Nothing To Hide
"If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to worry about."
Pretty much every debate about online privacy or intrusive surveillance involves the sentence above at some point. And why would I argue? It's absolutely true. You genuinely do have nothing to worry about, if indeed you have nothing to hide.
But you have something to hide. Everyone does.
The implication, of course, is that people with something to hide are the bad guys. In many cases, this is true, but it's a very small minority. Allow me to ask some questions.
- Have you ever entered your PIN into a payment terminal in public?
- Have you ever written a private letter or email?
- Have you ever spoken in confidence to a doctor?
- Have you ever bought a surprise present for anyone?
- Have you ever closed the door of the cubicle when using a public toilet?
If you've answered yes to any of these questions, then congratulations! Like everyone else, you have something to hide. The point is: that's perfectly OK. Hiding things is completely normal human behaviour; there are some things we'd just rather not shout about, for any number of completely legitimate reasons.
So if you ever feel the need to fall back on the tried-and-tested argument that people with nothing to hide have nothing to worry about, maybe think about what you have to hide, and how you'd feel if someone were to try and take that right to privacy away from you. And the next time you close the door behind you when going into a toilet cubicle, try wondering to yourself if you'd feel more or less comfortable if there were a police officer stood watching you the whole time, just to make sure you're not doing anything against the law.
