Tech Life

Professor Gina Neff and Eva Blum-Dumontet investigate how individuals and tech companies should react to abortion becoming illegal in parts of the US. David Martin Ruiz from the Eurpoean consumer group BEUC explains what it calls Google's "fast track to surveillance" for its users, and making virtual reality sound immersive, with professor Mark Plumbley.

On Tech Tent this week, a BBC investigation into so-called "up-skirting" on Facebook - and Thomas Hughes from Meta's Oversight Board on its first year as an arbiter on disputes on Facebook and Meta.  Dr Andrew Hundt on why AI mimicks the prejudice of human beings. Shiona McCallum has been to the Teen Tech awards. And Glastonbury Festival is back - with festival goers set to gobble up more mobile data than ever before. Analyst Ben Wood is there.

This week Tech Tent is presented by Joe Tidy, who's been to El Salvador - which has bought thousands of bitcoins and become the first country in the world to make it legal tender. Now prices are crashing so will its experiment end in failure? Bitcoin podcast host Natalie Brunell and finacnail commentator Frances Coppola give their thoughts. Also: entrepreneurs at London tech week on their hopes and fears for the future. A Facebook moderator tells Chris Vallance of the strain of screening graphic content from the Ukraine war. And Liv McMahon pays the tech team's respects to Internet Explorer, put out to pasture after 27 years in which it transformed home computing.

As new data shows the work from home revolution is accelerating, we ask if technology has forced the world of work to change for ever. Claire McCartney, from the CIPD, shares her expertise and the BBC's New York business correspondent Michelle Fleury gives the picture from the US. Zoe interviews the boss of Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, about the company's future. Kyle Glen, co-host of the Osint Bunker podcast, and the BBC's Gordon Corera discuss open source intelligence. And the latest twists and turns in the Elon Musk Twitter takeover saga.

This week, Dianne Olivan, Gender Engagement and Policy Officer, World Wide Web Foundation, and coordinator of the Women’s Rights Online Network, and Kerry Allen, the BBC's China media analyst discuss women and the internet. Dr Terence Leung, Dr Judith Meek and Dr Christabel Enweronu-Laryea on an app for diagnosing jaundice. Finn Myrstad from the Norwegian Consumer Council sets out his concerns about video game loot boxes. And Dr James Sumner, a historian of technology at Manchester University, on seventy years of technological change during Queen Elizabeth II's reign.

This week Dr Stephanie Hare, author of Technology is Not Neutral, and Dr Rick Muir, of the Police Foundation, discuss whether facial recognition technology can ever be used in a way that satisfies regulators. Shiona McCallum speaks to Olympian Jess Ennis Hill about period tracking apps, and whether they help with fitness. And as Dyson says it's working on home robots, we ask the people of London what chore they'd most like to automate.

This week Tech Tent takes the temperature of the crypto market with the BBC's cyber reporter Joe Tidy and the Financial Times' Markets Editor, Katie Martin. Dr Johnny Ryan from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties on how our personal data is sold hundreds of times a day; and Rebecca Romo Teague, a radio host from Cape Cod, on how social media is helping with the US baby formula milk crisis.

Tech Tent speaks to Marcus Hutchins, the British cyber security expert who singlehandedly stopped the Wannacry attack. The BBC's cyber reporter Joe Tidy and the cyber expert Lisa Forte discuss Wannacry's legacy. Also this week why Russians are resorting to medieval memes to express dissent about the war in Ukraine, how Tiktok is transforming Eurovision, and Tony Fadell, inventor of the Ipod reflects on the announcement it's being discontinued.

Meta announcing plans for a Metaverse has intensified interest in virtual and augmented reality. But does the hardware and content match the marketing hype? Tech Tent hears from Alex Counsell, Technical Director at the newly opened Centre for Creative and Immersive & eXtended Realities. Tech expert Kate Bevan talks about scammers using shared screen programmes. And Bill Gates gives his thoughts about the future of the tech industry - and his feud with Elon Musk.

On the programme this week, Brooke Erin Duffy of Cornell University returns to give her assessment of Twitter's new owner. The MEP Arba Kokalari explains the new tougher approach Europe is taking to regulating tech. And wine drinkers see if they can tell the difference between a real sommelier and an AI one.