What happens when your identity is more algorithm than autobiography? In the debut episode of IdentiTea, host Nick Holland brews up a thought-provoking chat with Dr. Margaret Cunningham, a behavioral scientist at Darktrace. Their conversation spans the strange, often absurd interplay between physical and digital identity—from paper clips and genealogy forms to AI-powered cybersecurity.
Margaret brings a rare blend of expertise in psychology, cybersecurity, and fraud prevention, making her the perfect guest to unpack how our digital selves are shaped, seen, and sometimes excluded.
Highlights from the episode:
[00:04:05] Genealogy, Paper Clips & Pedantry: The delightful story of Margaret’s mother’s obsession with proper archival practices, and how it mirrors the absurd precision demanded in digital identity systems.
[00:07:45] Digital Inclusion Illusion: Exploring how unhoused and digitally unskilled people are often part of digital systems without even knowing it, and what happens when they can’t access or control those records.
[00:11:00] "We’re Serving the Wrong Master": Why technology tends to serve itself, and the people it should help are often afterthoughts.
[00:17:30] Tech Moves Fast. Humans Don’t: UX, accessibility, and the danger of assuming digital = better.
[00:24:45] AGI, Metaverse & Messy Mortals: Reflections on tech’s pattern of chasing hype, and why real connection always beats simulation.
[00:27:30] Identity Theft Recovery is Brutal: Even for experts like Margaret, the process is opaque and painful. What hope do the rest of us have?
Quote of the episode:
"Technology isn’t always suited for nuance, but identity is nothing but nuance." – Dr. Margaret Cunningham
Got questions, reflections, or a squirrel stew recipe? Drop Nick a line at: identitea.mailbag@gmail.com
Share this post