TWiT 1068: Toto's Electrostatic Chuck - Is TikTok's New Privacy Policy Cause for Alarm?

Microsoft quietly hands over BitLocker keys to the government, TikTok's new privacy terms spark a user panic, and Europe's secret tech backups reveal anxious prep for digital fallout. Plus, how gambling platforms are changing the future of news and sports.
You can bet on how much snow will fall in New York City this weekend
Europe Prepares for a Nightmare Scenario: The U.S. Blocking Access to Tech
China, US sign off on TikTok US spinoff
TikTok users freak out over app's 'immigration status' collection -- here's what it means
Elon Musk's Grok A.I. Chatbot Made Millions of Sexualized Images, New Estimates Show
Microsoft Gave FBI Keys To Unlock Encrypted Data, Exposing Major Privacy Flaw - Forbes
House of Lords votes to ban social media for Brits under 16
Overrun with AI slop, cURL scraps bug bounties to ensure "intact mental health"
Route leak incident on January 22, 2026
149 Million Usernames and Passwords Exposed by Unsecured Database
Millions of people imperiled through sign-in links sent by SMS
Anthropic revises Claude's 'Constitution,' and hints at chatbot consciousness
The new Siri chatbot may run on Google servers, not Apple's
A Wikipedia Group Made a Guide to Detect AI Writing. Now a Plug-In Uses It to 'Humanize' Chatbots
GitHub - anthropics/original_performance_takehome: Anthropic's original performance take-home, now open for you to try!
Telly's "free" ad-based TVs make notable revenue—when they're actually delivered - Ars Technica
Toilet Maker Toto's Shares Get Unlikely Boost From AI Rush - Slashdot
Dr. Gladys West, whose mathematical models inspired GPS, dies at 95
Host: Leo Laporte
Guests: Alex Stamos, Doc Rock, and Patrick Beja
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[Image: This Week in Tech]

Jan 25th 2026

This Week in Tech 1068

Toto's Electrostatic Chuck

Hosted by

Leo Laporte

Records live every Sunday at 5:15pm Eastern / 2:15pm Pacific / 22:15 UTC.

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Guests:

Alex Stamos,

Doc Rock,

Patrick Beja

Category:

News

Microsoft quietly hands over BitLocker keys to the government, TikTok’s new privacy terms spark a user panic, and Europe's secret tech backups reveal anxious prep for digital fallout. Plus, how gambling platforms are changing the future of news and sports.

- You can bet on how much snow will fall in New York City this weekend
- Europe Prepares for a Nightmare Scenario: The U.S. Blocking Access to Tech
- China, US sign off on TikTok US spinoff
- TikTok users freak out over app's 'immigration status' collection -- here's what it means
- Elon Musk’s Grok A.I. Chatbot Made Millions of Sexualized Images, New Estimates Show
- Microsoft Gave FBI Keys To Unlock Encrypted Data, Exposing Major Privacy Flaw - Forbes
- House of Lords votes to ban social media for Brits under 16
- Overrun with AI slop, cURL scraps bug bounties to ensure "intact mental health"
- Route leak incident on January 22, 2026
- 149 Million Usernames and Passwords Exposed by Unsecured Database
- Millions of people imperiled through sign-in links sent by SMS
- Anthropic revises Claude’s ‘Constitution,’ and hints at chatbot consciousness
- The new Siri chatbot may run on Google servers, not Apple’s
- A Wikipedia Group Made a Guide to Detect AI Writing. Now a Plug-In Uses It to ‘Humanize’ Chatbots
- GitHub - anthropics/original_performance_takehome: Anthropic's original performance take-home, now open for you to try!
- Telly’s "free" ad-based TVs make notable revenue—when they’re actually delivered - Ars Technica
- Toilet Maker Toto's Shares Get Unlikely Boost From AI Rush - Slashdot
- Dr. Gladys West, whose mathematical models inspired GPS, dies at 95

Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

- Transcripts: This Week in Tech Episode 1068 Transcript

#### Links

- You can bet on how much snow will fall in New York City this weekend

- Europe Prepares for a Nightmare Scenario: The U.S. Blocking Access to Tech

- Exclusive: China, US sign off on TikTok US spinoff

- TikTok users freak out over app's 'immigration status' collection -- here's what it means | TechCrunch

- Elon Musk’s Grok A.I. Chatbot Made Millions of Sexualized Images, New Estimates Show

- Microsoft Gave FBI Keys To Unlock Encrypted Data, Exposing Major Privacy Flaw - Forbes

- House of Lords votes to ban social media for Brits under 16

- Overrun with AI slop, cURL scraps bug bounties to ensure "intact mental health"

- Route leak incident on January 22, 2026

- 149 Million Usernames and Passwords Exposed by Unsecured Database

- Millions of people imperiled through sign-in links sent by SMS

- Anthropic revises Claude’s ‘Constitution,’ and hints at chatbot consciousness

- The new Siri chatbot may run on Google servers, not Apple’s

- A Wikipedia Group Made a Guide to Detect AI Writing. Now a Plug-In Uses It to ‘Humanize’ Chatbots

- GitHub - anthropics/original_performance_takehome: Anthropic's original performance take-home, now open for you to try!

- Telly’s "free" ad-based TVs make notable revenue—when they’re actually delivered - Ars Technica

- Toilet Maker Toto's Shares Get Unlikely Boost From AI Rush - Slashdot

- Dr. Gladys West, whose mathematical models inspired GPS, dies at 95

#### Sponsors

- threatlocker.com/twit

- meter.com/twit

- redis.io

- expressvpn.com/twit

- shopify.com/twit

Download Options

Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join Club TWiT today!

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[Original source](https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech/episodes/1068)