Meredith Whittaker has spent years arguing that privacy is a prerequisite for a free society. As the president of the nonprofit foundation behind the encrypted messaging app Signal, she now finds herself defending that principle in the face of mounting pressure from governments and tech companies alike. In this conversation with Mishal Husain, Whittaker says she believes business models that rely on data collection, the rise of artificial intelligence assistants and even well-meaning efforts to protect children online risk undermining private communication. She also explains why Signal would rather leave a market than weaken the product’s encryption. Read this interview with Mishal’s notes on Bloomberg Weekend: https://www.bloomberg.com/latest/weekend-interview Contact The Mishal Husain Show mishalshow@bloomberg.net Visit https://www.bloomberg.com/mishal 00:00 Introduction from Mishal Husain 03:37 Working in big tech 05:08 A thorn in Google’s side 08:24 How Signal works 15:22 Hearing about Signalgate 17:31Does everyone have the right to privacy? 20:46 Keir Starmer’s “hasty” plan on tech legislation 25:16 “We would rather exit a market” 27:57 Sustaining Signal as a nonprofit 31:39 Using AI to choose Christmas presents 38:05 AI is not a “magical sky god” 40:47 “Be skeptical” 42:05 The tech guys are all called Mike Watch Bloomberg Vodcasts: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe4PRejZgr0MS0Tqk_zQl1LVVTdWuH2Di Subscribe to Bloomberg Podcasts: https://bit.ly/BloombergPodcasts Visit us: https://www.bloomberg.com/podcasts Visit our other YouTube channels: Bloomberg Television: https://www.youtube.com/@markets Bloomberg Originals: https://www.youtube.com/bloomberg For coverage on news, markets and more: http://www.bloomberg.com/video