Students at a network of private schools set up by the Brethren sect are subject to near constant surveillance - Does this violate the privacy act? And a recap on Data Privacy is the Australian government keeping up

The latest Human Rights Watch report claims Australian children's personal photos were found being used for the development of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tools without parents' knowledge or consent.

Julian Assanges' detention has come to an end, but the shadow it casts over journalism remains.

How to  avoid some tax scams, and privacy recap.

National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has some explaining to do about why it is not reopening an investigation into the notorious Robodebt scandal.

This week we check out a report by Australian advocacy group noyb ‘Microsoft violates children’s privacy – but blames your local school’.

The notorious consulting firm Pwc is winning the race to adopt and capitalize on generative artificial intelligence. But will aussies be fooled again? And are we at the peak of the AI hype-cycle? 

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission or (ACCC), has released its ‘Digital platform services inquiry March 2024 interim-report’. The core findings from the report: ‘Australians don’t know and can’t control how data brokers are spreading their personal information’; Australians are consistently exposed to scams, fraud, manipulation and discrimination online. 

From the disappointing BUDGET and the absence of seriousness in keeping Australians safe in the digital space to  the appointment of Australia’s new Information Commissioner.

Confessions from a Digital Marketing Director - A protest strategy to block celebrities is having unintended consequences… 

This week we delve deeper into Australia’s Kafkaesque digital space. And break out of the circular discourse and the bureaucratic confusion regarding privacy laws

This week we examine the Identity Verification Services  Act 2023.

In the United States a court has ruled that police officers can force suspects to unlock their phone with their thumbprint. This week we consider what happens in the U.S. and Australia when  ordinary people  have no way to maintain ‘boundaries’ from gov intrusion. 

This week we look at how Artificial intelligence (AI) has been used to identify bat call types.

How do we protect ourselves when scammers  can reach us via our phones, emails, social media accounts, and websites? This week we go through each one of the ways we can get digitally reached and scammed. And what we can do to better protect ourselves on line….

Matt Tett, Managing Director, Enex TestLab talks about a voluntary live Cybersecurity Labelling Scheme for IoT Devices and the lessons learnt. 

Why are we not listening to the warnings from over a hundred years of science fiction? Writer and Environmentalist Paul Kingsnorth talks about resisting the ‘machine’.

Continuing our discussion on Biometric Data: The positive and progressive uses and some of the risks. When is it required and who can ask for it?

This week we begin our  investigation into BIOMETRIC DATA -  What is Biometric data? How does it work?;. and where is it stored?

New research shows Australian consumers are unaware of how companies, including data brokers, track, target, and profile them. 

This week a finance worker was conned out $25 million by a group of AI entities in a video conference; we look at the types of scams proliferating our digital devices; and tips on how to protect yourself. 

Australian journalist  Antony Loewenstein talks about his latest book: The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World

Malcolm talks with Lizzie O’Shea Founder and chair of Digital Rights Watch.

US Congress Resurrects a Bill to Protect Children Online, and Sparks Debate over Privacy and Censorship. And Senators grill CEOs of major tech companies regarding the alleged harm caused to young users on their platforms. But was this just theatre and a missed opportunity? 

This week we check out a media release“Action to help ensure AI is safe and responsible” from the Federal Minister for Industry and Science.

https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/husic/media-releases/action-help-ensure-ai-safe-and-responsible

The annual World Economic Forum held at Davos in January continued to focus on Artificial Intelligence: Optimism and goodwill sanitised  the mounting concerns about the perils of AI.

This week  the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved 11 bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs),  now available on major US markets. Making the start of 2024, one of the most dramatic in the recent history of financial regulation.

Award winning American journalist Glenn Greenwald is known for his relentless pursuit of truth and exposing government surveillance programs - provides context and a warning over the the recent renewal of the FBI’s Warrantless Spying Power Over Americans

This week we reflect on the major events of 2023 - From developments in the law and strategies, data breaches, identification theft and Artificial Intelligence.

Stay safe and secure this holiday season with the help of some cybersecurity tips.

Are we mechanising the imagination through artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT?  Legendary musician Nick Cave weighs in on discussion - ‘ChatGPT and human creativity’.

This week we continue to investigate the Digital ID Bill 2023 and Digital ID (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Bill 2023 that Minister Katy Gallagher has introduced to Parliament.

The Privacy & Security Changes You MUST Make in 2023!

This week we check out the latest Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) Cyber Threat Report.

https://www.cyber.gov.au/about-us/reports-and-statistics/asd-cyber-threat-report-july-2022-june-2023

This week we continue examining Australia’s Digital Identity Bill.

This week Australia’s Digital Identity Bill - we explore what this framework entails and the Digital God-complex.

This week Alex White, Bermuda’s first Privacy Commissioner talks with Malcolm at the  at the 45th Global Privacy Assembly of the world. 

Marty Abrams an authority on data governance, policy and privacy compliance talks with Malcolm at the 45th Global Privacy Assembly of the world. held this year in Bermuda.

This week we take a tour of the  national ’Digital Identity Bill 2023’ and track its progress.

Harvard Professor Shoshana Zuboff exposes how tech companies have made billions by collecting and exploiting our private data. We thought we were using Google, but in reality, Google was using us.

Dr. Robert Epstein talks about his recent report Google's Triple Threat To Democracy, Our Children, and Our Minds.

This week we look at the UK’s controversial Online Safety Bill. Designed to protect children from illegal and damaging content, and in the process dismantle data privacy and security for everyone.

This week public interest technologist Rob Braxman talks about end-to-end encryption.

What really is the legal situation in Australia and why are most privacy policies perhaps considered illegal under the Australian Privacy Principles?

Why are Privacy Policies long, confusing, and filled with legal jargon. Are our only options to  "take it or leave it?” 

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) and 11 of its international data protection and privacy counterparts have released a joint statement to address the issue of data scraping on social media platforms and other publicly accessible sites.

https://www.oaic.gov.au/newsroom/global-expectations-of-social-media-platforms-and-other-sites-to-safeguard-against-unlawful-data-scraping

This week we take at look at the position paper just released by the eSafety Commissioner - New industry recommendations to curb harms of generative AI.

The Australian Community Attitudes to Privacy Survey (ACAPS) 2023

This week Cyberbeat launches it 100th episode. Thank you for listening.

Is Wikipedia the most biased encyclopedia in history? Co-founded Larry Sanger explains why he thinks so.

What happens when the tax code, financial markets, and any system of laws can be hacked?

Are you taking control of the AI with your questions or is it taking control of you?

What were the underlying issues behind the Robodebt debacle? 

Facial recognition technology in Australian stadiums

Dr John Selby provides more context on a practice threatening to bankrupt the Insurance industry.

Dr John Selby - Senior Consultant, Head of Research, Privcore Pty Ltd. John taught cyber security and privacy at Macquarie University, Sydney and is a founding member of the Macquarie  University Cyber Security Hub.

He has researched, published, trained and presented on numerous cybersecurity and privacy topics.

Newly released document exposes U.S. intelligence and spy agencies buying personal data of American citizens. Government acknowledges that the data has intelligence value, but it also raises major concerns about privacy and civil liberties

Why are we not listening to the warnings from over a hundred years of science fiction? Writer and Environmentalist Paul Kingsnorth talks about resisting the ‘machine’.

Are AI Chatbots Too Costly?

This week we delve into a paper by academics  Hideyuki Matsumi & Daniel J. Solove called The Prediction Society.

Bari Weiss, Founder and Editor of ‘The Free Press’, discusses AI and “Moving History”.

This week Elon Musk talks about OpenAI and questions how can a not for profit open-source somehow transfer itself into a for profit closed-source?

ITC spending in this year's budget. Will the substantial investment actually yield the desired results?

The Wall Street Journal’s Technology Columnist, Joanna Stern, describes what happened and how others reacted when she cloned herself with AI.

This week is Privacy Awareness Week - and The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) has launched a back to basics campaign.

Commissioner of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission Alvaro Bedoya reassures Americans that consumer protection laws and others are already in place to safeguard against companies attempting to take advantage of AI advancements.

American professor of law Danielle Citron talks about the price society pays as technology integrates deeper into every aspect of our lives.

This week Malcolm shares some highlights from the IAPP Global Privacy Summit 2023, held in Washington DC.

This week more Satire and AI. And we delve deeper into AI misuse.

Technochauvinism: Meredith Broussard, a data journalist and academic talks about the hidden biases hiding within artificial intelligence.

Digital audience expert, Tasnim Alli talks about  freedom of expression and the responsibilities of Digital Citizens during South Africa Human Rights Day.

How can the ordinary person understand the concepts of hacking and Artificial Intelligence? 

Cybersecurity specialist and author - Bruce Schneier’s talks about his latest book  "A Hacker's Mind: How the Powerful Bend Society's Rules, and How to Bend Them Back." 

As AI continues to dominate our lives - How can we tell fact from fake? Should we be concerned that less and less of what’s out there can be trusted? Can we be re-assured that the law makers will get it right?

Public Safety Expert Rania Mankarious outlines Power Tools parents can use to keep children safe online. 

This week an investigative report uncovers a group that claims to have used hacking, sabotage and automated disinformation techniques to manipulate 30 elections across the globe.

This week neurotechnology that is creating “brain transparency”. World Economic Forum speaker Professor Nita Farahany, shows how brainwave activity can reveal when employees are slacking off.

This week we take a look at the Critical National Infrastructure myGov User Audit  report.

This week a journalist goes back to high school for a day to test the latest Artificial Intelligence tools.

Computer security is no longer about data; it's about life and property.

Bruce Schneier is a public-interest technologist, working at the intersection of security, technology, and people. In the following piece he discusses Six Lessons in Security.

https://www.schneier.com/

Nina Schick, A.I. Thought Leader talks about 'generative artificial intelligence', a thriving area of Artificial Intelligence that has investors in a frenzy…

This week we talk about social media causing brain changes in teens and FB found guilty of engaging in activity that ‘illegally forced users to effectively accept personalised ads’.

This week emerging issues in Internet Platform Regulation. Why is Australia considered the top country for cyber criminals?

This week our holiday special. Enjoy our extended interview with Tim Burrowes -  author of Media Unmade, the definitive story of Australia’s media over the last decade. 

This week a discussion on the important issues in todays current climate of digital inequality and exclusion, and the impact this have had on vulnerable groups.

Chandni Gupta, Digital Policy Director, Consumer Policy Research Centre, talks about some of the 10 common dark patterns that ultimately deteriorate the online experience. From CPRC research paper - Duped by design – Manipulative online design: Dark patterns in Australia.

https://netthing.org.au/

Rachel Dixon, Privacy and Data Protection Deputy Commissioner at the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner, discusses Sex In Public - investigating the very shared public sexual space of the Internet. 

https://netthing.org.au/