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by brianwmunz 7 days ago
Whenever I would talk to people about the importance of privacy in data and online activity, people would always say something like "I don't care, I've got nothing to hide. I'm not some weird pervert." And yeah I'm not either but this kind of stuff is why it's important. Fascism thrives on knowledge of the people it wants to oppress.
4 comments
troyvit 7 days ago
It's trite, but saying you don't care about privacy rights because you have nothing to hide is like saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.
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josefritzishere 7 days ago
That's very well said... quotable even.
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troyvit 7 days ago
Yeah and I called it "trite" because I thought it was well worn at this point and that is b.s. on my part that I regret. I first heard this from Edward Snowden:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2015/may/22/edward...

and I don't think he's trite at all.

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giancarlostoro 7 days ago
Just correct them more blatantly:

I dont care about the fourth amendment, I have nothing to hide.

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notglossy 7 days ago
This is the issue. At some point very basic and normal things, like believing in a woman’s right to vote or in people’s broad access to healthcare, can be considered radical or terroristic by the powers that be. Then the lists become so pervasive that just living your life and performing every day activities puts you at risk, even if you are trying to conform.
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bluGill 7 days ago
I'm not doing anything I should have to hide. However I am doing some things that I would have to hide elsewhere, and there is no particular reason to believe those things will remain things I don't have to hide.
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mrtesthah 7 days ago
Nowadays the issue is that the “I’ve got nothing to hide” crowd assumes we all live in a society where laws are equally and sensibly enforced. That is demonstrably no longer the case under the prerogative state, which now includes ICE/CBP, DOJ, and FBI.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_state_(model)

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brianwmunz 7 days ago
Right, and it's a sliding scale. People think in terms of institutions acting the way they're supposed to. As we've seen those lines can get blurry and reasons can be created to track and suppress free speech.
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