cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/twitterblueskymastodon/p/1368791/nothing-to-hide-is-how-free-countries-die
Stop saying stupid stuff like: “If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.”
Start saying: “A free country doesn’t track innocent citizens.”
Source: Mastodon.
Also even if this argument worked it would only work in a country where the laws don’t change overnight to prosecute people who oppose fascism and genocide
There has never been a “free” country.
This was addressed in the Star Trek TNG episode “The Drumhead”.
Nothing to hide? Then the government will show EVERYTHING they do, right? They don’t have anything to hide, right?
Not the US gov redacting the Trumpstein Files!
Democracy is only as free as its citizens’ minds. Without the education and critical thinking to understand what’s at stake, the people don’t govern, they get governed. That’s the shared claim of Aristotle’s “democratic education” and Sagan’s “otherwise the government runs us” are the same argument.
If you have nothing to hide, then why do you wear pants?
I go with [any] ‘clothes’, but yeah. Have gotten some amusing responses to that.
I like to ask those people if I can go look through their underwear drawer.
Because I wear pants to protect my genitals from cat claws.
Start peeking thru their windows, and see how fast the “nothing to hide” discourse disappears.
If some random guy had a 24/7 mic, camera, and GPS access to my daughter, it’d be obligated to go shoot him. Why should a company be treated any different?
Another reason I give, that’s less “boogyman gonna get your kids”, is we close our windows when talking about money so the neighbors don’t here us. Not because we’re doing something bad, but because its none of their business. That’s what privacy is.
Citizen tracking is for shitty governments that want to stay in power while making everyone’s lives hell and they want to know if anyone disagrees so they can remove any opposition.
“Nothing to hide” is also stupid on another way. For example, you may have some personal secrets which you want to keep to yourself. They are not in any way illegal, but that does not mean that you dont want to hide them.
“Nothing to hide” usually refers to sonething potentially illegal, like you dont need to hide your activity if its not criminal. But now think another way, would you like to tell random people on internet your real name, your address, your other personally indentifiable infornation? No? Then why have double standarts?
Whenever someone gives me the “Nothing to hide, nothing to fear” statement, I always ask to see their phone, unlocked. If they have nothing to hide, they should have no problem with me looking through that, right? Messages, pictures, browser history…
And when they refuse, it helps make the point that maybe privacy is important, and not wanting to get spied on doesn’t equate to guilt.
Truly in a rational world the statement that if you don’t have anything to hide you should submit to total government surveillance would not warrant a response, not in the west with our history of relative freedom.
Woahh,Google idea,back then i have a friends like that saying there is nothing to hide thing
I usually say “why don’t you just shit in a bathroom without walls then?” But i guess your is more effective
“why do you have clothes, then? I thought you had nothing to hide”
I want to prove a point, not get arrested!
Fuck yes!
