They say that “good” people have nothing to hide and, therefore, nothing to fear from surveillance.
Everyone of us has something to hide. When we are confronted with out dark side, immediate, temporary loss of memory sets in and we say “I have nothing to hide” because we can’t remember on the spot. The source of this behavior isn’t “being good”, it’s peer pressure and guilt.
Everyone reading these lines has hidden something. Maybe you were not 100% honest when filing your last tax return. Or you lied to the police how many drinks you had. You lie to yourself when you’re speeding, thinking that you’re such a great driver, you can’t possible cause an accident. Maybe you had an affair, or a “harmless” flirt or maybe you visit a brothel. A few years ago, it was social suicide to let anyone, even your best friends, know that you’re homosexual. It still is in many parts of the world. In the “first world,” it’s what has happened during the last party, an awkward sickness, embarrassing thoughts, which odd web sites you’re visiting.
Everyone of us has something to hide. The average person, perfect in sync with the medium of society, is a myth.
People lose jobs over Twitter posts, party photos on Facebook. Some never get a job because of a criminal record or their family name. Police officers with access to surveillance equipment spy on their spouses or look into women’s bathrooms. Many partners of NSA agents were under surveillance without any official mandate.
Which brings us to the core of surveillance: The main product of surveillance isn’t security – it’s extortion.
When secret services pile up incriminating evidence against someone, they don’t tell the police. In most states, they aren’t allowed to. They keep it. For when it’s needed. When “someone” decides that “something” needs to be done and there is no legal way.
Not convinced? Well, if “nothing to hide” was true, then why do politicians, agencies and companies absolutely and firmly reject to let us see what they are doing? “Nothing to hide” is always only used as an argument to watch someone else. It implies “I have nothing to hide, so you don’t need to even try. Go away. Nothing to see here.” (Adam D. Moore, author of Privacy Rights: Moral and Legal Foundations, from “Nothing to hide argument“)
That’s why we need to be concerned about surveillance. We need to discuss what we want to achieve and what the costs are.
Do we want to make mass surveillance illegal? We could but we’d have to close down Google and Facebook.
Do we want total surveillance? Can we evolve all the societies on planet Earth to an extent where we can be honest with anyone about absolutely anything? Do we want to? How many people would get that killed?
Or do we have to strike a balance, find out how much surveillance is healthy, what the open and hidden costs are, how to control the people who use it – because it’s in the nature of most humans to do anything as long as they can get away with it.
It’s not a discussion many people want to have, we have so many things on our minds, but as usual: If we don’t make up our minds, someone else will do it for us. Only with out best interests in mind, of course.
Tagged: Security, Surveillance
