Personal data

Personal data is the new battleground for democracy

As the world’s leaders gather in Munich, I call on them to help build a better foundation for AI that embeds Western values and protects future generations.

By Frank H. McCourt Jr.

At the height of the Cold War, a man named Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin convened the West’s leading security experts in Munich. As a World War II resistance fighter and member of the Stauffenberg circle, which had attempted to overthrow Hitler, his goal was simple: preventing World War III. And he dedicated the rest of his life to fostering open dialogue, sharing defense strategies and deescalating tensions.

Tomorrow, as global leaders gather at the annual Munich Security Conference once again, the threats they face are no less profound than they were some 60 years ago — though many of them are far less visible.

Yes, wars are raging across continents, alliances are being tested, and tensions are escalating across borders and oceans. However, I would wager that if von Kleist-Schmenzin were alive today, he would agree that the most consequential struggle of our time may not be unfolding on traditional battlefields at all. Instead, it’s unfolding in the digital realm, where control over personal data — over our digital personhood — is the central source of power and influence in the modern world.

When the World Wide Web was born, we were promised an era of democratic participation — a digital town square for a new millennium. What we have instead is something far darker: Predatory algorithms shredding civil society, warping truth and pitting neighbor against neighbor, while a handful of the world’s richest companies know more about us than any intelligence agency ever could.

Deep down, we all feel the absolute grip of the Internet on society. We feel it at the national level, as polarization and misinformation continue to fray our social fabric, upend elections and disrupt the world order. We feel it at our kitchen tables, as artificial intelligence bots and polarizing voices prey on the mental and social health of our children.

This crisis is no accident. It’s the world Big Tech has deliberately built.

From the moment Facebook introduced the “like” button, the Internet began its descent from a boundless repository of knowledge into a system optimized for rage, addiction and profit—one that rewards division and disregards truth.

The business model is quite straightforward: Algorithms are engineered to capture our attention and exploit it, rather than inform or connect us. And by the metric of stock price, this model has been wildly successful. Big Tech companies have amassed trillions of dollars in record time. And they’ve done so by accumulating the most valuable resource in human history — our personal data. Acquiring it through a surveillance apparatus that would make the Stasi blush.

Now, with the rise of AI, these same companies are selling us a new story — that of a brave new chapter for the Internet that is exponentially more powerful and ostensibly benevolent. Yet, the underlying logic remains the same. These systems are still designed to extract more data, exert more control, deepen manipulation, all at an even more unprecedented scale.

The threat has particularly escalated with the emergence of the “agentic web,” where autonomous AI systems are no longer confined to interpreting information but are empowered to act on it – often with minimal oversight and inadequate alignment safeguards. OpenClaw — an open-source autonomous AI assistant — reflects this rapid shift from consumption to delegation perfectly: Individuals are handing over sweeping permissions, enabling agents to interact and operate freely with other agents in real time, dramatically amplifying exposure to real-world harm, coordinated manipulation from bad actors and with even less human control.

And yet, those who raise concerns about this concentration of power and these security risks are quickly dismissed as anti-progress, or accused of ceding the future of AI to China.

If Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin were alive today, he would agree that the most consequential struggle of our time may not be unfolding on traditional battlefields at all. | Rainer Jensen/DPA/AFP via Getty Images

Let’s be clear: We won’t beat China by becoming China. Autocratic algorithms, centralized power and mass surveillance are fundamentally incompatible with democracy. And were von Kleist-Schmenzin to look at today’s AI frameworks, he’d likely recognize them as far closer to the east of the Berlin Wall than the west.

To reverse that reality, we must build alternative systems that respect individual rights, return ownership and control of personal data to individuals, and align with democratic principles. The technologies shaping our lives need to be optimized to protect citizens, not endanger them.

Here’s the good news: This technology is already being built.

Around the world, leading technologists, universities, companies and governments are working to establish a new paradigm for AI — open-source, transparent systems governed by the public sector and civil society. My organization, Project Liberty, is part of this effort, grounded in a simple belief: We can, and must, build AI technology that’s in harmony with fundamental democratic values.

Such upgraded AI architecture is designed for human flourishing. It will give people a voice in how these platforms operate, real choices over how their data is used, and a stake in the economic value they create online. It will be paired with policy and governance frameworks that safeguard democracy, freedom and trust.

As the world’s leaders gather in Munich, I call on them to help build a better foundation for AI that embeds Western values and protects future generations. Let them consider the world von Kleist-Schmenzin sought to save, and join us on the front lines of democracy’s new battleground.