Community Health: Kenya Data Debt Spiral

Community Health: Kenya Data Debt Spiral

From Technology Pill by Privacy International

May 1, 2026 · 42 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges faced by young people in Kenya regarding mobile money, data protection, and government surveillance with guest Joan Musenya.

This week we're talking to Joan Musenya about life in Kenya as a young person - from mobile money, to data protection, to government surveillance. Joan is a member of the Kenyan Community Advisory Team (K-CAT) helping to steer the Digital Health and Rights Project . Links - Digital Health and Rights Project report: https://digitalhealthandrights.com/resource-library/report-paying-the-costs-of-connection/ - Find more from Joan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joan-musenya/ - PI's low cost tech work: https://www.privacyinternational.org/campaigns/privacy-shouldnt-be-luxury - More about shame based debt collection in Kenya: https://biznakenya.com/digital-lenders-kenya-debt-collection-warning/ - More about what to do if you're experiencing harassment from debt collectors in Kenya: https://dealfish.co.ke/2025/03/mobile-loan-recovery-harassment-in.html - More about the history of M-Pesa: https://www.forbes.com/sites/christianstadler/2024/06/11/m-pesa-why-the-worlds-first-large-mobile-payment-platform-keeps-on-winning/ - CNN apology to Kenya: https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/121633/Latest%20News/cnn-boss-apologizes-to-kenya-over-terrorism-slur - PI's work on sim card registration…

People in this episode

Guest: Joan Musenya

Topics covered

  • community health
  • data protection
  • government surveillance
  • mobile money
  • youth in Kenya

Keywords

  • Kenya
  • data protection
  • government surveillance
  • mobile money
  • youth issues

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Kenyan Community Advisory Team (K-CAT), Digital Health and Rights Project, Privacy International

Products: M-Pesa

Places: Kenya

More episodes of Technology Pill

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Technology Pill podcast page.