Data & The City

🎃👁️ ✨ New episode drop: DPO Horror Show 2026 ✨ 👁️🎃

There are things that go bump in the night… and then there are the things that keep Data Protection Officers awake long after closing their laptops.

💀This Halloween, Data & The City is checking into the digital haunted house for a closer look at eye-tracking technology. Because what if your eyes reveal more about you than you ever intended to share? Where you look, what catches your attention, and what technology might be able to infer from it… suddenly, being watched takes on a whole new meaning.

🎙️ Featured in our episode:
👁️ Blink Twice
We're welcoming back eye-tracking specialist Michael Raschke, who takes us beyond the glossy promises of the technology and into its scarier side. In this special extended segment, Michael explores the privacy implications and potential risks that should make every DPO and privacy professional sit up and pay attention.B ecause your eyes may be the windows to your soul, data darling, but that doesn't mean everyone should get to look inside.

So grab your favourite Halloween cocktail, keep the lights on and join us for a little privacy horror story.💋🦇

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

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✨ New episode drop: Girls Just Wanna Privacy ✨

Girls just wanna have fun… but they also want privacy💋

This time on Data & The City, we're stepping into the world of FemTech, women's data and technology designed around women's lives — from the women shaping the tech industry to period trackers, AI, smart glasses and the rather intimate privacy risks hiding in our digital handbags. 

🎙️ Featured in our episode:


💻 The Female Tech Edit
From Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper to the FemTech revolution, we explore what happens when technology finally starts paying attention to women's health, bodies and experiences.

👠 Girls, Gadgets and the Future: Interview with Maryna Russel & Aaja Baruwal
We talk to Maryna Russel and Aaja Baruwal about women in technology, designing for women and what happens when different experiences get a seat at the table.

🔐 Girls Just Wanna Have Privacy
From period trackers and reproductive data to AI, smart glasses, deepfakes and Bluetooth vibrators, we explore what happens when technology gets a little too intimate, and how women can protect their most personal data.

Because your health data isn't an accessory. Your face isn't an invitation. And your intimate life certainly isn't a business model. So, data darling, pour yourself a drink and join us in the digital city. 

Because girls just wanna privacy — and privacy is your power💋

✨ New episode drop: Special Category Is… ✨
World Pride?
More like World Data Pride — and Data & The City is taking a closer look at what happens when LGBTQIA+ identity meets data, technology, social media and AI.

From understanding what makes LGBTQIA+ data so sensitive, to exploring the digital spaces where communities find one another, this World Pride special looks at the complicated relationship between visibility, community and privacy.

💬 Featured in our episode: 🏳️‍🌈 Special Category Is...
on LGBTQIA+ data, special category data, why information about sexual orientation and gender identity receives additional protection, and what happens when technology can infer deeply personal information rather than simply asking us for it.

📱 Digital Safe Spaces: Interview with Siân Brooke
We interview Sian Brooke on the role social media and digital platforms play in helping LGBTQIA+ people find community, support and representation — and what censorship, moderation and proposed social media restrictions could mean for those spaces.

🎉 Happy World Pride Data Darlings
on Pride, visibility and what it means to celebrate LGBTQIA+ communities in a world where being seen can be both empowering and vulnerable.

From rainbow flags to digital footprints, this episode explores what happens when the technology that helps us find our community can also reveal us to the world — and asks the question: In a digital world where being seen can be both liberation and vulnerability, who gets to decide how we're seen?

If you want to read more about Siân Brooke's work, visit her webpage here: www.sianbrooke.com 
If you want to read the paper referenced in Siân's interview, you can find it here: https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/62988/chapter-abstract/571166787?redirectedFrom=fulltext 

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🏳️‍🌈 A Moment for World Pride

Before we begin our World Pride special, Special Category Is…, we wanted to pause.

Following the awful incident at World Pride Berlin, we felt it was important to take a moment to remember those affected and to acknowledge that, while Pride is a celebration of love, identity, community and visibility, there are still people who face violence simply for being who they are.So this isn't an episode introduction, a chapter or a discussion.It's simply a moment of silence.A moment to remember.

A moment to reflect.And a reminder of why Pride still matters.

🏳️‍🌈 We stand with the LGBTQIA+ community.

🎮🚨 New Episode Drop! 🚨🎮
Our latest episode You Don’t Own Me has officially landed — and data darling, it’s serving controller couture, AI plot twists, digital drama, and a reality check worthy of a final boss battle.

There I was, controller in hand, ready to escape into another virtual world. But somewhere between digital downloads, endless updates, AI-powered gameplay and "Accept Terms & Conditions," I realised something had quietly changed. And I couldn’t help but wonder… when did buying a game stop meaning you actually owned it?

In this episode of Data & The City, we press start on one of gaming’s biggest transformations. From digital ownership and data harvesting to eye tracking, artificial intelligence and the laws trying to keep pace, we're exploring what happens when our favourite hobby becomes one of the most fascinating conversations in privacy and technology.

This episode’s chapters:
🎮 Player One, Terms Apply — From couch co-op and memory cards to online accounts, digital storefronts and AI-powered experiences, we explore how gaming quietly transformed from something we owned into something we increasingly access.
🎙️ The Eye Of The Beholder — We sit down with Michael Raschke, founder of Blickshift, to explore eye tracking in gaming, what it means for accessibility and immersion, and why our gaze may become one of the most valuable forms of data in the next generation of games.
⚖️ You Don’t Own Me — We unpack the real-world headlines shaping the future of gaming: PlayStation lawsuits, AI-generated games, massive data collections, copyright battles, dynamic pricing, the AI Act, the GDPR, the rest of the Digital Decade and what every gamer can do to stay in control of their digital life.

🎧 Available now wherever you get your podcasts.

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🚨 New Episode Drop! 🚨
Our latest episode My Fair LAIdy has officially landed — and data darling, it's serving artificial intelligence, fabulous etiquette, and one very important question: can we really teach algorithms good manners?

 There I was, sitting in a Brussels hotel bar after an evening at the opera, watching My Fair Lady flicker across the television. As Eliza Doolittle learned society's rules one etiquette lesson at a time, I couldn't help but wonder... if we're all trying to teach AI how to behave, whose manners are we teaching it?

In this episode of Data & The City, we step into a world of fairness, bias, and ethical AI. From the researchers trying to define what "fair" really means, to the companies building the technology that increasingly shapes our lives, this episode is your chic guide to understanding why trustworthy AI is about so much more than clever algorithms.

✨ This episode's chapters:

👒 The Algorithm’s Etiquette Lessons — We explore the surprisingly complicated world of AI fairness, bias, and ethics, asking whether algorithms inherit our imperfections—and what happens when they do.

🎙️ People Are The Y: Interview with Tomás Enrique León — We sit down with Tomás León to discuss building trustworthy AI, why fairness is about more than just data, and what startups, businesses, and everyday users can do to keep AI accountable 

💄 My Fair LAIdy — We take a stroll through the latest research on AI fairness, unpacking what leading researchers have discovered and sharing practical tips for our Data Darlings and #BossBabes alike. 

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🚨 NEW EPISODE DROP: GlastonData — CPDP Day 3 🚨

And data darling… Brussels has officially entered its finale era. ✨🎪

There I was, sitting outside the CPDP venue on the final morning with an iced matcha in hand, sunglasses hiding the consequences of the afterparty, and a tote bag full of crumpled notes, business cards, and unresolved feelings about AI. Around me, the festival energy had shifted, slower steps, softer conversations, and that unmistakable Day Three mix of exhaustion and reflection.

And I couldn’t help but wonder… after three days of panels, policy drama, networking, and digital existentialism — what are we actually taking home from Europe’s most fashionable privacy festival? Because Day Three at CPDP didn’t wind down… it softened into meaning. AI warfare, mental privacy, surveillance capitalism, adtech empires, digital sovereignty — the topics were still huge. But underneath it all sat a quieter question: how do we stay human in systems designed to predict, profile, and optimise us? So today, data darlings, we’re stepping into the final stretch of CPDP — the afterglow edition. The last panels, lingering debates, and post-festival reflections heading back through Brussels airport security...

In this episode:

🎪 The Rights Erosion Era Tour We’re joined by Itxaso Domínguez de Olazábal, on surveillance, design, and digital rights. She explores Europe’s shift from rights-first regulation to “competitiveness” — and what gets lost in the process.

⚔️ The Security Line at the AI Festival We’re joined by Frank Slijper (PAX), on AI, war, and surveillance. He examines how AI is reshaping warfare — and what that means for civilians, accountability, and power.

🎤 No VIP Access for Unchecked AI We close with Wojciech Wiewiórowski, on AI safeguards and high-risk systems. He asks what it really takes to govern AI before it outruns its safeguards.

🎧 CPDP Day 3 — The Afterglow Edition Neural data, AI warfare, digital euro debates, adtech power, workplace surveillance — Day Three moved across stages but kept circling one question: what does power look like when it becomes data?

Because at CPDP, even the afterparty has a policy angle...and I couldn’t help but wonder… is privacy the last thing still fully ours? ✨

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🚨 NEW EPISODE DROP: Burning Data Man 🚨
And data darling… CPDP officially entered its after-dark festival era✨🎪

There I was, balancing a pistachio croissant, a homemade iced tea, and a rapidly declining phone battery while sprinting between panels like I was chasing overlapping headline acts at Europe’s most intellectually glamorous music festival.

Everywhere I looked: fabulous festival fits, tote bags multiplying at dangerous speed, AI debates before noon, and policy people discussing digital sovereignty with the same emotional intensity normally reserved for backstage festival gossip. And I couldn’t help but wonder… when did privacy conferences stop feeling like conferences and start feeling like full-blown cultural events? In this episode of Data & The City, we head back into the CPDP festival grounds for Day Two — where AI regulation, emotional algorithms, academic burnout, digital rights, and policy drama all collided beneath the Brussels festival lights.

This episode’s chapters:

🎓 Backstage Passes and Burnout Crashes
Pia Groenewolt joins us to unpack academia, precarity, institutional pressure, and what healthier academic spaces could actually look like behind the polished conference panels and intellectual glamour.

🎨 The AI-Situationship Stage:
Interview with Joel Baumann, Laura Därr, Lea-Maraike Sambale & Leonie Witka, from emotional AI to digital intimacy and algorithmic relationships, this panel explores the blurry, beautiful, slightly unsettling space where humans and machines start emotionally connecting.

🎪 Burning Data Man: CPDP Day 2
From generative AI in education and cybersecurity to digital sovereignty, online manipulation, emotional chatbots, and the legendary CPDP afterparty — we recap the policy-palooza chaos, festival energy, and digital drama shaping Day Two✨

Whether you’re a privacy enthusiast, policymaker, artist, academic, or simply trying to survive the algorithmic age with your humanity and tote bag collection intact… this episode is for you.

🧩 And if you’re surviving CPDP on sparkling water, adrenaline, and approximately twelve overlapping thoughts about AI governance — don’t forget to grab your copy of Puzzling Privacy 3: the ultimate conference companion for solving puzzles while pretending you’re definitely processing panel notes and not just avoiding LinkedIn notifications. Global: https://lnkd.in/eDdSafzN
UK: https://lnkd.in/en2ssvZm
DE: https://lnkd.in/eMNxnsqY
FR: https://lnkd.in/egyCFYFh
ES: https://lnkd.in/eJw78e_P
IT: https://lnkd.in/eB8nySNg
NL: https://lnkd.in/eWxDeKBM
PL: https://lnkd.in/eUghwZER
SE: https://lnkd.in/eKpN8R8w
BE: https://lnkd.in/eS4X-cnk
IE: https://lnkd.in/et5VZ_my
JP: https://lnkd.in/e9qF2B27
CA: https://lnkd.in/e5QQAyPg
AU: https://lnkd.in/eZv4QjtA

If you are interested in the art from the artists featured in this episode:
Joel Baumann: https://www.joelbaumann.com/
Laura Därr: http://lauradaerr.com/vita/
Lea-Maraike Sambale: https://leamaraikesambale.com/
Leonie Witka: https://www.instagram.com/herr_lorni/  

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🚨 NEW EPISODE DROP: Privacy-Chella: Day One at CPDP 🚨

And data darling… Brussels officially entered its festival era. ✨🎪 There I was, stepping into CPDP with a conference badge swinging around my neck like VIP festival access, a tote bag large enough to qualify as emotional support luggage, and the growing realization that privacy professionals might actually have better festival fits than Coachella influencers. Everywhere I looked: AI governance before breakfast, digital sovereignty debates by lunch, tote bags multiplying at dangerous speed, and panels serving more drama than a festival headline act delayed by rain.

And I couldn’t help but wonder… when did data protection become the hottest ticket of festival season? In this extra long episode of Data & The City, we head backstage at CPDP — the ultimate privacy festival where regulators, academics, activists, and tech insiders gather beneath the Brussels skyline for three days of policy glamour, AI anxieties, digital rights debates, and intellectually overstimulating main-stage energy.

This episode’s chapters: 
🎓 The Algorithm Took My Homework
Sjoera Nas joins us to unpack generative AI in education, ethical AI, public values, and whether schools can embrace AI without letting Big Tech become the permanent festival headliner.
📸 The Festival of Oversharing
Sunghyun Lee takes us into the world of children’s digital self-determination, “sharenting,” AI profiling, and Korea’s bold “Delete the Children” initiative. ⚖️ The Freedom of Expression Afterparty
Dr. Saskia Ostendorff and Friederike Vanon Frauqué step onto the legal main stage to unpack free speech, GDPR tensions, SLAPP lawsuits, and why digital rights are increasingly fighting for the spotlight.
🎪 Privacy-Chella – Day 1 at CPDP
From AI investigations and platform governance to digital labour, policy drama, festival networking, and regulatory chic — we recap the biggest conversations shaping Day One at Europe’s most fashionable privacy festival. ✨ Whether you’re a privacy enthusiast, policymaker, academic, or just someone who enjoys watching Europe try to regulate the future while serving impeccable conference fashion… this episode is for you.

🧩 And if you’re surviving CPDP with tired feet, an overstimulated brain, and approximately sixteen unfinished conversations about AI regulation — don’t forget to grab your copy of Puzzling Privacy 3: the ultimate conference companion for solving puzzles while pretending you’re definitely processing panel notes and not just avoiding LinkedIn notifications.
Global: https://lnkd.in/eDdSafzN
UK: https://lnkd.in/en2ssvZm
DE: https://lnkd.in/eMNxnsqY
FR: https://lnkd.in/egyCFYFh
ES: https://lnkd.in/eJw78e_P
IT: https://lnkd.in/eB8nySNg
NL: https://lnkd.in/eWxDeKBM
PL: https://lnkd.in/eUghwZER
SE: https://lnkd.in/eKpN8R8w
BE: https://lnkd.in/eS4X-cnk
IE: https://lnkd.in/et5VZ_my
JP: https://lnkd.in/e9qF2B27
CA: https://lnkd.in/e5QQAyPg
AU: https://lnkd.in/eZv4QjtA

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🚨 New Episode Drop! 🚨

Our CPDP special has officially begun, data darlings...and this one is serving festival glamour, policy plot twists, digital drama, and enough AI existentialism to require a second tote bag.There I was, stepping into Brussels with a perfectly planned outfit, a fully charged phone, and absolutely no emotional preparation for how quickly CPDP would turn into the Coachella of privacy conferences. Everywhere I looked, regulators, academics, activists, and founders were floating between panels like festivalgoers chasing headline acts — only instead of music, everyone was debating AI sovereignty, digital rights, surveillance, and the future of humanity over sparkling water and networking snacks.

And I couldn’t help but wonder… when did data protection become the hottest festival ticket in Europe?In this special CPDP Opening Night episode of Data & The City, we head backstage into Europe’s biggest festival of ideas — from political debates on innovation and regulation to startup culture, digital sovereignty, AI anxieties, and the strange beauty of people passionately arguing about GDPR in fabulous coats.

In this episode:
✨ Pre-Drinks & Privacy Notices — Welcome to the policy-palooza that is CPDP 2026.
🎤 The Data Darling Kick-Off — AI, innovation, regulation, and Europe’s digital identity crisis take the main stage.

And of course, don’t forget to pack your ultimate conference companion: Puzzling Privacy 3 — perfect for surviving panel overload, networking fatigue, and post-keynote existentialism with style. You can find it here:
Global: https://lnkd.in/eDdSafzN
UK: https://lnkd.in/en2ssvZm
DE: https://lnkd.in/eMNxnsqY
FR: https://lnkd.in/egyCFYFh
ES: https://lnkd.in/eJw78e_P
IT: https://lnkd.in/eB8nySNg
NL: https://lnkd.in/eWxDeKBM
PL: https://lnkd.in/eUghwZER
SE: https://lnkd.in/eKpN8R8w
BE: https://lnkd.in/eS4X-cnk
IE: https://lnkd.in/et5VZ_my
JP: https://lnkd.in/e9qF2B27
CA: https://lnkd.in/e5QQAyPg
AU: https://lnkd.in/eZv4QjtA


✨So grab your favourite festival drink, charge your phone, and put on your best conference couture…Because at CPDP, the future of privacy doesn’t just get discussed — it headlines. ✨

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