Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons Podcast

Most of the chatbots in the news today are trained on public data (often including copyrighted data). But it doesn’t have to be that way. What if you had a chatbot that could access all of your personal or company data, but hosted locally so that all the data was secure and private? You could ask it all sorts of interesting questions about that data, run helpful reports, and tease out important trends or do in-depth analysis that would be very difficult for a human to do. Basically, there are lots of uses for AI beyond ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude – and done in ways that preserve the privacy of your data and queries. Today we’ll discuss how we can do AI better with the CEO and Founder of Empathy AI, Angel Maldonado.

Interview Notes

Empathy AI home page: Empathy.ai

Manifesto: https://empathy.ai/manifesto/ 

Molly vs the Machines: MollyVsTheMachines.com 

The New Age of Ethical Commerce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_4d4outlFQ 

Reddit LocaLLM: https://www.reddit.com/r/LocalLLM/

Also: https://www.reddit.com/r/LocalLLaMA/

Charlie Bridge: https://charliebridge.com/ 

Proton’s Lumo: https://lumo.proton.me 

Project Gutenberg w/ Empathy.ai: https://projectgutenberg.empathy.ai/library/discover 

Standard eBooks: https://standardebooks.org/ 

Calibre (free ebook manager): https://calibre-ebook.com/ 

Further Info

My book: https://fdsd.me/book 

My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter 

Support the mission: https://fdsd.me/support 

Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons 

Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch 

Table of Contents

0:00:18: Intro

0:03:17: Lingo

0:04:12: Why did you start Empathy.ai?

0:08:10: How should we interact with LLMs?

0:13:53: How will AI change the future of work?

0:20:49: Can we limit AI resource usage?

0:30:30: How can we make agentic AI safer?

0:39:19: How do we keep LLM sessions private?

0:47:55: What are the benefits & risks of AI?

0:50:01: What will the world be like for kids today?

0:56:29: How should a layman learn about AI?

1:00:12: What’s next for you and Empathy?

1:01:32: Wrap-up

1:05:34: Patron podcast preview

1:06:29: Looking ahead

In the final part of my series on downloading all of your historical emails from the cloud, we’ll make backups of your archive and make sure we store them in multiple places, following the 3-2-1 backup rule. I’ll also tell you about an interesting open source email archive project that you might find interesting.

In the news: the FCC wants to kill burner phones; the WeedHack malware targets Minecraft players; a new surveillance company wants to add personal radio IDs to our license plate reader data; Apple debuts new parental controls; a 17-million-device botnet has been dismantled; Slate Auto has a cheap new EV that’s got some great privacy features; Meta quickly deletes facial recognition features from smart glasses; FISA Section 702 is allowed to lapse; Signal alums reveal “Encrypted Spaces” tech for encrypted group collaboration.

Article Links

FCC Wants to Kill Burner Phones By Forcing Telecoms to Get All Customers’ IDs: https://www.404media.co/fcc-wants-to-kill-burner-phones-by-forcing-telecoms-to-get-all-customers-ids

Teens are using $5 WeedHack malware to target Minecraft players: https://mashable.com/tech/minecraft-weedhack-malware-as-a-service-report

This Company Will Add Phone, AirPod, and Smartwatch Trackers to License Plate Readers: https://www.404media.co/this-company-will-add-phone-airpod-and-smartwatch-trackers-to-license-plate-readers

Apple’s new parental controls are for keeping Apple out of trouble: https://www.theverge.com/policy/946331/apple-parental-controls-child-accounts-wwdc

Botnet of more than 17 million devices dismantled: https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/05/botnet-of-more-than-17-million-devices-dismantled

Slate Auto gets serious about privacy for its bare-bones EV pickup: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/06/slate-says-its-electric-pickup-will-never-track-you

Meta Deletes Face-Recognition System From Its Smart Glasses App After WIRED Report: https://www.wired.com/story/meta-removes-face-recognition-code-meta-ai-app-smart-glasses

US surveillance law to expire for first time after lawmakers reject Trump’s controversial pick to lead spy agencies: https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/12/us-spy-law-to-expire-for-first-time-after-lawmakers-reject-trumps-controversial-pick-to-lead-spy-agencies

Signal Alums Reveal ‘Encrypted Spaces,’ a System for Making Private Collaboration Apps: https://www.wired.com/story/signal-alums-release-encrypted-spaces-a-new-system-for-building-private-collaboration-apps

Tip of the Week: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/backup-your-email-archive/ 

Further Info

FCC, submit comment (docket # 17-59 and 02-278): https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings/express 

Slate Truck: https://www.slate.auto/en 

My book: https://fdsd.me/book 

My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter 

Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support 

Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons 

Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch 

Table of Contents

0:00:08: Intro

0:01:32: News preview

0:03:36: FCC wants to ban burner phones

0:11:20: Teens using $5 WeedHack malware

0:17:23: ALPRs gain device tracking

0:22:39: Apple’s new child safety features

0:30:47: Botnet with 17M bots disabled

0:36:30: New Slate EV has no tracking

0:47:01: FISA Section 702 lapses

0:55:47: Secure Spaces for secure collaboration

1:02:12: Tip of the Week

1:07:51: Patron podcast preview

1:08:22: Looking ahead

What would you do if you suddenly lost your bank account – and potentially access to all your funds? What about your credit cards? How long could your business stay afloat if you could no longer receive payments? Most of us take financial services for granted, but they can be taken away at any time – for almost any reason. And sometimes the reason is just that they don’t like you – or someone in power doesn’t like you, who can put pressure on the financial company. In many cases, this amounts to financial censorship. My guest today, Rainey Reitman, is the head of the Freedom of the Press Foundation and author of a book on this very subject called Transaction Denied. We’ll learn about how this happens, what the impacts are, and what we can do about it.

Interview Notes

Freedom of the Press Foundation: https://freedom.press/ 

EFF: https://www.eff.org/ 

Protect the Stack: https://protectthestack.org/ 

Pretty much infra: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/12/we-need-talk-about-infrastructure 

Santa Clara Principles: https://santaclaraprinciples.org/ 

Cryptocurrency 101: https://podcast.firewallsdontstopdragons.com/2022/06/06/cryptocurrency-101/ 

The Curse of Cash (book): https://www.amazon.com/Curse-Cash-Large-Denomination-Constrain-Monetary/dp/0691178364 

Further Info

My book: https://fdsd.me/book 

My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter 

Support the mission: https://fdsd.me/support 

Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons 

Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch 

Table of Contents

0:00:13: Intro

0:02:45: Why did you start FPF?

0:08:25: What are some examples of financial censorship?

0:14:44: What are the impacts of this?

0:20:35: What can you do when this happens?

0:23:45: Are you entitled to know why you were cut off?

0:26:10: How do KYC laws impact your rights?

0:31:14: How might regulators infringe free speech?

0:35:56: How might my reputation after me here?

0:41:40: Should we codify banking rights?

0:46:21: What about using cash or cryptocurrency?

0:50:18: What bank practices should we change?

0:54:32: What should the government be doing here?

0:58:36: What’s next for you and FPF?

0:59:47: Wrap-up

1:02:40: Patron podcast preview

1:04:08: Looking ahead

As part of my ongoing series on creating a full backup of all your old emails, we want to take some time to verify that we got everything okay. In today’s Tip of the Week, I’ll give you several pointers on how to go about doing this. In the last installment, we’ll make a couple backups and (optionally) delete everything from your email provider.

In the news: AI firms want your financial data; Google Search moves to AI chat format; AI bots transcribing all your meetings; Mayo Clinic using AI to transcribe ER visits; CISA exposes credentials in massive screw up; school buses are being turned into mass surveillance machines; FBI wants access to all the license plate readers; some in Congress are trying to kill license plate readers.

Article Links

Experts warn of privacy risks as AI firms looks to connect to financial accounts: https://therecord.media/experts-warn-of-privacy-cyer-risks-ai-finance

Google Search as you know it is over: https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/19/google-search-as-you-know-it-is-over

You Are Being Recorded: https://blog.yaelwrites.com/you-are-being-recorded

Mayo Clinic is Using AI to Listen to Emergency Room Visits: https://www.404media.co/mayo-clinic-is-using-ai-to-listen-to-emergency-room-visits

US cyber agency CISA exposed reams of passwords and cloud keys to the open web: https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/19/us-cyber-agency-cisa-exposed-reams-of-passwords-and-cloud-keys-to-the-open-web

‘BusPatrol’ Put AI Cameras in Tens of Thousands of School Buses. Now They Want to Give Cops Access: https://www.404media.co/buspatrol-put-ai-cameras-in-tens-of-thousands-of-school-buses-now-they-want-to-give-cops-access

The FBI Wants to Buy Nationwide Access to License Plate Readers: https://www.404media.co/the-fbi-wants-to-buy-nationwide-access-to-license-plate-readers

A Bipartisan Amendment Would End Police License Plate Tracking Nationwide: https://www.wired.com/story/a-bipartisan-amendment-would-end-police-license-plate-tracking-nationwide

Tip of the Week: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/verify-your-email-archive/ 

Further Info

Privacy Guides (search engines): https://www.privacyguides.org/en/search-engines/ 

My Proton referral link: https://pr.tn/ref/ZMNG3DNK 

My book: https://fdsd.me/book 

My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter 

Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support 

Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons 

Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch 

Table of Contents

Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show.

0:00:07: Intro

0:00:47: News preview

0:02:13: AI financial advisors

0:08:42: Google Search making big changes

0:17:30: You are being recorded

0:25:07: Mayo Clinic ER AI transcripts

0:31:37: Major CISA credentials screwup

0:35:54: School bus surveillance

0:43:37: FBI wants nationwide ALPR access

0:49:04: Congress looks to ban ALPRs

0:53:19: Tip of the Week

1:00:32: Patron podcast preview

1:01:05: Looking ahead

When you’re working for your employer, no matter where you are, you’re on company time, using company equipment. Your employer has a responsibility to protect their assets – not just their equipment and facilities, but their data, as well. That gives employers several reasons to monitor you and any devices you might be using for work – including your mobile phone, potentially. While your rights to privacy are limited, they’re not eliminated. Today I’ll ask Jodi Daniels (Red Clover Advisors) and Jan Rosenfeld (iVerify) to help us understand what personal information might be gathered, how it might be used, and what we should do to protect ourselves.

Interview Notes

iVerify (Jan Rosenfeld): https://iverify.io/ 

Red Clover Advisors (Jodi Daniels): https://redcloveradvisors.com/our-team/jodi-daniels/ 

Microsoft Recall: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/retrace-your-steps-with-recall-aa03f8a0-a78b-4b3e-b0a1-2eb8ac48701c 

WiFi Pineapple: https://shop.hak5.org/products/wifi-pineapple 

Further Info

My book: https://fdsd.me/book 

My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter 

Support the mission: https://fdsd.me/support 

Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons 

Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch 

Table of Contents

0:00:20: Intro

0:01:54: Lingo

0:03:45: Why do employers monitor employees?

0:10:23: What privacy rights do employees have?

0:17:27: How do employers monitor mobile phones?

0:24:07: What can be learned using mobile profiles?

0:30:27: How are laptops monitored?

0:34:31: Can employers monitor encrypted traffic?

0:36:17: What are the privacy risks for computor monitoring?

0:41:41: How else might I be tracked at work?

0:48:05: How might my data be correlated with my colleagues?

0:52:38: What about job applicant privacy?

0:55:59: What happens when I leave a company?

1:02:15: How can we best protect employment data?

1:05:22: How do I handle privacy violations?

1:06:55: Wrap-up

1:10:49: Patron podcast preview

1:11:25: Looking ahead