A terrible April Fool’s day glitch screws over Uber drivers, tenants in California are striking back against landlords, and private banks: do we need them?Today’s episode of Cyber is a cypher, that infrequent version of the show where we decipher some recent tech news. It’s a potpourri for the panopticon age. A grab bag of tech horrors, a not so gentle reminder that our work is not yet done.Motherboard reporter Roshan Abraham is here to talk about it all.'Screwed': Uber Claws Back Double Pay from Drivers After April Fools GlitchTenants of America's Biggest Landlord Form Union to Fight Evictions, Rent HikesWant to Curb City Crime? Evict Fewer Tenants, Study SaysPrivate Banks Are In Crisis. What If They Were Public Banks?We’re recording CYBER live on Twitch and YouTube. Watch live during the week. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show. Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Facial recognition systems are here. They’ve been deployed extensively along America’s southern border and in its cities. Authoritarian regimes in Iran and Russia are using the technology to crack down on dissidents and what’s going on in Moscow right now paints a horrifying picture of how dangerous the tech has become.On this episode of Cyber, Lena Masri is here to talk about it. She’s the author of a new report at Reuters about how Putin uses facial recognition to curb dissent.Stories discussed in this episode:Facial recognition is helping Putin curb dissent with the aid of U.S. techU.S. Hardware Is Fueling Russia's Facial Recognition Crackdown on Anti-War DissidentsAI Use by Cops, Child Services In NYC Is a Mess: ReportWe’re recording CYBER live on Twitch and YouTube. Watch live during the week. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show. Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Love it or hate it, you can’t escape artificial intelligence. People are using Midjourney to make viral photos of Donald Trump’s arrest and the Pop’s puffy coat. Redditors are creating entire fake historical events and backing it up with AI-generated photos. Silicon Valley seems to think this tech is the next big thing, with Google and Microsoft betting big on it and some people begging everyone to pause development for six months.Is AI changing the world? With us here today to try to answer that question is Motherboard reporter Chloe Xiang.Stories discussed in this episode:People Are Creating Records of Fake Historical Events Using AIChatGPT Can Replace the Underpaid Workers Who Train AI, Researchers SayThe Open Letter to Stop 'Dangerous' AI Race Is a Huge Mess'He Would Still Be Here': Man Dies by Suicide After Talking with AI Chatbot, Widow SaysAI Theorist Says Nuclear War Preferable to Developing Advanced AIWe’re recording CYBER live on Twitch and YouTube. Watch live during the week. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show. Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In America, no one can protect you from a transportation employee being paid off by the feds. The Drug Enforcement Agency has a single remit: to prosecute America’s long-failed war on drugs. Joseph Cox is on today’s episode of Cyber to talk about one its shadier practices and the senators who want answers from the Department of Justice. It turns out that the DEA has been paying Amtrak and commercial package companies to act as informants and supply data on customers without having to get a warrant.Stories discussed in this episode:The DEA Bought Customer Data from Rogue Employees Instead of Getting a WarrantThe 'Insanely Broad' RESTRICT Act Could Ban Much More Than Just TikTokHere is the FBI’s Contract to Buy Mass Internet DataCops Sue Afroman for 'Emotional Distress' After He Made Music Videos of Botched RaidWe’re recording CYBER live on Twitch and YouTube. Watch live during the week. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show. Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

America is thinking about banning the most popular social media app in the world. TikTok has exploded in the past few years and whether you love it or hate it, you can’t deny its huge influence.Legislators in America are concerned about that influence, especially because of TikTok’s connections to China. On Thursday, TikTok’s CEO testified before the House’s Committee on Energy and Commerce and fielded questions about the app, its connection to China, and what it might be doing to America’s children.It was a shitshow.Motherboard’s Social Media Manager, Emily Lipstein, is on this episode of Cyber talking about.Stories discussed in this episode:Congress Shocked to Discover 10 Year Olds Check the ‘I’m Over 18’ Box OnlineBanning TikTok Is Unconstitutional, Ludicrous, and a National EmbarrassmentFollow Motherboard on TikTok to see the Congressional footageWe’re recording CYBER live on Twitch and YouTube. Watch live during the week. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show. Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s almost impossible to get retail priced tickets to The Cure’s newest live tour. Fans are, once again, turning to the secondary market despite the band’s insistence that Ticketmaster shut it down. This week on Cyber, Joseph Cox and Motherboard Motherboard editor-in-chief Jason Koebler take us into the world of the ticket scalper, where whole Ticketmaster accounts are being sold in bulk and a “verified fan” is just someone the algorithm approves of.Stories discussed in this episode:The Cure Tried to Stop Scalpers. Brokers Are Selling Entire Ticketmaster Accounts InsteadTicketmaster Cancels Public Sale for Taylor Swift Tickets Because It Already Sold Them AllBlink-182 Tickets Are So Expensive Because Ticketmaster Is a Disastrous Monopoly and Now Everyone Pays Ticket Broker PricesThe Man Who Broke TicketmasterWe’re recording CYBER live on Twitch and YouTube. Watch live during the week. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show. Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts.Hosted on Acast. Seeacast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In America the trains never seem to run on time. On February 3, a train crashed in East Palestine, Ohio releasing toxic chemicals into the air. Almost a month later, another train owned by the same company also derailed in Ohio. That’s not all. Trains in Charlotte are running slower than they should. NYC can’t fit trains into its new station. The list goes on and on.What the hell is going on with mass transit in America?If you’re a long time Cyber listener, you might already know some of the answers to this question. That’s thanks to returning champion, Motherboard senior writer Aaron Gordon.Stories discussed in this episode:East Palestine Derailment ‘Foreseeable and Preventable,’ Ohio Attorney General Lawsuit Alleges24 Hours of News Shows America's Transportation HellscapeThe Worst Transit Project in the U.S. Is Officially DeadBoston's Subway Was Running at Half Speed Because It Lost Paperwork‘We Had All the Issues That Town Has:’ East Palestine Is Not the First or Last Derailment DisasterWe’re recording CYBER live on Twitch and YouTube. Watch live during the week. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show.Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Collapse. It’s the word on everybody’s lips. Silicon Valley Bank and Signature are no more. The banks, folks, they’ve collapsed. But don’t worry, these aren’t your typical banks. SVB and Signature were not the kinds of places working class folks were holding checking accounts. These were massive institutions that propped up America’s ailing tech sector. If you’ve been hustled by an NFT startup in the past year, there’s a good chance it had deposits at SVB.But now they’re gone and, after some panic, it looks like America’s blessed institutions are working as intended. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is gonna clean all this up. But should they?On this episode of Cyber, Motherboard Managing Editor Jordan Pearson sits down to answer the question.Stories discussed in this episode:How Silicon Valley's Bank ImplodedAre Failing Banks About to Destroy the Economy?OK, WTF Is Up With the Government Bailing Out the Tech Industry?WSJ Wonders: Did Silicon Valley Bank Die Because One Black Person Was on Its Board?We’re recording CYBER live on Twitch and YouTube. Watch live during the week. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show.Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s Cipher time, baby. It’s that infrequent style of Cyber we do where we decipher Motherboard’s tech coverage in a potpourri for the panopticon age. On today’s episode we’ve got a little bit of everything. A popular hiking app reveals that, once again, we just can’t trust private companies with our data. But what about our passwords? Surely a company that bills itself as a secure way to remember all those logins is secure right? Nope! Also, Twitter ditches Tor and, just for fun, another wonderful story about cheating in online video games.Motherboard’s own Joseph Cox is here to walk us through all of it.Stories discussed in this episode:AllTrails Data Exposes Precise Movements of Former Top Biden OfficialTwitter’s Most Important Anti-Censorship Tool Is Currently Dead‘Escape From Tarkov’ Roiled By Severe Cheating AccusationsLastPass Shouldn't Be Trusted With Your PasswordsWe’re recording CYBER live on Twitch and YouTube. Watch live during the week. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show.Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listeners explore the bizarre events involving fighter jets shooting down suspected Chinese spy balloons and hobbyist balloons. The podcast delves into the world of balloon enthusiasts and their experiences during the great balloon panic of 2023. It discusses the rise of amateur ballooning, the fascination with UFOs, and the resurgence of interest in extraterrestrial phenomena.