Carissa Véliz

Carissa Véliz is a leading philosopher and academic specializing in the ethics of artificial intelligence and digital privacy. She serves as an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy and the Institute for Ethics in AI at the University of Oxford, where she is also a Tutorial Fellow at Hertford College. Véliz is best known for her critically acclaimed book, Privacy Is Power: Why and How You Should Take Back Control of Your Data, which was named a Book of the Year by The Economist. Her work challenges the status quo of the digital economy, arguing that the mass collection of personal data is not merely a commercial annoyance, but a fundamental threat to democracy and individual liberty.\n\nVéliz’s expertise lies in dismantling the arguments used by "surveillance capitalists" to justify their business models. She famously describes personal data as a "toxic asset"—something that is dangerous to hold and liable to leak, causing harm to both individuals and societies. Unlike many academics who write solely for other scholars, Véliz is a public intellectual who contributes regularly to major publications like El País, The Guardian, and Wired. She advises policymakers and governments on how to regulate technology effectively. Her writing is characterized by its clarity and moral urgency, urging citizens to stop trading their privacy for convenience. Véliz posits that privacy is not a personal preference but a collective duty, essential for the functioning of a free society.