The Big Tech Show

This week, Adrian is joined by a vastly experienced Irish media panel in the area of digital media and technology: co-founder of Kinzen and Storyful Mark Little, founder of Maximum Media Niall McGarry and co-founder and editor of The Currency, Ian Kehoe.The panel dives deep into the problems and opportunities for media in a technology-dominated landscape.In his first extensive public commentary since his company’s examinership, Niall McGarry also addresses the issue of the ‘click farm’ incident in 2017 that saw the publisher of Joe.ie and Her.ie lose a substantial amount of revenue from advertisers after an employee was found to have manipulated listenership figures on an AIB-sponsored podcast.“It was so isolated, such a one-off and so unique to a publisher like us that I think a lot of people jumped on it and made it a much bigger story than it was,” he says.“It gave a huge amount of traditional media organisations an opportunity to have a pop at us because we came out of nowhere. We didn't come from the Dublin media set. We had created something new.”Mr McGarry says that he wants to “put the incident behind us and move on”, instead focusing on “some of the amazing work we've done”.“I think our organisation has been incredibly impactful on things like the Eighth Amendment referendum and on marriage equality. We were the first brand to get out there and get behind a yes campaign.”Niall believes that the company is “too big to fail” and has “too important a role” in Ireland not to emerge from its current High Court examinership process.The Big Tech Show is in association with Fidelity Investments.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian dives into the murky, colourful world of online fraud, scams and cyber security.He and security expert Brian Honan look at the latest threats, occasionally getting side-tracked by the pros and cons of encryption, password managers and just how famous an Irish celebrity you have to be for your face to be illegally attached to diet pills or cryptocurrency scams.They also look at resources in place in Ireland to fight cybercrime and whether more is required.The Big Tech Show is in association with Fidelity Investments.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Zoom is the single biggest breakthrough service of the 2020 global lockdown, in or out of tech. Before February, it was a niche business tech tool. 90 days on, it’s a global household name. Grannies, schoolteachers and friends now use it daily. It has replaced ‘Skype’ and ‘FaceTime’ as our default verb for video-conferencing. And the chief information officer, responsible for making large chunks of it work, is a man from Rathfarnham. Harry Moseley is unlike a typical CIO. He’s relaxed and easygoing with the emeritus demeanor of a board member rather than the guy logging 14-hour days to make sure everything is ticking.Adrian hears from Harry about the “upsetting” moments over security reports in recent weeks. He also touches on his childhood here, including growing up as a Jewish kid in Dublin.Adrian also talks to Vanessa Tierney, CEO and co-founder of Abodoo, an Irish firm set up with a specialty in matching remote workers to employers.In a wide-ranging chat, Adrian and Vanessa go beyond the clichés of remote working to discuss the future of cities and whether there’ll be a generational split in who wants to live in built-up areas.The Big Tech Show is in association with Fidelity Investments.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian talks to Jonathan Ruane, lecturer in global economics and management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), adjunct professor at TCD and a previous co-founder of Eventovate, which he sold in 2016.Do Irish startups deserve a handout from the state? Or should it be considered a handup? After all, aren’t startups supposed to define a bootstrapping and disruptive culture?The two also tackle some much broader contextual issues around the culture behind startups and funding -- from anti-intellectualism to why inheritance tax should be increased to spur more innovation.It’s a fascinating diversion into some of the deeper issues behind the daily debates that normally make up the bulk of discussions on the topic.The Big Tech Show is in association with Fidelity Investments.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a packed episode this week, Adrian asks whether the gold rush for back-to-work thermal cameras in Ireland is warranted and looks at how startups are coping with live under pandemic conditions.Thermal cameras are being painted as a key tech enabler to get Ireland moving again, from airports and hospitals to ordinary businesses. But TCD’s Dr Seamus O’Shaughnessy explains their limitations to Adrian in plain English.Then the founder and chief executive of one of Ireland’s most successful indigenous software firms, Phorest, tells Adrian about startup struggles during the current lockdown. He also explains how his company’s technology is helping hundreds of hairdressers in Germany to re-open safely.The Big Tech Show is in association with Fidelity Investments.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian talks to Alison.com founder Mike Feerick, who runs one of Europe’s biggest online learning platforms with 15m registered users. Telling Adrian that April brought 600,000 new registrants to his site, Mike explains why the writing is on the wall for universities which are “too expensive” and “out of date”.“Most employers just want to know that you can do a particular job,” he says from his Galway base. “I loved being at Harvard but it was for the people I met there, not the actual learning material.”The Big Tech Show is in association with Fidelity Investments.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the world watches governments’ introduction of contact-tracing apps, new research from Trinity College Dublin suggests that the involvement of Google could cause privacy problems in at least one contact-tracing model.Adrian Weckler talks to Professor Dough Leith, chair of Computer Systems at the School of Computer Science and Statistics at TCD, who has taken a close look at Google’s involvement in Singapore’s OpenTrace platform, used for its TraceTogether app.His paper, jointly compiled by TCD research fellow Stephen Farrell, concludes that Google’s Firebase Analytics could mean that supposedly anonymous users might be identified. It also warns about potential ad-targeting associated with the same technology.All of this comes after reports that the Irish contact-tracing app has undergone a recent design change, potentially involving Google in its makeup.And it comes as Google and Apple intensify their joint approach to contact-tracing, offering more data about how their API might work.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian brings on veteran tech reporter John Kennedy and former TD Noel Rock to run through some of the stories of the week. Noel gives an insight into the pressures that politicians can face from constituents on issues such as the erection of mobile masts, even when the science behind the arguments seems shaky. (He describes himself as an opponent of vigilante anti-5G groups.)John talks about how he sees tech companies coping with the lockdown and what we might expect to see next.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been described as ‘the safety net’ of the pandemic. But how much do we, or should we, rely on GoFundMe?This week, Adrian hosts a Zoom call with Tim Cadogan, GoFundMe’s recently-appointed chief executive.They talk about how much people are committing to GoFundMe campaigns here, including almost €1m to a ‘Feed The Heroes’ campaign in recent weeks.Irish people remain some of the biggest givers per capital on GoFundMe, Tim says.But Adrian asks Tim what it says about society that so many campaigns relate to things like medical bills or domestic emergencies. Are we letting authorities off the hook?And they look more widely at whether tech companies have been a good or a bad influence during the Covid-19 lockdown.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're become used to hearing giant web companies described as leeches, health risks and agents of discord.But has the tone changed, now that we're all eagerly using their services to survive while locked in our homes?Are we quietly shelving our pearl-clutching hysteria about the dangers of 'screen time' and notional long-term health fears over using smartphones?Do we care as much if their free, or cheap, platforms slurp data?This week, Adrian Weckler is joined by senior Irish tech investor (and Draper Esprit partner) Brian Caulfield and data protection expert (and Castlebridge research director) Katherine O'Keefe to weave a path through the pros and cons of the scenario we now find ourselves in.The panel also discuss the finer points of working from home, as well as the challenge that brings.And they look at the benefits and pitfalls of Ireland's upcoming contact tracing app.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we dive into the topic of Twitter bots. Specifically, we ask the question: are pro-government bot accounts being operated in Ireland?We also explain what a Twitter bot is, how they typically operator and how to check whether a suspected account is a bot or not.Adrian Weckler is joined by digital marketing consultant Damien Mulley to explore the figures.Then Adrian is joined by Paul Campbell, founder of the Irish ticketing reservation platform Tito, who has just launched an online video conferencing platform called Vito. Along the way, Adrian and Paul talk about their insecurities, phone voices and the Irish tech ecosystem.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian talks to Docusign CEO Dan Springer about what it’s like to announce 100 new jobs in Dublin and then have to hire them all over video links.But that’s exactly what Docusign is doing. The e-signature company is flying at present with over €1bn in revenue likely in 2020, even with the current pandemic.And like plenty of other multinational tech firms, it has chosen Dublin as its biggest base outside the US west coast.Dan also tells Adrian why he took a few years out of his career to raise his two teenage sons as a single father, and why attitudes towards working men who do that remain a little antiquated.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Week 2 of Ireland’s Covid-19 virtual lockdown continues with many trying to get used to working from home.Videoconferencing is an especially steep learning curve.“Tom? Hello, Tom? Tom we can see you, but we can’t hear you. Try hitting unmute. Actually, hold on - it might be star six. Try star six. Tom? Tom! TRY STAR SIX.”Aside from our diet going to hell and our backs and shoulders wrecked from slouching in inappropriate chairs, Adrian looks at some of the tools to use and talks to tech and privacy expert Fintan Swanton about some of the associated issues that may arise.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyone is being told to work from home — including Irish and Sunday Independent journalists.So Adrian rang some of them up to see how they are getting on.He found them coping in a brave new world of Microsoft Teams, virtual private networks and remote working amongst kids, dogs and builders.Adrian spoke to Sunday Independent business editor Samantha McCaughren, Irish Independent business editor Donal O’Donovan and Sunday Independent deputy business editor, Fearghal O’Connor.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After a row over whether authorities should or should not have revealed the name of an Irish school where a student tested positive for Covid-19, this week’s panel digs deeper in other potential privacy conflicts that may arise.Should health authorities be asking infected people for their Google tracked location? If things got really desperate, would they even look for dystopian tools, such as Clearview’s facial identification database?The panel, which sees Sunday Independent deputy business editor Fearghal O’Connor and Castlebridge chief executive Daragh O’Brien join host Adrian Weckler, also debates whether remote working is actually a viable option for people in the longer term. Given that remote working tools have been around for a decade, why would people suddenly start to become interested in the practice now?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian is joined by Pocket-lint.com editor Chris Hall and Buzz.ie digital editor Mark Kavanagh to go through the wave of top smartphones just launched.Is Samsung’s folding Flip Z a good deal? What are the flaws, if any, in the S20 Ultra’s incredible camera zoom? And how are soon-to-be announced OnePlus 8 Pro and Google Pixel 4a models shaping up?The panel goes in depth on the pros and cons of each model to give you a better idea of what’s worth getting.The Big Tech Show is in association with Vodafone Business.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian Weckler is discussing 5G and taking a critical look at its strengths and weaknesses.To help him make sense of whether it is all it’s hyped up to be, Adrian is joined by Bobby Healy, founder of Manna Aero, Con Kennedy, Chief Technical Officer with Ericsson Ireland and Niall Campion, co-founder of VRAI.The panel discusses everything from drone usage to 4K movies to the pros and cons of ‘millimetre wave’ 5G.The Big Tech Show is in association with Vodafone Business.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian Weckler’s panel looks at what’s coming next with TV. Is traditional ‘linear’ television mortally wounded, as Eir CEO Carolan Lennon recent told Adrian? Or can Sky, Virgin Media and broadcasters like RTÉ and the BBC hold their own against the tens of billions being invested by Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video and all the rest?Adrian is joined by Sunday Independent business editor Samantha McCaughren and the cofounder of Dublin-based startup LogoGrab, Alessandro Prest.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The former Ireland international rugby player, Jamie Heaslip, is becoming a textbook example of how to transition from sport into modern business.Eschewing the role of a corporate mascot, Heaslip has chosen the role of tech investor and promoter, meeting young startups to see whether they’re worth a punt.Some are. One of his earliest bets has just paid off spectacularly. Pointy, the retail listing startup cofounder by Charles Bibby and Mark Cummins, recently announced its acquisition by Google in a nine figure deal. Heaslip is understood to have made a six-figure sum from his initial investment.Other bets, such as the analytics firm Kitman Labs, look promising for a significantly augmented return in the near future, too.And if tech hits another bubble, he has a few Dublin pubs to fall back on, such as The Bridge 1859 and Lemon & Duke, as well as a job in Google he could probably return to.But Heaslip doesn’t think that startup tech is going south anytime soon. He has just taken a deeper role in a fintech firm, Flender, that has created a new online platform to match lenders with small businesses who want to borrow sums up to €300,000.Adrian Weckler sat down with Heaslip to ask him about tech, trends, culture and the transition from sport to investing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down with Eir CEO Carolan Lennon, who says:- the Huawei controversy isn't about security but is a "US-China trade issue"- Minister Michael Ring’s claims about Eir are "factually untrue"- Traditional ‘linear’ TV is toast: we will all move to apps-based television in time- Eir hasn’t decided yet on a new price for GoMo after the current €12.99 “for life” offer runs outLennon also says that Eir’s 5G launch wasn’t kept private because of the presence at the event of Huawei chairman Guo Ping. And she rejects criticism that using Huawei telecoms equipment in Eir’s 5G network makes it any less secure than other networks.“It's very hard to take the smoke away from everything that's going on around this,” she says. “But obviously security is really important to us. We've just recently won the Garda mobile business tender. So it's not stopping us winning business. Do American multinationals mention it? Yes. But has it stopped us winning business? No It hasn't. So we're going to push on, we’re committed to them, they've been a good supplier and we're very happy with the kit and the quality of the network.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Twitter is an angry place. It can drain your natural sense of goodwill and manners.This week, we look at how to behave on the world’s narkiest social network.Adrian is joined by Victoria Turk, features editor of Wired UK and author of the international hit book, ‘Digital Etiquette’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Politicians like to say that elections are won on doorsteps. But most of them now spend almost as much time on their Facebook pages and Whatsapp groups.But who is policing Facebook and messaging groups for misinformation, planted false stories and algorithm-gaming?It’s not the BAI. It’s not the telecoms regulator, Comreg. And it’s not the Irish Press Council or Press Ombudsman. Unlike broadcasting or print, there is no official policing for fairness, accuracy or balance.Invariably, it comes back to the companies themselves.This week, Adrian is joined by Damien Mulley, founder of Mulley Communications, to look under the hood of how targeting works on social media during an election campaign. Mulley talks about an experiment he ran where he was able to target a handful of influential TDs and their political advisers for a couple of euro using Facebook’s ad system.And the two discuss the darker side of the political system and what it can throw up by way of trying to skew political debate online.Techniques have moved beyond the creation of outright false headlines claiming that a particular candidate has been endorsed by the Pope.Modern methods can be subtle and sophisticated, playing off algorithms. This includes getting dozens, or hundreds, of people to swarm online, all leaving comments under a news article or candidate post. Or to search repeatedly for a candidate’s name in an attempt to skew the search engine’s algorithm.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Trinity College Dublin has a €1.1bn plan to build a new high-end innovation district’ plan that would see the cream of academic and industrial talent come together.The government is to consider putting €150m into the 10 year plan. The resulting five-acre space near Dublin’s Silicon Docks hopes to create a new super-hub for engineering, scientific and tech research, mixing academic stars with multinationals and venture capitalists.Dublin, the college says, should have its own equivalent to Boston’s Kendall Square or London’s Crick Institute.But is the plan a bold new template for the next stage of Ireland’s industrial ascension? Or is it another symbol of a two-tier city where the super-successful push ordinary citizens out? Could it be both?Adrian sits down with TCD’s chief innovation and enterprise officer, Dr Diarmuid O’Brien to find out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this podcast, Adrian and Donal O’Donovan (Irish Independent business editor) continue to look ahead at some of the big tech trends, services and products that are set to make a difference in 2020.As usual, Adrian makes a couple of calls on what he thinks will and won’t pan out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s the last week of 2019 (and, depending on your view, the decade). Instead of looking back, we’re going to make some predictions about what you can expect to come at you in tech over the next year.Adrian is joined to discuss his predictions by Donal O'Donovan, Irish Independent business editor.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian and Buzz.ie editor Mark Kavanagh list the best tech gadgets of the year.These include phones, headphones, smart speakers, cameras, smartwatches, drones, laptops and desktop PCs.The two also look forward to what is expected in 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some Irish tech firms prosper, some go bust and a great many simply run as a going concern.But there is a small number of Irish companies that still get talked about as ones with ‘potential’, even when they’re ten years old and bringing in millions.Ding, the Dublin-based firm that lets people top up their mobile phone credfit, may fall into this category.The company, founded by Mark Roden, has done pretty well to date. It has annual revenue of €38m based on over €500m of phone top-ups through its system. These come via deals with over 500 mobile operators and availability through 600,000 retail outlets.But talk to anyone in the Irish tech industry and it’s still discussed as something yet to see its finest day. Roden himself sets this tone, saying it hasn’t quite fulfilled its ambition. This week, Adrian sits down with Roden to talk about what he thinks the company should do next.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Almost two in five Irish people are leaving themselves open to a likely data breach by not updating their passwords.This week, Adrian sits down with Brad Brooks, CEO of OneLogin. The two talk about online security and why one in five Irish adults haven’t updated their passwords in over two years.One factor in understanding the lack of security hygiene over passwords in Ireland may be a professed level of annoyance that Irish people say they feel at online security measures.Almost a third of us get frustrated by the familiar Captcha random image and number generator system, while nearly one in five get irked by one-time passcodes via text or email.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you cope when your startup fails?The issue of mental health among founders isn’t widely discussed.This week, Adrian talks to Eamon Leonard, the popular Irish startup founder who found it tough going after one of his companies failed.Eamon talks candidly and honestly about the difficulties he had when things didn’t work out.He also talks about the new company he has co-founded, Boundless, and recounts the eye-opening tale of how he was ripped off by fraudsters when trying to buy equipment for a side-business making whiskey.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While the world tries to decide whether political advertising should be allowed on Facebook, the company has quietly chosen Ireland to try out a new privacy feature over almost all ads.‘Off Facebook Activity’ will let you cut off advertisers from your Facebook identity, either individually or in total.The idea is to address a problem that came into sharp focus in the Cambridge Analytica scandal -- what happens to your personal data outside your Facebook sessions?The new Off Facebook Activity tool will show you the apps and websites that connect to your Facebook profile, usually for the purposes of advertising, and will let you wipe that slate clean. You can then choose not to let Facebook use your general browsing activity to show you personalised ads.Will people use this tool, or just ignore it as they do for many of the privacy settings that services such as Facebook introduce?That’s a question that Adrian puts to David Baser, a senior product director at Facebook responsible for the new Off Facebook Activity tool.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down with the world’s most famous PR man and CEO of Edelman Public Relations, Richard Edelman.The Chicago-born executive, whose firm takes in €800m a year in revenue and has an expanding Irish office, gives Adrian his take on the state of the world.This includes the advice he would give to Mark Zuckerberg, why newspapers have to change their business model and the circumstances under which company bosses should speak openly about contemporary issues.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thought food delivery by drone was a distant tech promise?Think again.Irish entrepreneur Bobby Healy says his first Manna Aero drone flights with burgers and chips will start in January.The former Cartrawler CTO says he has clearance from Ireland’s regulators to do it and will start with an area servicing 30,000 people.In the near future, he says, he hopes to scale to 50,000 delivery drones for the Irish and UK markets.Is this really about to happen?Adrian sat down with Bobby at the Web Summit in Lisbon to talk about how Manna Aero will work, the challenges facing it and Healy’s future ambition for the company.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In what he says will be his last wide-ranging Irish interview “for two years”, Paddy Cosgrave speaks at length and in-depth about his business, his politics and his thoughts about the future.The Web Summit is still growing and is quite profitable, while sister events Collision and Rise are also expanding.Paddy reveals some of the background as to why he has campaigned against tax lawyers and an “unjust” economic system in Ireland. He also answers the allegation that he is adopting a double standard with regard to some of his stances, in relation to what he does with his own companies.This is a must-listen interview for anyone interested in the Web Summit founder.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian and Buzz.ie digital editor Mark Kavanagh look in depth at the pros and cons of Google’s latest flagship smartphone, the Pixel 4 XL.Adrian is disappointed with the phone’s battery life and lack of an ultrawide camera, while Mark loves the phone’s 90Hz refresh rate. Both admire Google’s Assistant and Android 10.The two journalists also compare and contrast the new Pixel with the other top phones on the market, while Adrian lists his three favourite smartphones of 2019.Adrian and Mark also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of signing up to Eir’s budget mobile operator, GoMo. Adrian thinks it’s a no-brainer, even if Eir goes back on its word and doesn’t keep the price at €10 per month for 80GB of data.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian invites a couple of guests on to ask about whether we’re anywhere close to realising aspirations of making Dublin into a ‘smart city’.What is a smart city, anyway? Is it just some public wifi? A few sensor-stacked bins? Or does Dublin have a plan for drones and autonomous vehicles?And should we avoid the example of Songdo, the South Korean city that spent €40bn creating a new smart citadel but where hardly anyone wants to live?Adrian talks to Jamie Cudden, Dublin City Council’s Smart City programme manager, and Dr Zohreh Pourzolfaghar from DCU’s School of Computing.For more from the Big Tech show you can visit the show page at:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-big-tech-show/The Big Tech show is in association with Magnet Networks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clothes manufacturers are starting to build voice technology into their garments, while Amazon’s new doorbell tech allows it to have autonomous conversations with whoever’s at the door.This week, Adrian Weckler goes through some of the latest developments in voice technology from companies like Google, Amazon and Nuance.He’s joined by Bret Kinsella, founder of Voicebot.ai and commentator of the year on voice technology as defined by the Alexa Conference.For more from the Big Tech show you can visit the show page at:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-big-tech-show/The Big Tech show is in association with Magnet Networks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Creating start-ups is hard. -- few of them succeed. This week, Adrian talks to two Irish co-founders, people at very different stages. Des Treanor is the co-founder of one of Ireland’s most successful ever start-ups, Intercom. Ian Kehoe is the co-founder of a new online media business company, The Currency. Both have different perspectives, motivations and challenges. Adrian asks both about particular issues that crop up and how they get over them.For more from the Big Tech show you can visit the show page at:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-big-tech-show/The Big Tech show is in association with Magnet Networks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian reviews the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro Max. Although smitten by the new cameras on the updated handsets, he thinks that the unsung feature that will sell the iPhone Pro and iPhone Pro Max models is the impressive new battery life, up to five hours per day longer than last year’s iPhone X models. He’s joined by John Kennedy, former founding editor of SiliconRepublic.com and now editor of ThinkBusiness.ie, a business information platform run by Bank of Ireland. “After a week using the new iPhone 11 Pro Max, I would upgrade to it for two reasons,” says Adrian. “The cameras and the battery life. When it comes to cameras, I’m slightly biased. For me, the camera system on a phone is about half the reason I choose it. Apple claims that battery life on this model is up to five hours longer than last year’s X Max and it feels like it.”“I know that battery life has always been a pain point for iPhone users compared to some flagship models from rivals. So this is actually a very big deal, especially for power-users or business people relying on it as a workload tool. If anything, Apple is underplaying it.”For more from the Big Tech show you can visit the show page at:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-big-tech-show/The Big Tech show is in association with Magnet Networks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian looks at some of the nuts and bolts of starting a company with a couple of entrepreneurs who have succeeded and failed several times.From choosing a place to work to asking for money from friends and family, Adrian gets the insights from Voxgig and Nearform founder Richard Rodger and serial startup activist Dave Cunningham.For more from the Big Tech show you can visit the show page at:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-big-tech-show/The Big Tech show is in association with Magnet Networks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Big Tech Show, Adrian Weckler looks at 5G not from the point of view of speed or connectivity but health. It’s been an issue bubbling under, in rural areas especially, as to whether mobile phone radiation is safe.The regulators say it is but there are some campaigners who don't believe that is so. Are they mere conspiracy theorists or is there more to it?To find out, Adrian spoke to Tom Butler, Prof of Business Information Systems at UCC, who believes in the dangers, and Prof Kevin Curran from the School of Computing at Ulster University, who believes that if the dangers were as bad as people were claiming it wouldn't have gone unnoticed.For more from the Big Tech show you can visit the show page at:https://www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-big-tech-show/The Big Tech show is in association with Magnet Networks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down with a specialist from St John Of Gods, Professor Colin O’Gara, who says he is seeing more and more people brought in for addiction to video games.Adrian asks Prof O’Gara about the scale and depth of the problem, its effects and how to diagnose it.The two also discuss possible treatments for the problem, including the kinds of medication prescribed.And Adrian asks Prof O’Gara to put the issue into context with established medical addictions, such as gambling, alcohol and drugs.In an era when Irish teenagers are competing globally in esports competitions, how should Ireland deal with the clinical side of it?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian tackles the thorny issue of mobile and broadband operators which advertise "unlimited" services that actually have hidden limits.He sits down with the head of the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI), Orla Twomey, to ask why that organisation allows such a misleading situation to exist.Orla tells Adrian that while the situation is being reviewed, there is a rationale for allowing operators to advertise unlimited services that have limits.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down to find out what, if any, big ideas Dell Ireland's new country manager has.Mark Hopkins starts off defending some industry jargon before expanding into why he thinks tech will have a bigger impact on our education system.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down for a long, in-depth discussion with Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon on why she stopped the government from making its Public Services Card into a national identity card through the backdoor.After years of controversy, this week her office ruled that the PSC card cannot be used as a necessary form of identification for services outside the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.The move effectively puts a halt to any plans the government had of making the Public Services Card a ‘national identity card’ through stealth.“The Department does not have a legal basis for processing personal data when it's in the case of a person who's seeking to avail of a service with the public sector body other than the Department itself,” she tells Adrian.However, she stopped short of saying that the Public Services Card must be scrapped.“Any cards that have been issued, their validity is not in question by anything we've found in this report,” she said.“They can continue to be used in the context of availing of free travel or availing of benefits that a person is claiming from the Department.”Dixon qualifies this by saying that the PSC can be used voluntarily by a citizen as a valid proof.“If someone optionally brings their public services card to renew their driver's license, there is no issue with that. But what we're saying is that it must be an option. A public sector body cannot now require someone who doesn't already have one, to go and procure one in order to avail of their service.”The PSC has been criticised by civil liberties groups who claim it is an attempt by the government to create a national identity card by stealth.Earlier this year, UN special rapporteur on poverty, Professor Philip Alston, said that the PSC “runs the risk of becoming a centralised database containing intimate, personal information” that was unsafe.Government ministers have repeatedly claimed that the PSC is a protection against fraud, identity theft and helps to cut costs. They say that the card simplifies identity registration for public services and reduces the need for duplicate forms and the repetition of processes. However, Dixon tells Adrian that the PSC as currently constructed is overarching and is sometimes being used without good reason or legal justification.“An example is the Department of Education’s appeal system around school transport,” she said.“It now says that you have to procure a PSC card to make an appeal. It’s very difficult to see why that’s a requirement.”Dixon also tells Adrian that she has opened a new investigation into the owner of The Huffington Post, Techcrunch and Yahoo. The Irish DPC office is now probing Verizon Media, formerly known as Oath, around complaints that its online media properties do not give users choice around online ‘cookies’ that track user activity online.Meanwhile, Dixon tells Adrian that her office’s first major GDPR decision relating to a multinational tech firm looks set to be about Whatsapp.“I expect that file to land on my desk in the next fortnight,” she said.However, it is then likely to take “months” to arrive at a formal decision due to a statutory process of “examination and analysis”.Dixon’s office currently has 61 statutory enquiries underway under GDPR law, 21 of which are focused on tech multinational firms. These include Facebook (8), Twitter (3), Apple (3), Whatsapp (2), Instagram (1), Google (1), Linkedin (1), Quantcast (1) and Verizon Media (1).Under GDPR law, the Irish DPC can fine a company up to 4pc of its annual turnover.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After October 31st, will pensioners still be able to travel on a free pass around Ireland? Will online shops based in the UK be able to process customer information from Irish shoppers?It’s in serious doubt, says the guest on this week’s podcast, Castlebridge’s Dr Katherine O’Keeffe, an expert on data privacy.Adrian and Katherine go deep on why a no-deal Brexit spells chaos for many ordinary activities you wouldn’t have thought of.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down with Cillian Kieran, who recently scooped €3.8m in seed funding for his privacy-focused software startup called Ethyca.The two discuss possible solutions to today’s privacy problems.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Eir debateEir's audacious €1bn proposal for an alternative National Broadband Plan stirred up a nest of debate and dissent in recent weeks.One of the senior political figures who backs Eir is Timmy Dooley, Fianna Fail spokesman on Communications, Climate Action and Environment.He sat down with Adrian to explain why he thinks it's worth taking a risk on an Eir proposal and what he would do as a government Minister.Dooley also outlined why he is in favour of a new digital tax on online advertising.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The fad of the week is FaceApp, which makes even the most cherubic youngster look like Gandalf.But we really helping ‘The Russians’ compile a giant facial database? Or is the current hysteria just this month’s instalment of the neverending moral panic around tech?Adrian Weckler and Fearghal O’Connor (deputy business editor for The Sunday Independent) discuss the issue from a political and technological perspective.The two also examine Instagram’s trial move in Ireland to remove ‘likes’ from individual posts. Will it do anything meaningful to help ease mental health issues suffered by teens? And will it cripple so-called ‘influencers’?Lastly, Adrian and Fearghal look at how online subscriptions are taking bigger and bigger chunks of our monthly pay cheques. Adrian’s now stands at over €100 – with media companies now switching over to paywalls, how far can it go?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women in Tech is a new podcast series presented by Samantha McCaughren, Business Editor of the Sunday Independent.Samantha speaks to Irish women involved in tech who are dispelling myths and breaking down barriers.On this week's bonus episode, she meets Jennifer Cox, who is a CSM Associate Security Engineer with Tenable, an international cyber security company.With a background in theatre and media studies, Jennifer is not your typical STEM candidate and Samantha spoke to Jennifer about how and why she got into tech and why not being afraid to speak out has stood to her throughout her career.For more from the series go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/women-in-tech/The Women in Tech podcast series is in association with 100% Electric Nissan Leaf.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Adrian talks to Justin McLeod, the founder and chief executive of the dating app Hinge, which claims to be the fastest-growing such app in Ireland and the UK.As well as recounting his own dramatic love, McLeod talks about algorithms, safety, age verification and what works best for those using dating apps.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.