The algorithm knows your kids better than you . Feat @ProtonPrivacy
Your email holds a lot more than messages, it’s where digital identity starts. Your kids don’t need a profile before they understand what that means. Give your child a clean slate — reserve a private email for them at proton.me/subwaytakes Sponsored by @ProtonPrivacy #BornPrivate #Ad #podcast #subwaytakes #interview #nyc
Summary
The algorithm knows your kids better than you, according to a rider who worries about facial recognition in photo apps collecting data on his two young children. Kareem and the stranger discuss how sharing photos reveals more than what's visible to the human eye. Location data, timestamps, and facial scans all get scooped up. The conversation shifts to email privacy and encryption, with the rider comparing unencrypted emails to postcards that anyone can read. He lands a job offer as "chief imagination officer" after explaining end-to-end encryption. The sponsor, Proton, pitches reserving private email addresses for kids before they're old enough to understand what a digital profile means.
Full Transcript
So, what's your take? The algorithm knows your kids better than you.
100% agree. The algorithm might know me better than I know me. Yes, the algorithm knows us all, including our kids. I have two little kids, which means my parents, they're done with me. They don't care about you anymore.
I am just a vessel for grandkid photos. So, I'm taking all these pictures, all of these photo apps. They are collecting data. They have facial recognition built in. You also get the time and place the photo is taken. Most people when they share a photo, they only think about what they can see. Exactly. They don't think about what the computer can see, which is a lot more information such as where when—
I think that's it. I don't want it to be an anti-tech take and I don't want it to even be an anti-social media. Well, sometimes I'm pro the algorithm because I enjoy viral videos such as reels which are amazing, such as this reel.
Yeah, there are good things. You just need to know what they are trying to take from you and then you maybe don't post your face. Oh well, yeah. Maybe.
Should we blur you out this whole time? Yes, that would be great.
We want tech to make our life easier, not make it creepier. What about email? I'm sending an email to my mom of a photo of me on the subway. Yeah.
With this guy. What's happening there? Basically, you're sending a postcard. If you're sending a standard email, anybody can pick it up, kind of look it around, scan it. But if you have end to end encrypted email, then the only person who can see what is actually written inside it is the person you sent it to.
If I'm sharing a photo that's not encrypted into the encrypted app, is it still possible to decrypt it? It'll only be decrypted for the person you sent it to.
Is decrypted a word? It is sick.
You're a bright guy, man. I'm aing genius. Hire me. What can I be? Chief imagination officer.
Done. Really?
I have that power. All right. Well, we have a deal.
Can't wait, man. The next stop is street. I'm done.