Privacy Techtonics: A Feminist Geopolitics of Privacy, WhatsApp and Democracy in India

by Philippa Williams, Lipika Kamra

Overview

Today, privacy is more than a personal choice—it’s a terrain shaped by power, politics and everyday life.

This book shifts the lens from established western narratives to India, WhatsApp’s largest market, exploring how digital privacy is lived, built, and regulated on the world’s digital peripheries. Drawing on rich field-based research, it examines encrypted technologies, the ties between big tech and governments, and the role of messaging apps in political life.

This is a sharp and grounded account of how privacy can both strengthen and erode democracy in the digital age.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781529235975
Publisher:	Bristol University Press
Publication date:	05/01/2026
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224

About the Author

Philippa Williams is Professor of Geography at Queen Mary University of London.

Lipika Kamra is Assistant Professor of Politics at the University of Birmingham.

Lipika Kamra is Assistant Professor of Politics at the University of Birmingham.

Table of Contents

1. “The future is private”: Privacy techtonics, feminist digital geopolitics and the everyday

2. India, WhatsApp and privacy architectures

3. Digitising (party) political intimacies

4. Dwelling in the ‘digital living room’

5. Neighbourhood governance by WhatsApp

6. Conclusion: The future of digital private spaces now