Meredith Whittaker

Not Here to Play the Game—Here to Change the Whole Board

Some people make noise. Others make moves.
Meredith Whittaker does both—but always with intention.

You might’ve first heard her name attached to Signal, the encrypted messaging app that's become a beacon for privacy in a world obsessed with data-mining and control. But that’s just the most recent chapter in a long, rebellious career built on one consistent theme: tech should serve people—not profit off them.

Meredith didn’t enter tech through the back door—she came through the front, kicked it open, and took a seat at the table. With an art school background and zero desire to “fit in,” she rose through Google’s ranks, led product and engineering teams, founded the Open Research Group, and co-created M-Lab, a global measurement platform that gave the world real transparency into internet performance.

Then she saw the game for what it was.

She helped organize the legendary 2018 Google Walkout—where over 20,000 employees protested sexual misconduct and systemic surveillance inside the tech giant. That wasn’t a career move. That was a line in the sand. And Meredith crossed it.

Since then, she’s doubled down on speaking truth to tech power. As co-founder of the AI Now Institute, she’s been a leading voice in unpacking the real dangers of AI—not the sci-fi horror shows, but the concentration of power, the lack of regulation, and the way Big Tech is shaping society without consent.

Now as President of Signal, she’s doing what few in tech even try: building tools that actually protect us. Signal doesn’t sell your data. Doesn’t play ads. Doesn’t dance for shareholders. And that’s not an accident—it’s by design. As Meredith says:
“We need to shield Signal from the pressures of surveillance, from the pressures of data collection.”

And here’s the wild part: she’s not just talking privacy, she’s talking structure.
Because she knows that mission means nothing if the business model works against it.

In a world of hype-driven tech bros and permission-seeking corporate climbers, Meredith stands out. Not just for what she says, but for what she refuses to accept.

She’s said it loud:

“Do you want to live in a world with rights-protecting tech? Or one where your DMs show up in discovery? Where your weird late-night convo is part of a data breach ten years from now because some company swung with the political winds?”

She’s not trying to be your hero.
She’s trying to remind you that the system we’ve built isn’t inevitable—and if we want something better, it’s time to start rewilding the tech ecosystem.

That’s the energy we celebrate at Rebel Lovers.
Meredith Whittaker doesn’t just challenge the system—she reshapes the conversation.
She doesn’t wait for a seat at the table—she builds her own.
And she does it all with a clarity that doesn’t just rise above the noise—it cuts through it.

Here’s to rebels who walk away from the system—and still manage to outshine it.