I have nothing to hide is not an argument

"I have nothing to hide, so I don't care about privacy."

I hear this constantly. Smart people say it. Good people say it. And every time, I want to shake them gently and say: You're missing the point entirely.

This isn't about you having secrets. This isn't about you doing anything wrong. This is about power, and how quickly things can change.

The thing about power

Here's what people don't realise: privacy isn't about hiding bad things. It's about preventing power from being abused.

When you say "I have nothing to hide," you're assuming that: - The people watching you are good - They'll stay good - The rules won't change - Your definition of "nothing wrong" matches theirs - It always will

History laughs at these assumptions.

The rules change overnight

In 1930s Germany, being Jewish wasn't illegal. Then it was. The records were already there – census data, neighborhood lists, employment records. The surveillance infrastructure was already built. They just flipped the switch.

"But that could never happen here," you say.

Really? In 2001, most people would have been horrified by mass surveillance. By 2013, when Snowden revealed its extent, many shrugged. The Overton window had shifted. What was unthinkable became acceptable became normal.

The infrastructure is already there. Your location data. Your purchases. Your communications. Your associations. All stored, all searchable, all ready to be used against you when the definition of "suspicious" changes.

You do have something to hide

Even if you're the most law-abiding person alive, you have things you'd rather keep private:

Your salary. Your medical conditions. Your family problems. Your political donations. Your weird hobbies. Your embarrassing searches. Your private conversations with friends.

None of these are illegal. All of them could be used against you.

Maybe you donated to a political cause that becomes controversial. Maybe you have a medical condition that affects your employability. Maybe you said something in private that sounds bad out of context.

"I have nothing to hide" really means "I can't imagine how this information could be used against me." But you don't get to control how it's used. That's the point.

The chilling effect

Here's the subtle danger: when you know you're being watched, you change your behavior. Even if you're doing nothing wrong.

You don't research certain topics. You don't visit certain websites. You don't associate with certain people. You self-censor in conversations. You become more conventional, more conformist, more boring.

This isn't paranoia. This is documented human behavior. When people know they're being surveilled, they modify their actions to avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing.

Democracy requires dissent. Innovation requires experimentation. Progress requires people willing to explore ideas that might be unpopular. Mass surveillance kills all of these.

Privacy is not secrecy

This is the crucial distinction people miss. Privacy isn't about keeping secrets. It's about having boundaries.

You close the door when you use the bathroom. Not because you're doing anything wrong, but because some things should be private. You don't want your boss reading your diary. Not because it contains illegal activities, but because it's yours.

Privacy is about autonomy. It's about having space to be yourself, to make mistakes, to grow, to think unpopular thoughts, to be human.

The real question

The question isn't whether you have something to hide.

The question is: Do you want to live in a world where privacy is possible, or one where it isn't?

Because once we collectively decide that privacy doesn't matter, we can't get it back. The infrastructure of surveillance, once built, doesn't get dismantled. It gets expanded.

Your children will inherit the world you're building today. Do you want them to grow up in a world where privacy is a quaint concept from the past?

"I have nothing to hide" isn't a defense of your position. It's an admission that you haven't thought it through.

Think it through.

SF.