The individual in the machine: Meredith Whittaker on reclaiming privacy in the age of AI
The individual in the machine: Meredith Whittaker on reclaiming privacy in the age of AI
Digital platforms offer opportunities but also raise urgent questions about privacy, power, and geopolitics. While “digital sovereignty” is gaining attention and artificial intelligence is being promoted as a solution to everything, discussions about accountability and control are often missing.
In this talk with Maria Exner (Publix) and Matthias Spielkamp (Algorithmwatch), Meredith Whittaker, President of Signal, explains why these narratives risk leading us down the wrong path — and what we must do to align technology with human needs, especially when it comes to protecting individual privacy from powerful platforms and operating system providers.
Recorded in September 2025.