Over the past two decades, digital technologies have transformed how we communicate, organise, and understand the world—while quietly concentrating power in the hands of a few actors. In response, a parallel movement has emerged: using cryptography, decentralised networks, and open-source infrastructure to defend individual freedoms and build more democratic alternatives.

Including a practical tools guide and an extensive Web3 glossary, this first volume in The Politics of Privacy series is both an introduction and an invitation for anyone seeking to understand—and reclaim—the systems shaping our digital lives.

Across 7 essays spanning philosophy, economics, human rights, and computer science, the anthology traces the rise of technocratic governance and the promise of Web3, encryption, and digital public infrastructure, exploring how privacy underpins freedom, why its erosion threatens democracy, and what can be done to restore balance.

Rather than offering a single ideology or solution, it maps practical paths forward: from stronger digital rights and interoperable systems to privacy-preserving technologies, new models of governance, and everyday practices of digital autonomy that place people—not platforms—at the centre of digital life.

Featuring contributions from: / Piergiorgio Catti De Gasperi / Audrey Tang + Glen Weyl / Primavera De Filippi + Felix Beer / Judith De Boer + Joachim Schwerin / Denis Jaromil Roio / Naomi Brockwell / David Chaum

ISBN 9789083716701 Edited by Martina Francesca Cavalot Curated by Piergiorgio Catti De Gasperi Proofread by Mariquita de Boissière Printed by SYL in Spain