How to Fix the Internet

Kara Swisher, a leading tech journalist, delves into the pressing issues surrounding technology's power dynamics. She argues for strong regulation to combat surveillance capitalism and promote algorithmic transparency. The conversation highlights the dangers of unconstrained capitalism, which can turn technology into weapons, and advocates for antitrust measures to foster healthy competition. Swisher also emphasizes the importance of tech workers speaking out for ethical practices and discusses the potential of AI to either enrich society or further entrench wealth.

In this engaging conversation, Helen Andromedon, a digital security trainer from East Africa known for her work with the Safe Sisters project, brings a fresh perspective to online safety. She shares how approaching digital security training with joy and playfulness fosters better learning. Helen discusses the challenges faced by women and activists in navigating online threats and emphasizes the importance of mentorship and community support. Her optimism shines through as she tackles the impact of funding cuts while encouraging women to take charge of their digital security.

Join Deirdre Connolly, a research and applied cryptographer at Sandbox AQ and co-host of the Security Cryptography Whatever podcast, as she delves into the world of post-quantum cryptography. She highlights the potential threats posed by quantum computing to traditional encryption methods and explains the urgent need for updated cryptographic standards. Connolly discusses 'Harvest Now, Decrypt Later' attacks and emphasizes the importance of community collaboration in developing resilient security solutions for our digital future.

Harlo Holmes, Chief Information Security Officer at Freedom of the Press Foundation, dives into the critical role of digital security for journalists navigating a data-greedy internet. She shares insights on protecting online anonymity and the disparities in digital security mindsets across the globe. The discussion explores the vital need for encryption tools to safeguard sources and journalists' work, as well as the inclusion of content creators like podcasters and TikTokers in the security conversation. Holmes emphasizes practical strategies, including compartmentalization, for enhancing safety in journalism.

Isabela Fernandes, Executive Director of the Tor Project, champions internet freedom and privacy through her work on the decentralized, onion-routing network. She dives into how Tor safeguards user anonymity and its significance beyond just those 'with something to hide.' The discussion highlights the transformative power of free software, the need for accessible websites, and how collaborative innovation can shape a better digital future. Sparking interest in community involvement, she emphasizes that technology should be reshaped together for the greater good.

Molly White, a researcher and software engineer, explores her passion for technology and its potential through a critical lens. She discusses how blockchain often prioritizes speculation over real-world solutions. Promoting a human-centered internet, Molly reflects on her transformative experiences with participatory platforms like Wikipedia. She argues that critiques of technology come from a love for its potential to serve humanity. The conversation touches on the need for integrity in open-source development and the importance of user-driven online spaces.

Kate Bertash, Director of the Digital Defense Fund, champions digital autonomy as essential to bodily autonomy. She discusses how our online trails reveal vulnerabilities and emphasizes the need for communities to control their digital privacy. The conversation dives into creative activism, like adversarial fashion, to protest surveillance technologies. Bertash highlights the importance of secure communication for reproductive rights and advocates for collaboration between tech developers and communities for a safer online environment.

Now more than ever, we need to build, reinforce, and protect the tools and technology that support our freedom. EFF’s How to Fix the Internet returns with another season full of forward-looking and hopeful conversations with the smartest and most creative leaders, activists, technologists, policy makers, and thinkers around. People who are working to create a better internet – and world – for all of us.Co-hosts Executive Director Cindy Cohn and Activism Director Jason Kelley will speak with people like journalist Molly White, reproductive rights activist Kate Bertash, press freedom advocate Harlo Holmes, the Tor Project’s Isabela Fernandes and computer scientist and AI skeptic Arvind Narayanan, among many others.

EFF’s “How to Fix the Internet” podcast is a nominee in the Webby Awards 29th Annual People's Voice competition – and we need your support to bring the trophy home! Voting ends on April 17, so if you like what we do here by trying to envision a better digital future—please take a moment to go to eff.org/webby to cast your vote. 

This episode was first released on May 2, 2023.  Dr. Seuss wrote a story about a Hawtch-Hawtcher Bee-Watcher whose job it is to watch his town’s one lazy bee, because “a bee that is watched will work harder, you see.” But that doesn’t seem to work, so another Hawtch-Hawtcher is assigned to watch the first, and then another to watch the second... until the whole town is watching each other watch a bee. To Federal Trade Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya, the story—which long predates the internet—is a great metaphor for why we must be wary of workplace surveillance, and why we need to strengthen our privacy laws. Bedoya has made a career of studying privacy, trust, and competition, and wishes for a world in which we can do, see, and read what we want, living our lives without being held back by our identity, income, faith, or any other attribute. In that world, all our interactions with technology —from social media to job or mortgage applications—are on a level playing field. Bedoya speaks with EFF’s Cindy Cohn and Jason Kelley about how fixing the internet should allow all people to live their lives with dignity, pride, and purpose. In this episode, you’ll learn about: The nuances of work that “bossware,” employee surveillance technology, can’t catch.Why the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) isn’t the privacy panacea you might think it is.Making sure that one-size-fits-all privacy rules don’t backfire against new entrants and small competitors.How antitrust fundamentally is about small competitors and working people, like laborers and farmers, deserving fairness in our economy.Alvaro Bedoya was nominated by President Joe Biden, confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and sworn in May 16, 2022 as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission; his term expires in September 2026. Bedoya was the founding director of the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown University Law Center, where he was also a visiting professor of law. He has been influential in research and policy at the intersection of privacy and civil rights, and co-authored a 2016 report on the use of facial recognition by law enforcement and the risks that it poses. He previously served as the first Chief Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law after its founding in 2011, and as Chief Counsel to former U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-MN); earlier, he was an associate at the law firm WilmerHale. A naturalized immigrant born in Peru and raised in upstate New York, Bedoya previously co-founded the Esperanza Education Fund, a college scholarship for immigrant students in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served on the Yale Law Journal and received the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.  This podcast is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.Music for How to Fix the Internet was created for us by Reed Mathis and Nat Keefe of BeatMower. This podcast is licensed Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, and includes the following music licensed Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported by their creators: http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/64772lostTrack by Airtone (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/64772 Ft. mwic__________________________________http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/djlang59/59729Probably Shouldn’t by J.Lang (c) copyright 2012 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: Mr_Yesterday__________________________________http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/airtone/58703CommonGround by airtone (c) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) Ft: simonlittlefield