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In this slightly chaotic (and mildly censored) April Fools’ episode, hosts Paul Breitbarth, Ralph O'Brien, and Dr. K Royal welcome Simon Pillinger of Pillinger Privacy, also known as the first president of the People's Republic of North Oxfordshire, to discuss how humour, healthcare, and hard-won experience shape a career in data protection—and why the profession sometimes takes itself far too seriously. Along the way, they unpack the risks of “compliance theatre”, the human reality behind privacy decisions, and how a well-timed joke can be more effective than a 6,000-word DPIA.

If you have comments or questions, find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @seriousprivacy, and on BlueSky under @seriousprivacy.eu, @europaulb.seriousprivacy.eu, @heartofprivacy.bsky.app and @igrobrien.seriousprivacy.eu, and email podcast@seriousprivacy.eu. Rate and Review us!

From Season 6, our episodes are edited by Fey O'Brien. Our intro and exit music is Channel Intro 24 by Sascha Ende, licensed under CC BY 4.0. with the voiceover by Tim Foley.

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We are back again, and why so Serious?

We are well into to season 7 of the Serious Privacy podcast, with dr. K Royal, Ralph O'Brien and Paul Breitbarth.

Ahead of IAPP Washington DC, we discuss the new Oklahoma SB546, the Global CBPR forum meeting in Lima Peru, regulatory capture, Trademarking your image, Delve compliance controversy and the HUGE news of court cases regarding Social Media addiction which may open the floodgates to more cases... and much much more!

• CBPR updates:
• Social Media addiction case:
• Image Trademarking:
• Delve controversy:

Also this season, we will keep you up to date of developments in the data protection and privacy community, artificial intelligence and some cybersecurity. And of course we'll bring you interviews with great guests!

If you have comments or questions, find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @seriousprivacy, and on BlueSky under @seriousprivacy.eu, @europaulb.seriousprivacy.eu, @heartofprivacy.bsky.app and @igrobrien.seriousprivacy.eu, and email podcast@seriousprivacy.eu. Rate and Review us!

From Season 6, our episodes are edited by Fey O'Brien. Our intro and exit music is Channel Intro 24 by Sascha Ende, licensed under CC BY 4.0. with the voiceover by Tim Foley.

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome to the newest episode of the Serious Privacy podcast, where hosts Ralph O'Brien, and Dr. K Royal, recovery from illness and come back strong with a cool announcement - and your regular news round up in all things Data Protection and Privacy.

Latest regulatory penalties, new legislation and news from around the globe, as K and Ralph attempt the impossible - to convey all that has occurred to you - our dear "Serious Privettes"!

Paul Breitbarth, our dearly beloved friend is out for one more week!

If you have comments or questions, find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @seriousprivacy, and on BlueSky under @seriousprivacy.eu, @europaulb.seriousprivacy.eu, @heartofprivacy.bsky.app and @igrobrien.seriousprivacy.eu, and email podcast@seriousprivacy.eu. Rate and Review us!

From Season 6, our episodes are edited by Fey O'Brien. Our intro and exit music is Channel Intro 24 by Sascha Ende, licensed under CC BY 4.0. with the voiceover by Tim Foley.

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome to the newest episode of the Serious Privacy podcast, where hosts Ralph O'Brien, and Dr. K Royal address the hot topics of the month, as we have been so full of guests that the time has flown by!

Latest regulatory penalties, new legislation and news from around the globe, as K and Ralph attempt the impossible - to convey all that has occurred to you - our dear "Serious Privettes"!

Paul Breitbarth, our dearly beloved friend is out this week, so send him much joy!

If you have comments or questions, find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @seriousprivacy, and on BlueSky under @seriousprivacy.eu, @europaulb.seriousprivacy.eu, @heartofprivacy.bsky.app and @igrobrien.seriousprivacy.eu, and email podcast@seriousprivacy.eu. Rate and Review us!

From Season 6, our episodes are edited by Fey O'Brien. Our intro and exit music is Channel Intro 24 by Sascha Ende, licensed under CC BY 4.0. with the voiceover by Tim Foley.

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome to the newest episode of the Serious Privacy podcast, where hosts Paul Breitbarth, Ralph O'Brien, and Dr. K Royal address the hot topic of data in Elections and Democratic engagement with James Robson, former DPO of the UK's Labour Party.

If you have comments or questions, find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @seriousprivacy, and on BlueSky under @seriousprivacy.eu, @europaulb.seriousprivacy.eu, @heartofprivacy.bsky.app and @igrobrien.seriousprivacy.eu, and email podcast@seriousprivacy.eu. Rate and Review us!

From Season 6, our episodes are edited by Fey O'Brien. Our intro and exit music is Channel Intro 24 by Sascha Ende, licensed under CC BY 4.0. with the voiceover by Tim Foley.

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome to the newest episode of the Serious Privacy podcast, where hosts Paul Breitbarth and Ralph O'Brien address the hot topics of the day with news updates across #privacy, #dataprotection, #security, #AI and #humanrights.

No K Royal, who is on a well earned vacation!

EDPB, EDPS, ICO, GPA, DUAA and other strings of letters all get discussed!

Lots of news, case law, regulatory penalties to discuss including;

• https://www.edps.europa.eu/data-protection/our-work/publications/events/2026-02-12-data-takes-flight-navigating-privacy-airport_en
• https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/media-centre/news-and-blogs/2026/02/reddit-issued-with-1447m-fine-for-children-s-privacy-failures/
• https://ico.org.uk/media2/fb1br3d4/20260223-iewg-joint-statement-on-ai-generated-imagery.pdf
• https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/media-centre/news-and-blogs/2026/02/ico-wins-court-of-appeal-case-in-dsg-retail-ruling/

If you have comments or questions, find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @seriousprivacy, and on BlueSky under @seriousprivacy.eu, @europaulb.seriousprivacy.eu, @heartofprivacy.bsky.app and @igrobrien.seriousprivacy.eu, and email podcast@seriousprivacy.eu. Rate and Review us!

From Season 6, our episodes are edited by Fey O'Brien. Our intro and exit music is Channel Intro 24 by Sascha Ende, licensed under CC BY 4.0. with the voiceover by Tim Foley.

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome to the newest episode of the Serious Privacy podcast, where hosts Paul Breitbarth, Ralph O'Brien, and Dr. K Royal address the hot topic of agentic AI and the risks to #privacy, #dataprotection, #security, and #humanrights. We cover the basics as well as human attributes (or not) along with how to take the risks into consideration as a professional.

If you have comments or questions, find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @seriousprivacy, and on BlueSky under @seriousprivacy.eu, @europaulb.seriousprivacy.eu, @heartofprivacy.bsky.app and @igrobrien.seriousprivacy.eu, and email podcast@seriousprivacy.eu. Rate and Review us!

From Season 6, our episodes are edited by Fey O'Brien. Our intro and exit music is Channel Intro 24 by Sascha Ende, licensed under CC BY 4.0. with the voiceover by Tim Foley.

Send us Fan Mail

Welcome to the newest episode of the Serious Privacy podcast, where hosts Paul Breitbarth and Dr. K Royal discuss the privacy and data protection news of the past couple of weeks. This week, Paul rants about digital sovereignty, K discusses new American legislation, especially to protection children's data, and together they also talk about the latest WhatsApp decision from the Court of Justice of the European Union.

If you have comments or questions, find us on LinkedIn and Instagram @seriousprivacy, and on BlueSky under @seriousprivacy.eu, @europaulb.seriousprivacy.eu, @heartofprivacy.bsky.app and @igrobrien.seriousprivacy.eu, and email podcast@seriousprivacy.eu. Rate and Review us!

From Season 6, our episodes are edited by Fey O'Brien. Our intro and exit music is Channel Intro 24 by Sascha Ende, licensed under CC BY 4.0. with the voiceover by Tim Foley.