I really don’t like to use the word “hide” in this case, as it does imply something bad is going on. I have plenty to protect against misuse, and one of the easiest forms of protection is not making things public.

It’s not because I can’t be trusted, it’s because so many others can’t be trusted with my data.

“Nothing to hide” is a lovely line the police like. I have nothing I need to show you!

It’s such a frustrating argument as well. People have many different reasons not to want to share portions of themselves (their data) with others (the state/ISP/etc). I fail to see how “i have nothing to hide” could fight of all the possible reasons to want privacy, if you have nothing to hide then I assume you have no intimate communication with a partner/similar that you wouldn’t mind sharing with the world. I just listed some of the main intrinsic and instrumental reasons to want privacy but I imagine that there are many more.

Intrinsic reasons to want privacy (all of these can also to the future, you may not have a stalker today but what about tomorrow?)

• Fear of current state prosecution
• Not wanting non intended people to see your private content
• Fear of stalkers/personal enemies/scammers
• Fear of attacks by some group
• Fear of reduction/removal of services by some company or service provider
• Fear of stigmatisation based on unpopular opinions

Instrumental reasons to want privacy (the future is also applicable to these, next election cycle maybe your government decides to change the company handling all your health related documents)

• Not trusting state/service provider to keep your data safe
• Not trusting state/service provider to not sell or otherwise share your data with other parties

There was a video I watched awhile back, where someone mentions we all have something to hide or a reason for privacy. He goes on to say we have locks not only on our front and back doors but on our bedrooms and bathrooms too. My favorite thing from that was him talking to someone who says, “I have nothing to hide, I don’t commit any crime.” and his reply is, ok, write down all of your email addresses and passwords, so I can scroll through anything I want and read them. There’s a disgusting amount of data that’s being siphoned off of the general public, on a daily basis, and we should have better privacy laws. Take for instance the dad that learned his daughter was pregnant before she told him, because target’s algos were feeding him baby formula and diaper ads.

It’s a fundamental right to decide which information to share with whom, not lastly because information might make you vulnerable and give someone power over you. Trust is an extremely important concept, fundamental to society.

If you’ve got nothing to hide then just upload some naked pictures of yourself… Oh, now you want privacy?

This tool shows pretty well how the system works Toolness