Rebel Tech Alliance"I've got nothing to hide!"
Actually, you do...
Your money, for one. Ever heard of personalised pricing? Anyone who's purchased flights on the internet has seen this. Sites that gather data about you can manipulate the price based on what they think you will pay.
Either way privacy isn’t about hiding wrongdoing; it’s about stopping ordinary people being judged, managed and trapped by secret systems they can’t see, challenge or escape. Algorithms in all walks of life will judge you based on the data they hold. That data is often wrong, but you will never know that. This very often leads to bias and discrimination, with no accountability.
You've got nothing to show!
When you understand that you are dealing with an entity that is trying to either extract money from you or manipulate your behaviour in some way, it's easier to realise that you should flip the statement: you've got nothing to show.
The 'nothing to hide' thing comes from a clever framing by then CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt. Circa 2006 in an interview he was asked about whether people should be treating Google like their most trusted friend, because they seemed to be doing that. He responded "If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place." He then goes on to admit that "search engines retain that information for some time". Source Eric Schmidt on privacy (YouTube)
Edward Snowden's take on 'Nothing to hide'
"Arguing that you don't care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is like saying you don't care about freedom of speech because you have nothing to say."
The legal view on 'Nothing to hide' - a formal study
This legal study (pdf download) takes a very deep look at the flawed 'Nothing to hide' argument.
Privacy is not about hiding guilt; it is about preventing power without oversight. Once institutions can collect, combine and reuse ordinary data in secret, they can profile, misjudge and act on you without your knowledge or any practical way to challenge errors. The real risk is not embarrassment or incrimination. It is loss of control, due process and freedom in a system where harmless facts, once aggregated, can become leverage against you. Ask yourself: "Do you trust your next government?"
Nothing To Hide - a documentary that nails it
This 2017 documentary perfectly sums up the fallacy of the 'Nothing to hide' argument. They include a live experiment where they track someone to show them what they can collect, and interview people who were surveilled by the Stasi in the 1980's. Very powerful - please watch it:
It's not about you, it's about them
"I need privacy not because my actions are questionable, but because your judgement and intentions are."
Once your data is out there, do you know what happens to it? Who is using it? Exactly.
The surveillance business model relies on collective apathy
And the opposite is true: it falters with collective action. If we are all careful to starve the system of our personal data then you hit them in the wallet. If just one person acts, there is no effect on big tech, but if millions do? They need us - we provide their raw material for their machines - so we have power en masse.