Why Privacy Matters Even if You Have 'Nothing to Hide'

The Chronicle

Daniel J. Solove

When the government gathers or analyzes personal information, many people say they're not worried. "I've got nothing to hide," they declare. "Only if you're doing something wrong should you worry, and then you don't deserve to keep it private."

The nothing-to-hide argument pervades discussions about privacy. The data-security expert Bruce Schneier calls it the "most common retort against privacy advocates." The legal scholar Geoffrey Stone refers to it as an "all-too-common refrain." In its most compelling form, it is an argument that the privacy interest is generally minimal, thus making the contest with security concerns a foreordained victory for security.

The nothing-to-hide argument is everywhere. In Britain, for example, the government has installed millions of public-surveillance cameras in cities and towns, which are watched by officials via closed-circuit television. In a campaign slogan for the program, the government declares: "If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear." Variations of nothing-to-hide arguments frequently appear in blogs, letters to the editor, television news interviews, and other forums. One blogger in the United States, in reference to profiling people for national-security purposes, declares: "I don't mind people wanting to find out things about me, I've got nothing to hide! Which is why I support [the government's] efforts to find terrorists by monitoring our phone calls!"

The argument is not of recent vintage. One of the characters in Henry James's 1888 novel, The Reverberator, muses: "If these people had done bad things they ought to be ashamed of themselves and he couldn't pity them, and if they hadn't done them there was no need of making such a rumpus about other people knowing."

I encountered the nothing-to-hide argument so frequently in news interviews, discussions, and the like that I decided to probe the issue. I asked the readers of my blog, Concurring Opinions, whether there are good responses to the nothing-to-hide argument. I received a torrent of comments:  

Read Full Article

Daniel J. Solove is a professor of law at George Washington University. This essay is an excerpt from his new book, Nothing to Hide: The False Tradeoff Between Privacy and Security, published this month by Yale University Press.

Enter your email address to subscribe to our newsletter:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Be the Change! Share this using the tools below. Sharing on Reddit and Newsvine will help the most.

Homeland Security Trolling We Won’t Fly Blog

Editor's Note: Offensive language here, but it's all courtesy of American taxpayer money donated to Homeland Security.  Give 'em a call and tell them to spend your money more wisely.

George Donnelly
We Won't Fly

I was about to delete an offensive comment on this blog – one of the very few we get – and thought, hmm, I wonder where this guy is posting from? Because, really, it is quite unusual for us to get nasty comments. Lo and behold, the troll posted to our website from an IP address controlled by the federal government’s Department of Homeland Security! Here is the taxpayer-funded troll’s gem of a comment, for your entertainment:

Fuck you, Fuck all you cocksuckers, you wont change anything. ride the bus, TSA is here to stay there doing a great job keeping americia safe.

(Later, I checked our comment database and found 19 more of these gems from the same IP address. See below.)

Here is a link to the screenshot of the WordPress comment. As you can see, the IP address it was posted from is 216.81.80.134. Here is the publicly accessible whois record for that IP:

NetRange: 216.81.80.0 – 216.81.95.255
CIDR: 216.81.80.0/20
OriginAS:
NetName: ONENET
NetHandle: NET-216-81-80-0-1
Parent: NET-216-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Assignment
NameServer: NS5.DHS.GOV
NameServer: NS6.DHS.GOV
NameServer: NS3.DHS.GOV
NameServer: NS4.DHS.GOV
RegDate: 2008-05-07
Updated: 2009-09-01
Ref: http://whois.arin.net/rest/net/NET-216-81-80-0-1
OrgName: DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
OrgId: DHS-37
Address: 7681 BOSTON BLVD
Address: NDC I
City: SPRINGFIELD
StateProv: VA
PostalCode: 22153
Country: US
RegDate: 2005-12-05
Updated: 2008-05-22
Ref: http://whois.arin.net/rest/org/DHS-37
OrgTechHandle: DIA9-ARIN
OrgTechName: DHS IPv6 ADMINISTRATION
OrgTechPhone: +1-703-921-7595
OrgTechEmail: DHS.IPv6.ADMIN@dhs.gov
OrgTechRef: http://whois.arin.net/rest/poc/DIA9-ARIN
OrgNOCHandle: DIA9-ARIN
OrgNOCName: DHS IPv6 ADMINISTRATION
OrgNOCPhone: +1-703-921-7595
OrgNOCEmail: DHS.IPv6.ADMIN@dhs.gov
OrgNOCRef: http://whois.arin.net/rest/poc/DIA9-ARIN

Some questions come to mind:

• Is this an official statement?
• If not, is it an accurate representation of the DHS position?
• Was this person on the public dime when he or she posted this?
• Who posted this and what is their position with DHS?

This is not the first time we have been trolled by individuals connected to the TSA. Someone posted a personal attack on me from an IP belonging to mitre.org, a corporation whose core competency is securing federal government contracts, including DHS and TSA ones. Any effective TSA resistance threatens not only the TSA itself but also the bureaucrats who got us to this point and the corporations who are getting paid for the technology.

EDIT: In fact, there are are 19 comments from that IP address in our comment database! Here are some choice ones:
November 9:

Funny site you have going on here, looking forward to the guest comic postings.. what a bunch of rubes you all are.. BTW TSA officers make on avg $14.50 per hour to start. Much more than your bottle collecting jobs you have.

In this one, the troll identifies himself as “Butch Forman” with an email address of BForman@hotmail.com.

You people are really messed up. That you sit around and put forth the hatred that you spew. If any of you are parents who have children, I feel sorry for the kids because you will raise them to be cynical, skeptical and totally paranoid. The TSA who work everyday trying to earn a living are parents, retired professionals, students, ex-law enforcement a whole diverse population of people who are trying to support their families and hope that they are doing what is necessary to protect those who travel. Give it a rest would you and if you feel that way about flying, then do me and the TSA a favor and don’t fly, that is your right, exercise it please. It makes the line at the airport alot shorter for those of us who get it.

You can refuse to fly too. Train, car, bus, boat, walk, bicycle, motorcycle,..You don’t have to fly…You know that TSA perosnnel travel by air also..and they go through security just as anyone lse does….Are you for real or just argumentative…Homeschooled your kids..makes sense now

Another one from that same IP is from “DP” with email address darryl.price@cox.net. Another one from “Jeff” with email address burniate@gmail.com.
November 15 from yabba3@aol.com

Like I said before; This is turining into one of the best comedy sites on the internet… I love the fact that you have people all wound up about this liar.. Good for your ad dollars I’ll bet.. Ohhh let me guess what you folks have in mind next to generate $$ …. Ummm oh yeah TSA “agents” are really aliens looking for food!!!!!

From “iLoveTSAandtheUSA” with email sweet_n_tender_hooligans@yahoo.com

Do any of you really think TSA is going to care if everyone requests a full body pat down instead of walking through the metal detector or body scanners?
They get to go home once their shift is over, no matter how long the lines are.
Less passengers flying means less work for them!
TSA must be doing something right if no hijackings or attacks have occured on American soil since 9/11.
I’d feel much safer if everyone was screened thoroughly. A terrorist can be anyone.

November 18 from “Anonymous” with email 00machgt@gmail.com

Wow so what you people want is a Private Security firm with no accountability to take over a Federalized, controlled, accountable and impregnable screening force. Good luck, I see an attack in our near future. Americans are so spoiled. You want protection with no loss of freedoms. Think back to 9-11. would you have been saying the same things if this took place right after that day? Grow up and get a life instead of bashing a working system. Everyone hates the IRS but no one complains when a Police officer comes to assist you when your being assaulted. Sounds funny because the tax laws the IRS enforces pays all civil service salaries. Once again society announces its ignorance.

Let me clear this up for you people who clearly are misinformed. At EVERY airport you visit there will be a little sign stating in a blip, that you are voluntarily subimiting youself and your property for screening. So when you walk through, no one is putting a gun to your head and making you fly. its your choice. And because this is a Commercial airline transporting people, it must require that everyone be screened throughly. And because you are so upset and not thinking you fail to realize the simplicity of it. You put your bags in and you walk through. So no it isnt illegal people. Is it illegal for Private companies to do it? no because its security duhhh. Then how is it illegal when TSA does it. You people dont think. And if you read the press reslease from TSA, they state that the images are not kept and that the officer isnt allowed to see theface of the person being screened. If you feel something is off when you go to get scanned, then inform a Law enforcement official or ask for a TSA rep. Simple. Stop throwing out lies and nonsense people. I can imagine you all sitting around thinking up crazy rumors to circulate. Also Im 4 years Army MP and I know a thing or two about security. thanks

November 25 from ” YourWrong” with email Johnny324234@hotmail.com

Why has your great Opt-Out leader never posted on this site what he would do to keep passengers who choose to fly safe from being blown up? Being a critic is for simpletons – experts however actually have to look for solutions.
Think about it!!!

And there are more. These are just the best ones. 

EDIT: I’ll release the screenshot from the WordPress admin interface shortly.

Buy 1 Get 2 Free at Botanic Choice Buy 1 Bottle and Get 2 FREE (select items), plus Free Shipping on $25+ Expires 12/31/2010

Fresh food that lasts from eFoods Direct (Ad)

Live Superfoods It is time to Wake Up! You too, can join the "Global Political Awakening"!

Print this page