IoT devices like smart speakers and networked heating controls are increasingly being used by perpetrators of domestic violence – for instance by changing the temperature the heating is set to or the music that the victim listens too, remotely. This programme is available NOW OnDemand at the Digital Planet Page and is available now until Wednesday 1st…
TikTok School challenge It’s November so school children in the US are being encouraged to “Kiss your friend’s girlfriend at school”. In September the TikTok school challenge suggested they “Vandalize the restroom”. These are just two of the examples that schools in the US have been dealing with following a call on TikTok to pupils….
We’ve reported before on the programme about the massive energy consumption of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which is based on blockchain technology. Now we’ll be looking at some of the other environmental impacts of blockchain. This programme is available on the Digital Planet Page and is available now until Tuesday 16th November. It will also broadcast…
Digital Planet is looking at green technology during COP26. “green technology (also green tech): Technology whose use is intended to mitigate or reverse the effects of human activity on the environment. Firstly, we discover the green credentials of your favourite websites with the Green Web Foundation. Can we really make the internet more environmentally friendly? Also, we’ll…
This week on Digital Planet we are looking at Online safety as a former Facebook employee and whistleblower, Frances Haugen, was speaking to the committee that’s discussing the UK’s draft online safety bill. Legislation that will tackle harmful content online. Canada is working on similar legislation. But there are questions over policing the new laws…
False information online has left one in five girls feeling physically unsafe. This is according to The Truth Gap, a new report by Plan International. One in three say false information is affecting their mental health, leaving them feeling stressed, worried and anxious. Others reported concerns about bogus events advertised on social media placing them…
Research by the World Wide Web Foundation is asking about the digital gender gap and what’s the cost? The foundation has found that the gender gap for internet accessibility has cost countries billions of USD in lost GDP. In the 32 countries studied a third of women were connected to the internet compared to almost…
Digital in India as this decade’s Indian national census will be the first to be carried out digitally. However, COVID-related delays have slowed progress and there are growing concerns about its accuracy. Dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University. Bhaskar Chakravorti explains how data will be collected and why the census is likely to…
Is Spyware threatening independent media Samuel Woodhams, the author of a report entitled “Spyware: An unregulated and escalating threat to independent media”, is live on this week Digital Planet show. His research shows that the current unchecked growth of the commercial spyware industry is allowing repressive governments to monitor, harass and attack independent journalists and…
Arctic AI Have you checked the ice-cap forecast? Melting sea ice might be a well-known symptom of global warming, but how do scientists predict how quickly ice will recede? Press PLAY and listen to this week’s show Can AI predict Arctic ice loss? A new Artificial Intelligence tool does a better job than traditional prediction…
The so-called Children Code has just come into force in the UK. The Age-appropriate design code aims to protect children online by making digital services accessed by children comply with standards that safeguard children from being tracked and profiled. This includes toys, games and edtech but also social media and video sharing platforms. Changes have…
16% of mobile phones in emerging markets like Brazil Indonesia, South Africa and Thailand are infected with malware, compared to 2.6% globally, according to a new report by the mobile anti-fraud firm Upstream. The company looked at one billion mobile phone transactions in 23 emerging markets covering nearly 840 million users. One mobile device in…
Here’s a great question, how much Phone data do you think you are sharing? Have you ever wondered what your phone is doing when it’s not in use? Your iPhone or Android device is constantly sending data back to the company that made it. It doesn’t matter if you’re just making a call, these companies…
The Digital Intelligence Index (DII) has calculated that almost two-thirds of the world’s population is now online. The newly published report analyses 12 years of data to map 90 economies and over 95% of the world’s population to report on countries’ progress in advancing their digital economies. Bhaskar Chakravorti, the dean of global business at…
Playing video games is positively linked with wellbeing according research from the Oxford Internet Institute. The new study is the first of its kind as, instead of asking players how much they play, it uses industry data on actual play time for popular video games EA’s Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville and Nintendo’s Animal…