Episode 248: Maintaining Sexual Privacy in the Information Age

In the Information Age, keeping our private lives private is becoming harder and harder to do. For example, our online searches and chats are leaving digital traces, while our phones (and even our cars) are collecting information on where we go. All of this data is vulnerable, and there’s growing concern about the risk of our most sensitive personal information being exploited. In today’s episode, we’re going to focus on ways we can mitigate the risks of data surveillance and keep our personal information more secure.

I am joined once again by Albert Fox Cahn. He is founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (also known as STOP). He is also a Practitioner-in-Residence at N.Y.U Law School’s Information Law Institute and a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr Center For Human Rights Policy and Yale Law School’s Information Society Project. As a lawyer, technologist, and activist, Albert has become a leading voice on how to govern and build the technologies of the future.

Some of the topics we explore include:

• What are some practical ways individuals can keep their online data more secure?
• How safe (or unsafe) is it to use apps that track our health data, sexually and otherwise?
• For individuals traveling out of state to access legally available care that might not be available in their home state, are there any steps they can take to mitigate data surveillance?
• What steps can providers take to protect patients and clients when it comes to data that might be subject to government surveillance?
• What responsibility do tech companies have to offer more protection over consumer data?

You can connect with Albert online on Twitter and Bluesky.

Got a sex question? Send me a podcast voicemail to have it answered on a future episode at speakpipe.com/sexandpsychology

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The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University has been a trusted source for scientific knowledge and research on critical issues in sexuality, gender, and reproduction for over 75 years. Learn about more research and upcoming events at kinseyinstitute.org or look for them on social media @kinseyinstitute.

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Credits: Precision Podcasting (Podcast editing) and Shutterstock/Florian (Music). Image created with Canva; photos used with permission of guest.