Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

The argument "why do you care about your privacy if you have nothing to hide" needs to be addressed. The problem with this argument is you don't decide what you need to hide or not, the authorities do, and we all know authorities can be corrupted. Just look at the US government right now for example A.

Just as an example. You are gay. You live in a gay friendly place. Until one day, a new government takes office that will incarcerate gay people. They now have access to every one's phones who previously had nothing to hide.





You don't even have to go that far. Just ask them for their banking information, passwords, and maybe some naked photos of them to top it off.

Everyone has something to hide... unless there's something utterly wrong with them.


That argument is easily refuted by "sure, I don't mind the government/Google/etc. having access to all that".

The GP argument is the correct one. You might not mind now, but that's not the problem.


Agreed, I once read someone put it like this: Saying you have nothing to hide, so you don't care about privacy is like saying you have nothing to say, so you don't care about freedom of speech. In both cases the ramifications are far reaching.

> "Why do you care about privacy if you have nothing to hide"

For the same reason you close the door when you are pooping on the toilet. You know what you are doing there, I know what you are doing there, so leave the door open.

That's what I always lead with, if we come into that territory :)


“The average person commits felonies a day” is probably a better way to communicate this idea.

… three felonies…

I have nothing to hide and I'm not doing anything wrong, but I still close the door when I'm taking a shit and wouldn't like someone taking pictures of me doing it.

I think this "argument" has always been flawed. I don't need to justify what information I would like to share especially with state agencies. In Germany, this is even encoded in a legal principle called "Informationelle Selbstbestimmung" (informational agency). It's not about the information, it's about my right to decide about sharing it.

Saying "I don't care about 'privacy' because I have nothing to hide" can be compared to saying "I don't care about free speech because I have nothing to say". Which says a lot, frankly.



Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: