Redefining Our Digital Lives: A Deep Dive into Technology’s Unseen Impact on Democracy and Human Rights In today’s digital age, our lives are intertwined with technology more than ever. From the moment we wake up to the minute we sleep, smartphones and smart devices have become our constant companions. But at what cost? Are we merely consumers in a digital marketplace, or is there a darker side to this tech-driven world? In this special live episode of Tech 4Evil, recorded at the renowned South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Sydney, hosts Manal Al-Sharif and Reinhardt Sosin take us on an...

In a world where technology is synonymous with convenience, accessibility, and connectivity, it’s easy to take our digital liberties for granted. However, for those trapped in closed societies like North Korea, access to information is a rare and precious commodity. In this episode of ‘Tech for Evil,’ we delve into the intersection of technology and human rights, shedding light on the remarkable initiative known as ‘Flash Drives for Freedom‘ and its mission to empower North Korean citizens with information and foster dissent in North Korea. “Flash Drives for Freedom” is a beacon of hope in this information-starved landscape. The program...

Digital Battlegrounds: Bytes, Bravery, and the Pursuit of Freedom The digital era – a double-edged sword, wielded by both heroes and tyrants. Welcome to an electrifying season, where the stakes are high, and the warriors are relentless. “Dictatorship in the Digital Space” is an unsettling reality. As dictators exploit cutting-edge tech to muzzle dissent, monitor...

For many of us on this planet, our modern, digital lives are fast, cheap, convenient and smart as hell! Rediculously smart! Benign household devices like fridges and hoovers may have been born innocent and practical but have matured into obnoxiously in-your-face adolescent terrors. Devices that were once dumb are now terrifyingly capable and ”here to...

Dating apps have radically reshaped the modern romance landscape. How we present ourselves and find other people on the dating market is now filtered through a digital lens. Dating Apps have turned the art of finding a partner into an online shopping experience very different from the raw, face-to-face courtship the previous generation had. But...

Have you ever found yourself wondering “…what if I just delete my Facebook account…?” Believe us, you’re not the only one to have pondered this question jokingly or even seriously in the last few years, and with good reason. Some part of you likely came to this realisation, intuitively, that feeling insecure and sad and...

Our guest for this episode is Andrew McAlister, a Data Ethics & Privacy Expert. Today, Australia stands out as the only democracy to use facial recognition technology to enforce COVID-19 restrictions. The private sector is participating too. Last year, 7-Eleven in Australia collected the facial prints of 1.6 million customers without their knowledge or consent....

Special thanks to Prof. Debbie Haski-Leventhal and Cameron Bogatez for sharing their experience with addictive technology for this episode. In the third and final installment of the Captology mini-series, Manal and Reinhardt examine the profound and terrifying impacts that have come from Big Tech using Capatology tactics on children, parents and the average person. In...

In our second installment of the Captology mini-series Manal and Reinhardt drill down into several of the specific tactics and techniques that technologists use to hold us captive. We look at how the Like and Share buttons were not just quaint additions to the social media landscape but rather, very deliberate and slick missiles that targeted our human desire...

There is a battle raging, fought without guns or bombs and not for land or resources… This is a battle for our attention. Big Tech companies are competing for our attention in clever ways and desperately want more and more. If you’re wondering why your children throw tantrums if you ask them to get off...

Having a coffee or a beer this weekend? So are we… Join Manal and Reinhardt as we cover the latest news and developments from around the world. If you’re interested to see what Big Tech, Social Media Giants and other evil-doers are up to then please sit back and enjoy our coverage of the latest...

How does Australia stack up against other countries when it comes to our digital rights? Do our privacy laws protect us or do they leave us vulnerable to the lightly regulated tech companies? To answer these questions, we’ve brought in our very first guest onto the show… a Top Gun of Australia’s legal profession – Angus Murray.   Angus is the co-founder and national director of The Legal Forecast, Vice President of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties, member of the Australian Lawyers for Human Rights, Chair of Electronic Frontiers Australia policy team and a death metal fan to boot. Angus was recently awarded the ‘Young Alumnus of the Year’ by the University of Southern Queensland. So, strap in and let Angus demystify the legal jargon and give you an insight into the world of online digital rights and privacy in Australia.  In the blue corner of our title fight, today is the Australian legal system and privacy laws and in the red corner, we have the rest of the world. Angus does a blow by blow of how Australia’s legal history has shaped our current digital rights and privacy laws, compares them with our European contenders and gives his view on whether Australians can count on our rights as citizens to keep us safe while our human experience is being digitized with little or no say of our own.   Also in the episode, find out how Aussie politicians can get away with sending us unsolicited text messages on mass and whether or not your boss is allowed to monitor our work laptop activity, on today’s episode of Tech For Evil, where we expose what big tech doesn’t want you to know and give you ways to fight back.  00:30 – Introductions and Bio – Angus Murray 04:38 – How Does Australia Compare to Europe?  08:00 – Origin of Australia’s LegalFramework 10:00 – A digital social contract 17:00 – Australia’s Privacy Act of 1988 20:26 – Australia and the EU GDPR 23:00 Informed Consent 27:41 – Australia’s Privacy Commissioner and Ben Grubb 30:00 – DIfference between breach of confidence and an invasion of privacy  32:22 – Angus on Facebook 41:05 – Angus on our data being abused 43:41 – A Skynet, Minority Report World 44:54 – Break 45:27 – Painting a dark picture, Australia, US, EU, UK 46:53 – Politicians in my phone 50:16 – Is my boss watching me? 53:13 – The Legal Forecast 01:06:20 – Remote controlled mice 01:09:46 – What can we do to fight back? 01:13:22 – Are we all doomed or is there hope? We want to hear from you. Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at contact@tech4evil.com. Follow us on Twitter: @tech4evil. And if you've spotted Big Tech going too far, use the hashtag #EvilSpotter and mention @Tech4Evil and share your story. Music and media production by Reinhardt Sosin. Join our newsletter

Listen to Episode 4 Part 1 “Mass surveillance creates a prison to the mind” Glenn Greenwald Have you ever found yourself clicking on “Yes, I have read and understood the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy” only to nervously wonder what terms you just accepted? Whether we’re in our home with our family or confiding to a friend at the park there’s a high chance we cherish the privacy we can have with them. But what if I told you that someone in your house, in this very moment, has the power to hear your self-talk and to hear that inner voice that allows your mind to wander through your fantasies and insecurities? What if I told you that it was you who invited them into your home? The online world may not be as private as we were all led to believe. Did you know that Facebook can read your private messages? Did you know that YouTube still keeps all your videos even if you delete your account? Did you know that Reddit keeps the drafts that you never submitted? Find out what you can do to fight back when Big Tech tries to peer into your private life and hear about the tools you can use to take back control of your privacy when you’re online on Part 2 of Episode 4 of Tech 4 Evil. 01:24 – We don’t sell your data 03:54 – You are in charge of your data 10:05 – We anonymize your data before sharing it 12:57 – If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear 23:44 – Privacy is dead 28:17 – What is privacy protection? 31:35 – Privacy Law between Australia and China 33:42 – What the tech community can do  39:30 – Manal’s message to the tech community   We want to hear from you. Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at contact@tech4evil.com. Follow us on Twitter: @tech4evil. And if you've spotted Big Tech going too far, use the hashtag #EvilSpotter and mention @Tech4Evil and share your story. Music and media production by Reinhardt Sosin. Research and content by Manal al-Sharif. Sources for this episode include "Why Privacy Matters?" TED talk by Glenn Greenwald, Teach Privacy, Terms of Service Didn't Read, AP News, PrivacyMonitor.com, TheNextWeb.com, PrivacyPolicies.com, Human Rights Watch, TheMarkUp.org, Mozilla.org, privacyinternational.org, Mobile Marketing Reads, WIRED, and "I have Nothing to Hide" book by Heidi Boghosian Join our newsletter

Listen to Episode 4 Part 2 “Mass surveillance creates a prison to the mind” Glenn Greenwald Have you ever found yourself clicking on “Yes, I have read and understood the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy” only to nervously wonder what terms you just accepted? Whether we’re in our home with our family or confiding to a friend at the park there’s a high chance we cherish the privacy we can have with them. But what if I told you that someone in your house, in this very moment, has the power to hear your self-talk and to hear that inner voice that allows your mind to wander through your fantasies and insecurities? What if I told you that it was you who invited them into your home? The online world may not be as private as we were all led to believe. Did you know that Facebook can read your private messages? Did you know that YouTube still keeps all your videos even if you delete your account? Did you know that Reddit keeps the drafts that you never submitted? Find out what you can do to fight back when Big Tech tries to peer into your private life and hear about the tools you can use to take back control of your privacy when you’re online on Part 1 of Episode 4 of Tech 4 Evil. We want to hear from you. Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at contact@tech4evil.com. Follow us on Twitter: @tech4evil. And if you've spotted Big Tech going too far, use the hashtag #EvilSpotter and mention @Tech4Evil and share your story. Music and media production by Reinhardt Sosin. Research and content by Manal al-Sharif. Sources for this episode include "Why Privacy Matters?" TED talk by Glenn Greenwald, Teach Privacy, Terms of Service Didn't Read, AP News, PrivacyMonitor.com, TheNextWeb.com, PrivacyPolicies.com, Human Rights Watch, TheMarkUp.org, Mozilla.org, privacyinternational.org, Mobile Marketing Reads, WIRED, and "I have Nothing to Hide" book by Heidi Boghosian Join our newsletter

A good user interface design offers ease of use and a streamlined online experience, but some of your favorite websites have deceptive ploys built in to get you to do things you never intended to do. Are you an avid online shopper? Many e-commerce sites use cunning manipulation to get you to buy something you don’t want or need. You might be greeted by a digital guilt trip when you click “no” on an “exclusive offer” or end up with a product in your shopping cart that you never selected. Is your email inbox overflowing with spam emails and newsletters to which you never subscribed? Little did you know, when you clicked a random button or bought a product, you were automatically put on the mailing list. It’s right there in the privacy agreement that takes roughly 18 minutes to read. Attempting to opt-out of spam emails only adds to your frustration as you hunt for a minuscule unsubscribe button that takes eight tries to push successfully. Facebook users who try to disable their facial recognition can expect to be bombarded with the positive aspects of the software without any mention that it will also be used for targeted advertising. In this episode, Manal al-Sharif and Reinhardt Sosin dissect the dark patterns of user interface design. From color interpretation to “Bait and Switch,” they cover several of the cheapest tricks deployed by online giants to influence your decisions. Join Manal and Reinhardt as they expose some of these con artists. Welcome to episode 3 of the Tech4Evil Podcast: The Dark Patterns of Design. Tech4Evil The Dark Side of Targeted Advertising Play Episode Pause Episode   Mute/Unmute Episode Rewind 10 Seconds 1x Fast Forward 30 seconds 00:00 / 01:05:02 Subscribe Share

Manal al-Sharif and Reinhardt Sosin discuss the concept of Planned Obsolescence of Tech. Big Tech companies use a whole host of design and marketing tactics to get you to throw away your smart devices long before it’s necessary. Ever had a product break within weeks of the warranty expiring? What about that iPhone that slowed down after a software update? If you’ve ever walked away from a repair shop feeling frustrated after being told the cost to repair your device is close to the value of a new one, this episode is for you. Learn about the history of Planned Obsolescence, the detrimental impacts this concept has on our planet, and the ecocide, iFixit and the Right to Repair activists fighting Big Tech to take back our rights as consumers and protect our planet. Welcome to Episode Two of the Tech4Evil Podcast. 2:40 – What is planned obsolescence?  3:05 – The four types of planned obsolescence of tech 13:50 – Why are tech companies designing devices to break? 16:08 – The economical and environmental impact of planned obsolescence of tech 21:45 – A brief history of planned obsolescence 25:12 – Repair Cafes 25:13 – I Fix It or Ifixit.com 27:24 – The Right to Repair movement 29:09 – The Ecocide Law 30:06 – The US, Europe and Australia  supporting the Right to Repair 33:02- Steve Wozniak support 35:15 – A call to action We want to hear from you. Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at contact@tech4evil.com. Follow us on Twitter: @tech4evil. And if you've spotted Big Tech going too far, use the hashtag #EvilSpotter and mention @Tech4Evil and share your story. Music and media production by Reinhardt Sosin. Research and content by Manal al-Sharif and Margaret Coomer. Sources for this episode include repaircafe.org , ifixit.com, the Atalntic's article on the global cost of e-waste, CHOICE's article "5 Ways to Take Control of Your Consumer Rights" and the Guardian's artcile on the world's largest e-waste dump and many more sources mentioned in our blog.

The hidden world of targeted advertising and how they evolved to know everything about us, even the things we don’t share.