Meredith Whittaker
@meredithmeredith.bsky.social
President of Signal, Chief Advisor to AI Now Institute
“A fundamental shift is needed in how we approach the development and deployment of AI agents,” argues Meredith Whittaker. “Basic lessons in privacy and digital security are being discarded,” she warns
AI agents are coming for your privacy, warns Meredith Whittaker
The Signal Foundation’s president worries they will also blunt competition and undermine cyber-security
econ.st
The Hugging Face incident was “both notable and alarming,” EFF’s @evacide.bsky.social told @sfexaminer.bsky.social, “not because ‘ooh, the model’s so powerful,’ but because it demonstrates a colossal failure on the part of OpenAI to secure the sandbox in which it was testing its model.”
OpenAI hacking incident highlights AI cyberrisks
Experts take company to task for safety efforts
sfexaminer.com
From @meredithmeredith.bsky.social is spot-on: “The extent of the tech industry’s influence over the AI research domain has parallels in the U.S. military’s dominance over scientific research during the Cold War. Tech firms are drawing from a similar playbook.” dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1...
Flock doesn't just search for cars, it searches for you. "'FreeForm' searches... allow cops to use Flock’s system as though they would use a search engine, with Flock’s AI and image recognition interpreting what footage and which people are relevant to a police officer’s search." @404media.co
How Cops Use Flock to Track People, Not Cars
Cops have used Flock's FreeForm search feature to look for people with tattoos and wearing specific sport shirts, and searches sometimes include the target's race, according to data reviewed by 404 Me...
404media.co
Kudos to Andreas 💐 Thousands of us at Google organized against the company’s Maven contract nearly 10 years ago, even though principles like this existed. We saw no hope that such principles would survive bottom line pressure—nor were they legally drafted to do so.
US to fund Trump-aligned Europeans building ‘civilisational bonds’
State department grants of up to $3mn are designed to boost groups pushing Maga-style policies
ft.com
Andreas Kirsch@blackhc.bsky.social · 3w agoI work at Google DeepMind. This won't make me popular. But it's all public reporting: 2014: DeepMind reportedly sold to Google on conditions: no military use, independent oversight 2026: a Pentagon contract for "any lawful government purpose" Not one safeguard survived intact
I blogged about last week’s viral video of the pervert on the Scottish train filming some quiet teenage girls, and why it matters for the debate on young people and smartphones. I didn’t share it anywhere, but it’s top of Hacker News. This happens to me a lot. heatherburns.tech/2026/07/08/t...
The kids (with phones) are alright – Hi, I'm Heather Burns
heatherburns.tech
In which I speak at length with the inimitable @meredithmeredith.bsky.social for the @futurologypod.bsky.social podcast. As always, Meredith had strong, precise things to say about the ongoing digital erosion of privacy — and how AI is accelerating that erosion: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYVe...
Signal’s President Says You Have Plenty to Hide | The Futurology Podcast
YouTube video by Futurology
youtube.com
👑 🙏🏾
Admirable Women@admirablewomen.bsky.social · last mo.Science-fiction writer Octavia E. Butler was born #OTD in 1947. A multiple recipient of both the Hugo and Nebula awards, she became the first science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship (1995). #booksky #litsky #scifi #SpeculativeFiction
Signal’s Meredith Whittaker: The Push for Online Safety Risks Mass Surveillance Interview by Mishal Hussain The president of the encrypted messaging app says autonomous AI agents, device scanning and digital advertising are converging into a new architecture of surveillance.
Signal's Meredith Whittaker: The Push for Online Safety Risks Mass Surveillance
The president of the encrypted messaging app says autonomous AI agents, device scanning and digital advertising are converging into a new architecture of surveillance.
bloomberg.com
"I also struggle with the persistent focus on privacy as the purported barrier to solving these issues, when we have most of the Epstein list walking around without consequences."
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 2mo ago“We can’t live a full dignified life — with the ability to question authority, have different relationships with people, test ideas [and] blow off steam — if we don’t have private communication.”
“We can’t live a full dignified life — with the ability to question authority, have different relationships with people, test ideas [and] blow off steam — if we don’t have private communication.”
Signal's Meredith Whittaker: The Push for Online Safety Risks Mass Surveillance
The president of the encrypted messaging app says autonomous AI agents, device scanning and digital advertising are converging into a new architecture of surveillance.
bloomberg.com
Our statement on the UK gov't's demand that all content on all devices sold or used in the UK be scanned, on the presumption of nudity, using a dystopian combination of age verification & content scanning. This proposal will not safeguard children. It endangers us all. signal.org/blog/pdfs/20...
signal.org
New joint publication by @citizenlab.ca + @cancivlib.bsky.social! In which @kate-ro.bsky.social & I join forces w/ Tamir @digitalprivacy.ca to explain the federal govt's many... "(Un)forced Errors: Analysis of Proposed Surveillance Law Expansion under Bill C-22, An Act respecting lawful access" 🧵1/x
The Citizen Lab (Un)forced Errors: Analysis of Proposed Surveillance Law Expansion under Bill C-22, An Act respecting lawful access -
This submission analyzes Bill C-22, the Lawful Access Act, which would enact broad surveillance obligations and reforms in Canada. Issues include: the bill’s sweeping scope, significant constitutional...
citizenlab.ca
🇨🇦's #BillC22 is entering committee study this week - and we're hearing it may become law by end of the month. We never say this: but this is the worst, most privacy-breaking bill we've seen. It MUST be stopped. Speak up against it and read on to learn more: www.openmedia.org/StopC22-bsky 1/
Stop the Surveillance State: Stop Bill C-22!
🚨 Bill C-22 forces every Canadian internet provider, messaging app & cloud service to build surveillance backdoors and store a year of your data. Foreign state hackers exploited similar legislation in...
openmedia.org
Reminder that I maintain a periodically-updated reading list of papers at the intersection of E2EE and Trust & Safety; suggestions welcome: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Encryption + Trust & Safety reading list (updated 2026-05-20)
docs.google.com
We often think of authoritarianism as lawless. But it can operate through law itself. What does it mean for democracy when that happens? ⬇️ DROPS TOMORROW: Lawyering Without Law, a new biweekly podcast from the Knight First Amendment Institute. Available on all platforms.
For TechCrunch, I wrote about the landmark Chatrie privacy case before the U.S. Supreme Court that examines the legality of "geofence" search warrants. The case could redefine digital privacy rights for people across the U.S. if cops are limited from mass-searching the databases of tech giants.
US Supreme Court appears split over controversial use of 'geofence' search warrants | TechCrunch
The U.S. top court is expected to rule on whether to allow police to identify criminal suspects by dragnet searching the databases of tech giants.
techcrunch.com
A response to recent reporting in Germany, in service of clarity and accountability: First, it’s important to be precise when it comes to critical infrastructure like Signal. Signal was not “hacked” — in that our encryption, infrastructure, & the integrity of the app’s code was not compromised. 1/
We are very happy that today Apple issued a patch and a security advisory. This comes following 404 Media reporting that the FBI accessed Signal message notification content via iOS despite the app being deleted.
Notifications for deleted shouldn't remain in any OS notification database, and we've asked Apple to address this. In the meantime, you can prevent any preview text from your Signal messages from appearing in your notifications. Signal Settings > Notifications > Show “No Name or Content”
404 Media@404media.co · 4mo agoNEW: The FBI was able to forensically extract copies of incoming Signal messages from a defendant’s iPhone, even after the app was deleted, because copies of the content were saved in the device’s push notification database, multiple people present for FBI testimony in a trial told 404 Media.
No really, I am not kidding when I say that the data broker industry must be destroyed: www.npr.org/2026/03/25/n...
Your data is everywhere. The government is buying it without a warrant
Data brokers buy up huge amounts of information from cell phones and browsers to sell for targeted advertising. But the government, including ICE, also buys the data.
npr.org
Would you really like to live in a society where you have no responsibility and no freedom, no choice, only the false option of obedience to the law, or disobedience followed by punishment? Would you really want to go live in a prison?
The New York Times is right. I don’t care! (And huge credit to the @wired.com team, whose intrepid, fearless, always fair reporting gives the tech bros plenty to be mad about.)
Wired’s New Editor Doesn’t Care if the Tech Bros Are Mad
nytimes.com
"There are few things that many engineers I've worked with hate more than having to maintain someone else's shitty code." - Meredith Whittaker
Signal News & Tips@aboutsignal.com · 5mo agoNew video about Signal📽️ Signal's President @meredithmeredith.bsky.social with @profgalloway.com: Is AI a threat to privacy? How Signal works, the risks of AI for privacy and more! Watch it here 🍿👉 aboutsignal.com/videos-podca... #signal #signalapp #signalmessenger #aboutsignal #AI #privacy
We are aware of recent reports regarding targeted phishing attacks that have resulted in account takeovers of some Signal users, including government officials and journalists. We take this very seriously. 1/7
« Essayer, c’est toujours être mauvais au début. » À l'occasion de la Journée internationale des droits des femmes, Meredith Whittaker, présidente de la messagerie Signal, encourage les jeunes filles à oser et à croire en leurs capacités, notamment en sciences et en maths.
New video about Signal📽️ Signal's President @meredithmeredith.bsky.social with @profgalloway.com: Is AI a threat to privacy? How Signal works, the risks of AI for privacy and more! Watch it here 🍿👉 aboutsignal.com/videos-podca... #signal #signalapp #signalmessenger #aboutsignal #AI #privacy
Is AI a threat to privacy? Prof G Conversations with Meredith Whittaker - AboutSignal.com
Is AI a threat to privacy? Prof G Conversations with Meredith Whittaker.
aboutsignal.com
'15-plus years after her death at the age of 54, Teena Marie is remembered as an important contributor to R&B and Soul music, who against all logic sustained a 30-year-plus singing career with an overwhelmingly Black audience base.' medium.com/p/1631ae97989a #BlackSkyOver50
The Story of Lady T: Remembering Teena Marie by Mark Anthony Neal
In a 1985 profile in People Magazine, the late Rick James called Teena Marie “the most important White female singer since Barbara…
medium.com
