Brazil: Where is all the Covid data?

Brazil: Where is all the Covid data?

Author: BBC World Service December 15, 2021 Duration: 37:02

Ministry of Health websites in Brazil are still down following a number of cyber-attacks. Millions of people now do not have access to their Covid-19 vaccination data (including certificates). It is estimated that 50TB of data has been removed by Lapsus$ Group, which is claiming responsibility for the ransomware attack. Dr Patricia Peck, who is on the board of the National Data Protection Authority is on the programme with the latest on the attacks.

First-ever delivery of medicines by drone in Sierra Leone The first-ever delivery of medicines by drone in Sierra Leone has been a success. The drones are not the typical helicopter drones, but small plane types with propellers that have a number of advantages. The fixed-winged drones can carry much heavier payloads over much further distances. We hear from Daniel Ronen from the UK drone specialist, UAVaid, who is behind the project.

Reimagining the new Spider-Man trailer through animation Fans prepared to dedicate hundreds of hours looking for the perfect clips have been making their own trailers that reimagine popular content. One such creation from the YouTube channel 100Bombs Studio has recreated the latest Spider-Man trailer using clips from the original animated series. Filmmaker and critic Maxim Thompson has been talking to us about these projects and how they allow people to engage with films.

The programme is presented by Gareth Mitchell with expert commentary from Ghislaine Boddington

Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Producer: Ania Lichtarowicz

(Image: Hacker with computers in a dark room. Credit: Getty Images)


Every week, the team at Digital Planet from the BBC World Service takes you beyond the headlines to explore how technology is reshaping lives, cultures, and economies across the globe. This isn't just a rundown of gadget releases or corporate earnings; it's a grounded conversation about the real-world impact of our digital choices. You'll hear from engineers in Nairobi, policymakers in Brussels, and coders in São Paulo, offering a genuinely international perspective that challenges the usual Silicon Valley narrative. Each episode digs into the human stories behind the innovations, examining both the promise and the peril of our connected age. We tackle questions about ethics, accessibility, and the unintended consequences of progress, making sense of complex issues with clear, thoughtful reporting. Tune in for a nuanced and curious exploration of our technological moment, where the focus is always on the people designing, using, and living with these tools every day. This podcast provides the context you need to understand not just what's new, but what it actually means.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Digital Planet
Podcast Episodes
Tonga internet satellite kit deployed [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:33
Télécoms Sans Frontières has sent satellite kits to Tonga to improve connectivity on the islands following the volcanic eruption. Before the pandemic TSF would have immediately deployed to Tonga after it went dark, but s…
First-ever unassisted robotic surgery [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:00
The first-ever robotic surgery without a human surgeon guiding it has been successfully performed at Johns Hopkins University. The Smart Tissues Autonomous Robot (STAR) completed a keyhole procedure called intestinal ana…
Internet connectivity still patchy in Tonga [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:48
Connectivity to Tonga partially restored but undersea cable repair could take weeks. The underwater volcanic eruption severed the country’s only underwater network cable and ash clouds have made satellite connectivity im…
Twitter returns to Nigeria [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:40
After 222 days the social media platform is back up and running in Nigeria. The country suspended Twitter after it deleted a tweet by President Buhari and Nigerians have been accessing the platform via VPN, but now Twitt…
Robots under the Thwaites Glacier [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:36
Huge robots, including a seven-metre two-tonne vessel named Ran, are on their way to the Thwaites Glacier to learn more about the retreating ice and its impact on Climate Change. But this won’t be the only tech that’s be…
Afrofuturism and tech innovation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:13
This week we have a special programme on Afrofuturism and tech innovation. It’s a subject often covered in science fiction, but what makes Afrofuturism different from standard science fiction is that ancient African trad…
A tech review of 2021 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:16
We look back on some of the stories we covered in 2021 – from age appropriate design to protect children, through internet shutdowns, a remote air traffic control tower and a WhatsApp school in Zimbabwe to a virtual real…
The Internet Archive is 25! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:42
Twenty-five years ago the world wide web was 2.5 terabytes and you needed to dial-up via your phone line to get onto it, so Brewster Kahle decided to set up a project to archive what was out there already. Now the Intern…
Mobile phones not always beneficial to displaced people [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:08
New research shows that mobile phones may not be as beneficial to displaced people as previously thought. Using video diaries, where displaced people in Somalia recorded their mobile phone use, researchers found that wom…
PIX instant payment limits to reduce kidnappings [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:44
PIX instant payment limits to reduce kidnappings Last year the PIX instant payment system was introduced in Brazil. It currently has 112 million registered users – that’s 62% of the population. It’s proving incredibly po…