What We Talk About When We Talk About Tech

We need to talk about EdTech: Online resilience and privacy with Michelle Wolfe

July 21, 2021 Rich Gall, Jennifer Riggins, Michelle Wolfe Season 1 Episode 19
What We Talk About When We Talk About Tech
We need to talk about EdTech: Online resilience and privacy with Michelle Wolfe
Show Notes

Rich Gall (@richggall) and Jennifer Riggins (@jkriggins) talk to privacy advocate Michelle Wolfe (aka "Stella" on Twitter) about the challenges of security and privacy in today's increasingly sinister landscape of surveillance capitalism. 

Taking in key terms (including the monstrosity that is "cyber"), and looking closely at some of the limits and flaws in the conversation around online security, Michelle/Stella explains how she approaches her work and why she thinks we need to reevaluate the way we talk about cybersecurity and online safety. 

She discusses some of the problems with the field, such as the perception that it's somewhat insular and elitist, and argues that we need to stop thinking about user fallibility as a problem, and instead urge greater accountability across the tech industry for the systems that are designed to confuse, dupe, or simply exhaust us.

We also talk about the problems with EdTech, and examine exactly why so many private companies are eager for a piece of a sector that has never been particularly lucrative (hint: it's probably not altruism).

While Michelle/Stella raises plenty of issues that we should be seriously converned about, it's not all doom and gloom: she also explains why she thinks the younger generation are a cause for optimism and hope when it comes to privacy and taking on big tech.