Tech This Out!

Outrage travels faster than kindness ever could. That’s because online platforms are built to keep users scrolling, no matter the cost to young people. But what if tech companies picked up the tab for once? 
 
In the Season 2 opener of Tech This Out!, 5Rights Host, Rhythm, sits down with Glenn Micallef, the EU Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, to unpack what the online world should actually look like for young people and why it shouldn’t fall on them to stay endlessly vigilant just to offset choices that tech companies make for profit. 
 
Together, they explore what meaningful youth participation in EU policymaking looks like and why every policy area, including digital policy, must be built for generations to come. 
 
This podcast is brought to you by the 5Rights Foundation, the pioneering global organisation working with and for children for better tech. Visit our website to learn more about our work. 

It started with half a sentence in a policy document. It grew into landmark legislation that changed the internet for millions of children. In the Season 1 finale of Tech This Out!, 5Rights Youth Ambassador Nidhi sits down with Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid, former African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, and Baroness Beeban Kidron, member of the UK House of Lords and Founder of 5Rights Foundation to look back on years of advocacy, hard-won progress, and what comes next.
 
From the Age-Appropriate Design Code in the UK to the African Union Child Online Safety and Empowerment Policy, real change has been madeWhat did it take to move governments, institutions, and industry? And with AI evolving faster than any regulation can keep up, what happens next?
 
Together, they reflect on the breakthroughs and the battles, share what they've learned from young people, and make the case that protecting children online isn’t a niche cause – it’s the defining issue of our time.
 
This podcast is brought to you by the 5Rights Foundation, the pioneering global organisation working with and for children for better tech. Visit our website to learn more about our work.

Something surprising is happening in the world’s most expensive schools and it has nothing to do with technology. In this episode, 5Rights Youth Ambassador Mithesh sits down with Mark West from UNESCO to challenge what we think we know about tech in schools and ask whether EdTech is living up to its promises or leaving students behind. Together, they unpack why human connection can’t be coded and what it would take to design a digital future for schools that actually puts children and young people first.  
 
This podcast is brought to you by the 5Rights Foundation, the pioneering global organisation working with and for children for better tech. Visit our website to learn more about our work. 

When students sit an exam remotely or even buy a candy bar at a vending machine during a break, their information is collected, tracked and often used in ways they never agreed to. In this episode, 5Rights Youth Ambassador Maximilian sits down with Patricia Kosseim, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (Canada), to uncover what really happens to student data behind the scenes. Together, they explore how EdTech companies profit from children’s information, the deceptive design practices that make it hard to say no and how regulators and schools can take the next step to protect student privacy.  
 
This podcast is brought to you by the 5Rights Foundation, the pioneering global organisation working with and for children for better tech. Visit our website to learn more about our work. 
 
Ready to learn more about student privacy? Find below the resources and tools mentioned in the episode: 
In the forthcoming 2025 Global Privacy Enforcement Network sweep, more than 30 data protection agencies from around the world examined websites and apps commonly used by young people. The IPC focused specifically on EdTech products and their privacy settings. 
In the joint resolution on EdTech, Canada’s privacy regulators call for strong protection of children’s privacy in the development and use of educational technologies. 
Identifying and mitigating harms from privacy-related deceptive design patterns is a joint resolution issued by privacy regulators from across Canada calling for action on the growing use of deceptive design patterns. 
The PowerSchool Investigation Report includes the findings of the investigations into the privacy breach involving PowerSchool, a tool used by schools in Ontario and Alberta. 
The Youth Ambassador Toolkit offers children and young people knowledge and resources about the importance of privacy and privacy rights.  
The Privacy Pursuit! Lesson Plans are for educators teaching students about the importance of privacy and how to protect it online.  
For even more guidance for children, students, educators and parents, including the Info Matters podcast, please visit the IPC website.  

From the classroom to government services, artificial intelligence is quietly reshaping how children learn, play, and grow but who gets to decide how? In this final episode of our AI trilogy, 5Rights Youth Ambassador Skye interviews UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies Amandeep Singh Gill to explore the urgent need for global AI governance that puts children’s rights first. Together, they unpack why most national AI strategies barely consider children’s rights and needs, how tech companies can be held accountable across borders and why the voices of children from the Global South must be central to shaping AI’s future. Discover what it really takes to ensure AI serves all children and not just the privileged few. 
This podcast is brought to you by the 5Rights Foundation, the only global organisation working with and for children for better tech. Visit our website to learn more about our work: https://5rightsfoundation.com/