Why ‘I Have Nothing to Hide’ Is the Wrong Way to Think About Surveillance [1]

 

Wired - Moxie Marlinspike, 6/13/13

 

 

Suddenly, it feels like 2000 again. Back then, surveillance programs like Carnivore [2], Echelon [3], and Total Information Awareness [4] helped spark a surge in electronic privacy awareness. Now a decade later, the recent discovery of programs like PRISM [5], Boundless Informant [6], and FISA orders [7] are catalyzing renewed concern.

 

Both then and now, privacy advocates have typically come into conflict with a persistent tension, in which many individuals don’t understand why they should be concerned about surveillance if they have nothing to hide. It’s even less clear in the world of “oblique” surveillance, given that apologists will always frame our use of information-gathering services like a mobile phone plan or Gmail as a choice [8].

 

More: Wired.com [9]