Dr. James Xie, a clinical informatics physician (CI-MD) and Epic physician builder at Stanford Children's Health, joins David and Dominique to discuss how his education in computer science and work with children who had special healthcare needs inspired him to move into medicine. We also cover how James’ healthcare work intersects with the Decrypted Unscripted mission of unpacking and understanding data security issues, and James dives into how the 21st Century Cures Act is trying to promote healthcare information exchange and interoperability.

Professor Martin Innes, director of the Crime and Security Research Institute at Cardiff University, joins Dominique and David to share how he and his team have documented the infiltration of high-profile Western media outlets by pro-Kremlin Russian hackers and trolls and his research into hacking connected with the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. He also describes how they use data science pattern recognition and detection techniques to track disinformation campaigns. Professor Innes addresses his investigation of terrorist attacks in London and the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, England, and how this prompted his wider investigation interest in Russian disinformation in the mainstream media.

Dr. Johnny Ryan joins David and Dominique to discuss why, from his perspective, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe should have been one of the most important global privacy laws in the world—but is falling woefully short of his expectations. He explores the current problems around advertising technology, privacy, and tracking and how he sees the future of digital advertising security. Dr. Ryan also dives into the privacy litigation being brought about by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL).

Dr. Ryan is a senior fellow at the ICCL and the Open Markets Institute. He focuses on surveillance, data rights, competition/anti-trust, and privacy. Dr. Ryan is former chief policy and industry relations officer at Brave, the private web browser, and led Brave’s campaign for GDPR enforcement. His other previous roles included chief innovation officer of The Irish Times and senior researcher at the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA).

Jorge Contreras, professor of property law and genetics at the University of Utah, joins Dominique and David to describe his latest book, The Genome Defense. The book reads like a detective novel as he follows American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawyers who, after years of litigation, convince the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn prior decisions, ruling that naturally occurring genetic code was patentable. This is a great discussion about who owns a person's genetic information—and how this information can predict susceptibility to disease (in this case, breast cancer) and prompt dramatic preventative measures. He also discusses the intellectual property issues surrounding the development of the recent RNA COVID-19 vaccines and the value of creating DNA variants as intellectual property in healthcare. Genes are being edited all the time; Jorge gives his thoughts on how much genetic information should be available to the public for free and how much it should be commercialized.

Daniel Barber, CEO of DataGrail, joins Dominique and David to describe how he sees company compliance with the GDPR and CCPA, oversights, mistakes, and best practices. He delves into the disconnect between individuals’ perceptions of their privacy rights and how those can clash with business objectives. He talks about how the business community is responding to the Chinese data privacy law that went into effect on November 1, 2021, and the dramatic impact of that legislation.



DataGrail is aimed at assuring companies comply with the GDPR, CCPA, and all other privacy statutes. Daniel argues strongly for transparency in data usage and security and is a major influencer in the privacy and data management space. DataGrail made headlines in March 2021 in TechCrunch, DataGrail snares $30M Series B to help deal with privacy regulations.

https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/10/datagrail-snares-30m-series-b-to-help-deal-with-privacy-regulations/

U.S. Congressman Darren Soto joins David to tell us what Congress is doing to regulate crypto currency and its inevitable introduction into the mainstream economy. From the hardware store down the street to huge financial institutions, Congressman Soto is doing his best to make sure crypto currency is freely transferrable and that we don’t have the regulatory gaps that now plague data security and privacy. He tells us also about his decision to run for Congress at a young age, being one of the few Hispanic Congressman. This guy is smart, sharp, and articulate and has a vision for the future of the country that embraces—does not fight—new blockchain technology. Please listen. He’s cool.

Bastian Purrer and Namik Muduroglu join David and Dominique on Decrypted Unscripted as they describe how political parties internationally are using bot networks to attack elections and to spread fake news and other misinformation. They describe how their personal experiences drove them to develop humanID, which is an anonymous, bot-resistant authentication for safe online communities. They discuss why concerns over data privacy are driving Generation Z users away from social media and how they are seeking to replace it. They have won several awards, including the Harvard Business School Navab Social Impact Award (2020) & Mozilla Builders Open Lab (2020) and have an ever-growing community supporting their ability to allow safe, anonymous logins. Listen as they describe their unique perspective, shaped by living in oppressive political regimes and having the brain power to develop solutions. Love them -- you will too.

Jules Polonetsky joins David and Dominique on Decrypted Unscripted to share his insights on data tracking and the vast changes in the public perception of internet privacy. They discuss challenges to privacy prompted by emerging technologies, whether legislation can keep up with the public’s privacy concerns, and how data is used. Jules also discusses his work with the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF), and how he transitioned from serving in the NY State Assembly to becoming Chief Privacy Officer for DoubleClick and AOL and finally heading up the World Privacy Forum which works on developing best practices and policies in data privacy.

Jules is CEO of the Future of Privacy Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that serves as a catalyst for privacy leadership and scholarship, advancing principled data practices in support of emerging technologies. He serves as chairman of the International Digital Accountability Council and co-chairman of the Israel Tech Policy Institute. Jules is also co-editor of The Cambridge Handbook of Consumer Privacy, published by Cambridge University Press (2018).

Bill Marczak joins David Biderman on Decrypted Unscripted to discuss why he focuses on nation-state use of big data analysis as well as more targeted surveillance. He tells the story of his work with Bahraini activist Ahmed Mansoor, how he determined he was being targeted by Pegasus spyware, and how that prompted Bill’s subsequent work with Amnesty International. Bill also gives his tips on how to tell if your phone has been hacked and why it’s so difficult to prevent.

Bill is a senior research fellow at Citizen Lab, a co-founder of Bahrain Watch, and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. His work focuses on novel technological threats to internet freedom, including new censorship and surveillance tools, and his expertise is in internet scanning and conducting digital investigations. Coverage of his work has been featured in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The Washington Post, on CNN, and on “Larry King Live.”
https://citizenlab.ca/author/bmarczak/

With the recent attacks on the Colonial Pipeline and JBS Food, ransomware has become a serious national security issue. Join Dominique Shelton Leipzig and David Biderman in a discussion with Philip Reiner about the critical importance of establishing basic internet security standards. Phillip believes that our neglect in this area has been inexplicable if not inexcusable, and describes how his Institute for Security and Technology was asked to support the Ransomware Task Force to address the critical need for improving basic cybersecurity standards.

Philip Reiner is the chief executive officer of the Institute for Security and Technology. His decades of experience in technology and international security include a position as President Obama’s Senior Director for South Asia on the National Security Council staff. While serving in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in the Pentagon, he received the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service.

https://securityandtechnology.org/