Prince Harry attended the IAPP—International Association of Privacy Professionals, an association committed to the protection of data privacy—Global Summit 2026 and gave a keynote speech, where he highlighted the difficult process of change “like turning an oil tanker.”
“I’m assuming most days are hard days,” Prince Harry said in an interview, explaining that people in the sector are “always being kept awake at night because of what you’re seeing, what you know is wrong.” Online privacy and social media reform is one of the key issues in Prince Harry’s post-royal work, after his own experiences with social media attacks and his family’s quest for privacy. “By this point [internet privacy reform] has already taken far too long, but I do feel like we are on the cusp of something transformational."
As Prince Harry looked to support his and his wife’s online privacy, he learned of the dangerous and potentially deadly online world, which sees very little in the form of regulation. "You understand very quickly the preventable suffering and how wide that goes," Harry said, explaining that “it was because of the time spent on social media and the content being pushed their way," referencing children and adolescents who were deeply affected by online bullying, digital information, and harmful algorithms. "The fact that even one child is taking their own life because of the content that is being pushed to them through social media is fundamentally wrong.”
"When I see young people now, they have a different experience of [privacy],” Prince Harry said. Growing up in a completely digital age, where anything can be shared online at any time, Prince Harry feels “they also don't have an option or haven't been given an option.” Based on conversations with young people today, Prince Harry said "I think they care a lot about privacy,” explaining that young people “just haven't had to worry about it before."
Prince Harry shared his hopes that these conversations would push for real reform, and even government regulations, to protect online privacy. "Regulation is part of innovation, but it's uncomfortable,” Prince Harry said. He chastised the companies behind these online spaces, who encourage discourse and discussions without any real change. "It really just creates this public debate,” he said. “And when things are publicly debated, nothing ever actually happens."
