On this inaugural episode of You're On Mute, Steve and I explore the topic of cookies. Not the delicious baked good, but those pesky things that track your movements and interests as you browse the web. We provide a history of where they came from, what they do, and where they are going as they will soon be extinct. 

We hope you enjoy our first foray into podcasting as we will continue to discuss how the intersection of advertising, technology, and the internet is impacting our daily lives. We will also look to have featured guests on the show to provide even more insight, education, and to provide some clarity about how this whole thing works and how we fit in.

Cookies, Bitcoin, Australia and You

For our second episode, we interview our first guest, Steve Latham, a friend colleague, and industry expert with over 20 years of experience across analytics, digital marketing, software, and finance. As a continuation of our first episode about those pesky little, but apparently harmless cookies - we uncover a few other types of digital identifiers and trackers that are collecting your data across the web. Please join Steve, Steve, and Devon to learn a bit more about what is happening behind the scenes of the internet, identify ways to protect and educate yourself, and how you can learn more about how trackable you and your devices are.

Fingerprinting, Zombies, The Hoff, and You

In our third episode, we interview privacy and data protection lawyer, Becky Burr to discuss the history and potential future of internet privacy legislation in the US and globally. We are very excited to have Becky on the show as she has spent her career working across the ecosystem to keep our data safe and our privacy protected. Working for the Clinton Administration at the FTC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, Becky worked on some of the first and only federal legislation to protect consumer privacy on the internet and across telecommunication devices. We sit down with her to find out what we should know as consumers to protect ourselves, what the government is doing to protect us, and how COVID-19 may impact the future of privacy law. Stay safe!

Al Gore, AOL, Privacy Legislation, and You

In our fourth episode, we introduce a new segment to YOM - Family, Friends, Strangers, and You. In this sporadic series Steve and Devon will sit down with our family, our friends, and even the occasional stranger, to talk about their digital habits, their fears about privacy, and their questions about how the internet works. We want to better understand how advertising, technology, and the internet is actually impacting our daily lives at an individual level, as well as uncover trends and commonalities between all of us. In volume one, Devon talks about true crime and brand loyalty with his wife.  He discovers just how tech-savvy his mom really is. And a conversation about how being a small business owner and a teacher may be influencing the technology and protection choices, his long-time friend chooses to make.  We hope you enjoy the discussion, and as always, if you have a question or have your own story that you would like to share, please drop us a line via email or via voicemail. (scroll to the bottom to find out how)

Episode 4 Family, Friends Strangers, and You Vol.1

In Episode 5 Steve and Devon explore technology in our U.S. prison system. We speak with Kelli, a corrections officer at a high security facility to get an inside look at how the internet and technology, is impacting the daily lives of everyone behind the prison walls. We explore restrictions on usage as well as the limitations placed on technology sophistication for both the inmates and the officers. We also talk about data protection, tools for the visually impaired, and how movies and TV has created a misleading understanding of prison tech. Enjoy!

Prisons, Technology, Netflix, and You

In Episode 6 Steve and Devon sit down with Nick Charles and Ken Gude from The Save Journalism Project to discuss the current threats to local news and journalism as a whole by ‘big tech’. We’ve talked a lot about cookies on this podcast and this episode is no exception. Cookies allow for the flow of advertising dollars to fund the free and open internet. With cookies in decline, and large tech organizations owning a lion’s share of the advertising pie, our local news, and our communities are at risk.  Over the last 10 years, newspaper newsrooms have declined in size by 45%, and in 2019, the media shed more than 7,200 jobs. 60% of U.S. counties have no daily newspaper and 1,300 communities have lost local news coverage in the last 15 years. If these numbers are alarming, they should be. Please listen to learn more about out what is being done to save journalism, what you can do to provide support, and how technology is directly impacting the future of local news.

Incognito Mode, Advertising, Local News, and You

In Episode 7 Steve and Devon sit down with Julie Fleischer, a global marketing powerhouse who has spent her career helping big brands improve their relationship with consumers using data. Julie talks with us about her experience at some pretty impressive brands and agencies including Kraft Foods, WW (formerly Weight Watchers), and Omnicom Media Group. For any of you consumers out there who want to learn more about how your favorite brands use your data to improve or even worsen your experience, please listen in. Julie continues to be one of the most outspoken voices of reason in the industry fighting for greater innovation and common sense when it comes to data-driven marketing, making sure your data is put to better use.

Miracle Whip, Extra Hot Lattes, Customer Data, and You

In Episode 8 Steve and Devon talk about what this back to school season will look like with the majority of kids learning from home. We talk tips, tricks, and trepidations in getting your kids ready for a virtual school year. What you should be looking to do to protect your kid’s privacy and increase their learning efficiency. We also discuss what this pandemic is doing to our mental health and how technology may be helping or hurting. We also take our first tech question from a listener who is concerned about a creepy Instagram ad they received after a simple text exchange with a friend. Devon also has a similar story to tell about some bootleg YOM merchandise. We hope you enjoy!

Back to School, Creepy Ads, Instagram, and You

Advertising, technology, the internet, and you. A podcast that explores what it all means and why it even matters.