Ask HN: What's a good response to “It's fine, I've got nothing to hide online”?

Re:Ask HN: What's a good response to “It's fine, I've got no... by _Donny on Wednesday April 18, 2018 @07:07AM (#16866289)

I remember seeing a documentary featuring Edward Snowden, where he said something along the lines:

"Saying "I do not care about my privacy, because I have nothing to hide", is like saying "I do not care about freedom of speech, because I have nothing to say""

This explanation stuck with me, because I find it extremely useful in situations when explaining the importance of privacy online to non-technical people.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What's a good response to “It's fine, I've got no... by janneklouman on Wednesday April 18, 2018 @08:09AM (#16866642)

While a nice quote, It's not addressing why privacy matters. Most people already have an understanding of why freedom of speech is important, but might not think privacy is as important. They could easily call this "comparing apples and oranges", a similar scenario to the one in the original post.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What's a good response to “It's fine, I've got no... by davidgrenier on Wednesday April 18, 2018 @08:05AM (#16866613)

I don't think the analogy sticks perfectly unfortunately.

I might still care about freedom of speech for the freedom of others which I value. I may not agree that I find value, assuming I have nothing to hide, in other people's privacy.

Not taking a position on privacy here, I'm just stating the analogy doesn't stick.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: What's a good response to “It's fine, I've got no... by mxuribe on Wednesday April 18, 2018 @07:58AM (#16866571)

I use this same example, and it works well.

[ Parent | on HN ]