In the Wake of Tumbler Ridge, Can We Trade Privacy for Safety?

In the Wake of Tumbler Ridge, Can We Trade Privacy for Safety?

From Machines Like Us by The Globe and Mail

March 10, 2026 · 46 min · Episode 43

About this episode

The episode discusses the complex trade-off between privacy and safety in the context of AI and recent violent incidents.

On Feb. 10, 2026, an 18-year-old opened fire at a high school in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., killing eight people before turning a gun on herself. In the weeks that followed, OpenAI admitted that the perpetrator had been discussing the attack with ChatGPT – and that the company had chosen not to alert authorities. But, in the aftermath of one of the deadliest shootings in our country’s history, many Canadians are asking: Why not? It’s a reasonable question. But the idea that AI companies should automatically report violent conversations to police is more complicated than it sounds. To try and unpack it, I spoke with Meredith Whittaker, the President of Signal – an encrypted messaging platform that doesn’t collect your data, serve you ads, or track who you’re talking to. Whittaker runs the most private messaging app on the planet, which also means there is almost certainly illegal activity happening on Signal that no one, including her, knows about. But this conversation isn’t just about Tumbler Ridge. The instinct to trade privacy for “safety” is reshaping the entire tech landscape: Amazon now lets you scan a whole neighbourhood’s worth of Ring camera footage; Australia requires…

People in this episode

Guest: Meredith Whittaker

Topics covered

  • privacy
  • safety
  • AI
  • technology
  • society

Keywords

  • Tumbler Ridge
  • ChatGPT
  • Signal
  • encryption
  • Ring camera

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Signal, Ring

Places: Tumbler Ridge, B.C., Tumbler Ridge, Australia

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