AI is “not open in any sense,” the battle over encryption is far from won, and Signal’s principled (and uncompromising) approach may complicate interoperability efforts, warned the company’s president, Meredith Whittaker. But it’s not all bad news.
(Actually, it is all bad news, because I wrote up the good news separately.)
Speaking onstage with me at StrictlyVC LA, Whittaker called out a resurgence of legislative attacks on encryption as “magical thinking.”
Whittaker criticized the legislative attacks on encryption, pointing out that they are often politically motivated and misplaced, posing major threats to digital privacy. She emphasized the importance of understanding the implications of such actions, which could severely undermine the ability to communicate privately online.
She also highlighted the shift towards increasing surveillance disguised as accountability in the tech sector, urging a deeper focus on addressing the root issues rather than implementing more monitoring and oversight measures.
One concerning example she mentioned was the Investigatory Powers Act in the UK, which grants the government extensive powers to control tech companies’ security updates globally, potentially undermining encryption and privacy standards.
Signal president Meredith Whittaker and Devin Coldewey at StrictlyVC LA. Image Credits: TechCrunch
Whittaker also discussed the challenges of messaging interoperability mandates and the potential dangers of compromising privacy standards in pursuit of convenience. She emphasized the need for maintaining high privacy and security standards across messaging platforms to ensure interoperability without sacrificing user privacy.
In addition, she highlighted the growing influence and monopolistic tendencies of companies like Nvidia, calling for greater scrutiny and accountability in the tech industry to prevent the concentration of power in a few hands.
Watch the full interview below to delve deeper into the issues raised by Meredith Whittaker.
