The Big Tech Show

This week, Adrian sits down with a specialist from St John Of Gods, Professor Colin O’Gara, who says he is seeing more and more people brought in for addiction to video games.Adrian asks Prof O’Gara about the scale and depth of the problem, its effects and how to diagnose it.The two also discuss possible treatments for the problem, including the kinds of medication prescribed.And Adrian asks Prof O’Gara to put the issue into context with established medical addictions, such as gambling, alcohol and drugs.In an era when Irish teenagers are competing globally in esports competitions, how should Ireland deal with the clinical side of it?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian tackles the thorny issue of mobile and broadband operators which advertise "unlimited" services that actually have hidden limits.He sits down with the head of the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI), Orla Twomey, to ask why that organisation allows such a misleading situation to exist.Orla tells Adrian that while the situation is being reviewed, there is a rationale for allowing operators to advertise unlimited services that have limits.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down to find out what, if any, big ideas Dell Ireland's new country manager has.Mark Hopkins starts off defending some industry jargon before expanding into why he thinks tech will have a bigger impact on our education system.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down for a long, in-depth discussion with Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon on why she stopped the government from making its Public Services Card into a national identity card through the backdoor.After years of controversy, this week her office ruled that the PSC card cannot be used as a necessary form of identification for services outside the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.The move effectively puts a halt to any plans the government had of making the Public Services Card a ‘national identity card’ through stealth.“The Department does not have a legal basis for processing personal data when it's in the case of a person who's seeking to avail of a service with the public sector body other than the Department itself,” she tells Adrian.However, she stopped short of saying that the Public Services Card must be scrapped.“Any cards that have been issued, their validity is not in question by anything we've found in this report,” she said.“They can continue to be used in the context of availing of free travel or availing of benefits that a person is claiming from the Department.”Dixon qualifies this by saying that the PSC can be used voluntarily by a citizen as a valid proof.“If someone optionally brings their public services card to renew their driver's license, there is no issue with that. But what we're saying is that it must be an option. A public sector body cannot now require someone who doesn't already have one, to go and procure one in order to avail of their service.”The PSC has been criticised by civil liberties groups who claim it is an attempt by the government to create a national identity card by stealth.Earlier this year, UN special rapporteur on poverty, Professor Philip Alston, said that the PSC “runs the risk of becoming a centralised database containing intimate, personal information” that was unsafe.Government ministers have repeatedly claimed that the PSC is a protection against fraud, identity theft and helps to cut costs. They say that the card simplifies identity registration for public services and reduces the need for duplicate forms and the repetition of processes. However, Dixon tells Adrian that the PSC as currently constructed is overarching and is sometimes being used without good reason or legal justification.“An example is the Department of Education’s appeal system around school transport,” she said.“It now says that you have to procure a PSC card to make an appeal. It’s very difficult to see why that’s a requirement.”Dixon also tells Adrian that she has opened a new investigation into the owner of The Huffington Post, Techcrunch and Yahoo. The Irish DPC office is now probing Verizon Media, formerly known as Oath, around complaints that its online media properties do not give users choice around online ‘cookies’ that track user activity online.Meanwhile, Dixon tells Adrian that her office’s first major GDPR decision relating to a multinational tech firm looks set to be about Whatsapp.“I expect that file to land on my desk in the next fortnight,” she said.However, it is then likely to take “months” to arrive at a formal decision due to a statutory process of “examination and analysis”.Dixon’s office currently has 61 statutory enquiries underway under GDPR law, 21 of which are focused on tech multinational firms. These include Facebook (8), Twitter (3), Apple (3), Whatsapp (2), Instagram (1), Google (1), Linkedin (1), Quantcast (1) and Verizon Media (1).Under GDPR law, the Irish DPC can fine a company up to 4pc of its annual turnover.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After October 31st, will pensioners still be able to travel on a free pass around Ireland? Will online shops based in the UK be able to process customer information from Irish shoppers?It’s in serious doubt, says the guest on this week’s podcast, Castlebridge’s Dr Katherine O’Keeffe, an expert on data privacy.Adrian and Katherine go deep on why a no-deal Brexit spells chaos for many ordinary activities you wouldn’t have thought of.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down with Cillian Kieran, who recently scooped €3.8m in seed funding for his privacy-focused software startup called Ethyca.The two discuss possible solutions to today’s privacy problems.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Eir debateEir's audacious €1bn proposal for an alternative National Broadband Plan stirred up a nest of debate and dissent in recent weeks.One of the senior political figures who backs Eir is Timmy Dooley, Fianna Fail spokesman on Communications, Climate Action and Environment.He sat down with Adrian to explain why he thinks it's worth taking a risk on an Eir proposal and what he would do as a government Minister.Dooley also outlined why he is in favour of a new digital tax on online advertising.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The fad of the week is FaceApp, which makes even the most cherubic youngster look like Gandalf.But we really helping ‘The Russians’ compile a giant facial database? Or is the current hysteria just this month’s instalment of the neverending moral panic around tech?Adrian Weckler and Fearghal O’Connor (deputy business editor for The Sunday Independent) discuss the issue from a political and technological perspective.The two also examine Instagram’s trial move in Ireland to remove ‘likes’ from individual posts. Will it do anything meaningful to help ease mental health issues suffered by teens? And will it cripple so-called ‘influencers’?Lastly, Adrian and Fearghal look at how online subscriptions are taking bigger and bigger chunks of our monthly pay cheques. Adrian’s now stands at over €100 – with media companies now switching over to paywalls, how far can it go?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women in Tech is a new podcast series presented by Samantha McCaughren, Business Editor of the Sunday Independent.Samantha speaks to Irish women involved in tech who are dispelling myths and breaking down barriers.On this week's bonus episode, she meets Jennifer Cox, who is a CSM Associate Security Engineer with Tenable, an international cyber security company.With a background in theatre and media studies, Jennifer is not your typical STEM candidate and Samantha spoke to Jennifer about how and why she got into tech and why not being afraid to speak out has stood to her throughout her career.For more from the series go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/women-in-tech/The Women in Tech podcast series is in association with 100% Electric Nissan Leaf.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Adrian talks to Justin McLeod, the founder and chief executive of the dating app Hinge, which claims to be the fastest-growing such app in Ireland and the UK.As well as recounting his own dramatic love, McLeod talks about algorithms, safety, age verification and what works best for those using dating apps.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.