, and relationships in augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR).

Amira Dhalla is an expert in privacy and security with over a decade of experience in the field, they focus on security and privacy with an equity and Human Rights lens. On top of being an advocate and educator, Amira was previously the Director of Impact Partnerships at Consumer Reports where they worked with organizations on projects to improve the safety, security, and privacy of consumer products and tools, while denouncing issues that included discriminatory technologies, deceptive design, digital access, and inclusion. Before joining Consumer Reports, they worked at Mozilla Foundation where they developed digital education programs in more than 100 countries, ran privacy and security advocacy-focused campaigns, and collaborated with global institutions on programs to increase digital rights and privacy programs worldwide. Amira’s purpose across organizations has been to make emerging technology more inclusive, open, and safe. They also hold a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University, where they focused on Technology and Human Rights. I hope you enjoy this episode.

In this episode, Melissa Newcomb, democracy development professional, touched on several topics including the digital silk road initiative, Chinese hardware investments in Africa, democratic resilience, AI regulation, Human Rights, and how soft power and the online narratives of the Chinese Communist Party are shaping global opinions about China.

I spoke with Dr Ann Cavoukian, aka the Queen of Privacy, former privacy commissioner of Ontario and Founder of the Global Privacy & Security by Design Centre. In this episode, Dr Cavoukian talks about her work in privacy, her Armenian heritage, the time she stepped down from a Google project (which led to global headlines about the story!), and more.

To understand tech law you have to understand the history of law, and Dr Lee takes us on a journey in this episode! Starting with a fascinating overview of the origins of law, Dr Lee talks about data colonialism, the use of data in law enforcement, intrusive tech (including brainwave monitoring technologies), surveillance capitalism, how culture impacts tech policy making, and much more!