For an eloquent and brilliantly conceived analysis of the “nothing to hide” argument, I strongly recommend reading the following article:
Solove, DJ. “I’ve Got Nothing to Hide” and Other Misunderstandings of Privacy. 44 San Diego L. Rev. 745 (2007).
Have you ever heard someone proudly declare, “I don’t mind if the government is reading my emails, because I’m not doing anything wrong–I have nothing to hide”? Privacy is a deeply misunderstood but admittedly nebulous concept, and it affects nearly every area of our lives, including interpersonal interaction, social customs, and global policy.
“…suppose the government examines one’s telephone records and finds out that a person made calls to her parents, a friend in Canada, a video game store, and a pizza delivery place. ‘So what?,’ that person might say. ‘I’m not embarrassed or humiliated by this information. If anybody asks me, I’ll gladly tell them where I shop. I have nothing to hide.'”
While it seems to follow reason that only wrongdoers need be worried about government scrutiny or intrusion, this dangerous sentiment expresses a logical fallacy central to common misconceptions about freedom and privacy.
Dr. Daniel J. Solove, Professor of Law at George Washington University, published the article in 2007, well before the global surveillance disclosures of NSA contractor Edward Snowden in 2013, and it is even more relevant today than ever.
“By saying ‘I have nothing to hide,’ you are saying that it’s OK for the government to infringe on the rights of potentially millions of your fellow Americans, possibly ruining their lives in the process. To me, the ‘I have nothing to hide’ argument basically equates to “’I don’t care what happens, so long as it doesn’t happen to me.'”
Dr. Solove’s review is absolutely the best statement on the topic that I’ve read, and no matter what your political affiliation, your opinion of the NSA‘s worldwide surveillance programs (PRISM), or your feelings about civil liberties, I hope that you will read it, too.
“The problem, in short, is not with finding an answer to the question: ‘If you’ve got nothing to hide, then what do you have to fear?’ The problem is in the very question itself.”