Laila Lalami's dystopian novel centers on a woman who's been incarcerated because an algorithm flagged her as a crime risk. The Dream Hotel paints a grim picture about the ways our data can betray us.

San Francisco software engineer Riley Walz's Bop Spotter runs the song identifier app Shazam to quietly listen in on what music passersby are listening to in the city's diverse Mission District.

(Image credit: Eric Risberg)

Starting April 30, Airbnb is prohibiting all indoor security cameras in its listings. Previously, it allowed indoor cameras in common areas that were disclosed prior to booking and visible to guests.

(Image credit: Carl Court)

Israel's military says the system makes it more efficient and reduces collateral damage. Critics see a host of problems with the nation's use of AI, but other militaries will likely follow suit.

(Image credit: JOHN MACDOUGALL)

The credit score: even if you don't think much about it, that three-digit number can change your life. A high score can mean the keys to a new apartment or a new car, while a low score can keep you locked out of the American Dream. Around 40% of people in the U.S. have a low credit score or no credit score at all. So what happened? Today on the show, we talk with media historian Josh Lauer about credit's origins as a moral judgment, and how a tool intended to level the playing field has instead created haves and have-nots.

The U.S. government suspects that China's surveillance balloon may have blown off course. It wouldn't be the first time.

(Image credit: Hulton Archive)

China's foreign ministry described the balloon as "a civilian airship" for meteorological research that had blown far off course by winds. The Pentagon suspects it's collecting sensitive information.

(Image credit: Saul Loeb)

Resistance to the drug artemisinin was confirmed in Africa. Without better surveillance, experts say it is hard to track the threat.

The parent company of Facebook and Instagram says the firms used its platforms to spy on human rights activists, government critics, celebrities and journalists in more than 100 countries.

(Image credit: KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV)

A Southern California community grapples with the legacy of being secretly surveilled by the FBI. Twenty years later, the matter is a legal fight that has reached the Supreme Court.