‘Top Ten Tech Thinker’ accolade for Professor Carissa Véliz

16 December 2025

Spanish newspaper El País has named Hertford fellow Carissa Véliz as one of the ten most influential thinkers in the world on technology.

An Associate Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy and the Institute for Ethics in AI, Carissa has become one of the most influential contemporary voices on digital ethics, with an emphasis on privacy and AI ethics. She has advised the UK and Spanish governments on issues related to digital technologies, among other public and private institutions, and seeks to bridge philosophy and practice to address the question of what it means to be free in a society governed by data.

What data is appropriate to collect, what may not be, and what are the implications for individuals and wider society? Her book Privacy Is Power (The Economist Book of the Year, 2020) argues that the protection of personal data is not just an individual right but a political issue that affects democracy itself.

Her recent TEDx talks ‘How privacy can save your life’ and ‘The power of analogue’ highlight the potentially toxic effects of data and the role of privacy in protecting the individual from abusers of power, and reflect that thinking about technology means thinking about everything that makes us human. ‘Life is not digital, but analogue. Life is the life of the coffee shop on the corner, the life of your friends, of in-person conversations, of nature, of going for a run. And the less we depend on digital, the more robust and fulfilling that life will be.’

El País’s accolade recognises Carissa’s influence in this vital field, and we offer her our warmest congratulations.