In this episode, Judith Zoë speaks with Carlota Memba Aguado, a researcher from the Free University Amsterdam about how dating apps reflect and reinforce structural inequalities and what responsibilities companies have to acknowledge and reduce bias in design.

What really happens to our data when we use dating apps? In this episode, Judith Zoë speaks with Lisa Steinfeld, a data protection lawyer at NOYB, the European Center for Digital Rights. They discuss how companies like Grindr and Bumble process intimate user data, and what it means for our privacy and autonomy. Lisa explains the legal cases NOYB has filed including the successful complaint against Grindr and a new one against Bumble. Together, they explore how users can reclaim power over their data and what collective action can look like in the digital dating world.

In the third episode of this season, Judith Zoë speaks with dr. Gianclaudio Malgieri, associate professor of law and technology at Leiden University and co-director of the Brussels Privacy Hub. Gianclaudio is one of the leading thinkers on data protection and vulnerability. We talk about power, intersectionality and how dating app design could contribute to empathy and affinity. The episode also features a personal story from someone navigating Grindr, first as a closeted 16 year old and later as a confident adult who has learned how to set boundaries.

In the second episode of this season Judith Zoë interviews dr. Jessica Pidoux, a post-doc researcher at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland and director of the Swiss NGO personal data. We met on valentines day during the symposium Feelings Inc. organised by Privacy Salon without any preparation. Judith also speaks with a woman who shares her personal experience using dating apps. She explains how they met her felt watched an why she needed to taking breaks now and then to protect her well-being.

This is the first episode of Season 2 of the Digital Period. This season is about dating apps. In this first episode Judith Zoë explores what happens when vulnerability meets algorithms. She shares her personal experience using dating apps and introduces the central theme of Season 2: vulnerability, not just as a risk, but as a potential source of connection in digital spaces.

The Digital Period is the podcast where we examine our relationship with technology.

In this podcast Judith Zoë talk to users, developers and academics about how technology shapes how we relate to ourselves, each other and the tech we keep using.

Each season centers a fundamental question.

Can menstruation apps improve our autonomy? Can you be vulnerable on a dating app? Is social media actually social?

This is not a tech review podcast. It’s an invitation to think together about how technology lives with us, in our most private moments and in our most public connections.

We combine academic insights with lived experiences, to create a future where technology serves living a good life.

Listen to The Digital Period wherever you get your podcasts.

The Digital Period is a podcast series that examines the relationship between autonomy and technology by taking a closer look at period apps.

In this epilogue episode, the last episode of the first season, Judith Zoë shares five insights she has gained by conducting this project.

You can find the transcripts and more episode of The Digital Period on this platform or on www.thedigitalperiod.com/podcast.

This podcast series is created by Judith Zoë Blijden. The jingle was made by Kristel Scholtens and Judith. The podcast visual was designed by Asja Keeman. This episode was published on the 8th of March 2025.

The Digital Period is a podcast series that examines the relationship between autonomy and technology by taking a closer look at period apps.

This is an intermezzo episode with three cool announcements ft. the PrivacySalon. In January Ill publish the last episode of this season, there is a new season coming up and the Privacy Salon created an exhibition inspired by the upcoming season of this podcast series. Birte and Ferre from the PrivacySalon explain what you can expect from the exhibition and when you will be able to visit it in 2025 at the Huidenclub in Rotterdam.