Main content

How do you fight a surveillance state?

What the Hong Kong protests could teach us about our future.

We have never lived in a more closely monitored world. Facial recognition technology is being rolled globally, including across the UK. Data can be acquired without a person’s knowledge, let alone their consent. There is a creeping paranoia and concern among human rights experts that advanced surveillance technology could fall into the wrong hands.

We speak to Lokman Tsui, a tech expert and university lecturer in Hong Kong, who is living the midst of an increasingly violent protest movement paranoid about surveillance. We also catch up with Newsnight’s Gabriel Gatehouse, who has just got back from Hong Kong, where he met the young people willing to sacrifice their lives to fight against what they believe to be the oppressive application of technology from mainland China. They both explain why there are lessons from Hong Kong for all of us about the kind of technological future we want to live in.

Release date:

Available now

18 minutes

Upskirting: How one woman fought back and changed the law

Upskirting: How one woman fought back and changed the law

Five things Gina Martin found out about getting her upskirting law passed.

Ten things you might not know about Stacey Dooley

Stacey took a break from Strictly to talk to Beyond Today.

The darker side of apps we all have on our phones

How the apps we all use can have far-reaching consequences for some users.

Don’t Tell Me The Score

Don’t Tell Me The Score

Simon Mundie finds out what sport can teach us about life.

Podcast