How Surveillance Silences Candor

Kim describes her Soviet-era experiences and how being recorded changed her openness, stressing privacy's role for candor.

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We all love the convenience of our digital devices and connected services. But what about our ever expanding pile of digital breadcrumbs we leave behind as we go about our day? These breadcrumbs can be swept up by private companies to learn quite about us and target us with specific goods and services. They can also be collected by government agencies who might use this information for legitimate police work or in some instances, political repression. So, many people are asking themselves, should I be doing more to protect my personal privacy and how should I go about this.

Tech evangelist and prolific author Guy Kawasaki had asked that same question about a year ago. It started him on a journey to learn more about how to use some of the latest communications tools built from the ground up with personal privacy as its primary goal. This led Guy to install and use Signal, one of the most popular tools today for personal privacy protection. But as he started to put Signal into his communications work flow, he realized it was not obvious how to use Signal to its full potential. So, Guy collaborated with Madisun Nuismer to publish a “how to” book for using Signal, “Everybody Has Something to Hide” in January of 2026.

In this episode of the Radical Candor Podcast, Kim and Guy have a wide ranging conversation about Guy’s concerns about privacy that inspired him to start using Signal and then to write the book. They discuss the centrality of privacy in a free and democratic society and how tools like Signal can enhance privacy. Kim also shares her experiences with privacy and censorship in her years working in the Soviet Union (and later Russia) in the early 1990s. They also debate how much we should all trust so much of our personal data with these large tech companies. As Guy mentions the old saying, “If you aren’t paying for the product, you ARE the product!”.

In the media rollercoaster, tech’s reputation is at a low point right now. It’s worth remembering that there are a lot of idealistic people in tech who are working hard to solve problems with the goal of making the world a better place. That is part of why we want to highlight Guy’s messages and what Meredith Whitaker, Brian Acton, Moxie Marlinspike, and the whole team at Signal are doing.

Background on Guy Kawasaki:

Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist of Canva and the creator of Guy Kawasaki’s Remarkable People podcast. He is an executive fellow of the Haas School of Business (UC Berkeley), and adjunct professor of the University of New South Wales. He was the chief evangelist of Apple and a trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation. He has written Wise Guy, The Art of the Start 2.0, The Art of Social Media, Enchantment, and eleven other books. Kawasaki has a BA from Stanford University, an MBA from UCLA, and an honorary doctorate from Babson College.