Privacy when I have Nothing to hide (Part 1 of 2)

I have nothing in particular to hide. I have no old sins from the past, no criminal record, no plans to overthrow any government or even any thoughts of pinching candy at the grocery store.

If I truly have nothing to hide, and this always will be obvious to everyone regardless of what selection of information about me is shared, then there is no problem. Unfortunately, none of those conditions ever applies. 

Everyone has things to hide. At the very least, I do not want to share my passwords with the world. I do not want other people to send mails in my name. I want that blog posts and other things published online in my name really should be written by me. I trust other people in general, but that does not mean that I want to give everyone the right to transfer money from my bank account.

If the government has all my personal data, that means that some person in the administration can get access to it. In general, I trust people in the administration. But I do not trust that all of them are above reproach.

A friend of mine seems very average to me. He assures me he really has nothing to hide. However, when he takes domestic flights in the U.S., he is usually taken aside for additional security checks. He does not know why, but something in his profile apparently makes him suspect. His travel pattern? The fact that he usually travels alone? Did he go to the wrong cities at the wrong times? Did he stay at a hotel where some criminal gang had had some meeting at another floor? Was it something he had mentioned in a mail or a Facebook posting? I do not know, and neither does he. 

This shows that some invisible unknown factors can trigger suspicions and inconveniences for anyone - like my friend, innocent to everyone except the security algorithms of some authorities.

If the authorities have access to all your mail conversations, all your Facebook data, all your text messages, and all other traces you leave in supposedly private electronic form, then they can use that information. You may not like how they use it. 

With algorithms, they can identify suspect individuals, like my perfectly innocent friend. They can do this not only from things the suspect mentions privately online, but also from things he leaves out. For example, someone could run a search for people who never talk with their parents or siblings to look for people with family problems.

If you want to remain inconspicuous, it is not enough to avoid talking about controversial subjects. You need to select things to say that make you appear normal.

So much for problems you can get by people misinterpreting your data. But what if someone really is after you? I trust almost everyone I meet. I like most people, and I trust they like me. But every now and then there are some kind of conflicts in our lives. What about that neighbour who complains that you play too loud music? Or that plumber who got upset when you pointed out that he overcharged you? Or that driver who made an unexpected left turn, so you hit him in a way, so the insurance company won’t pay for his damages? Most such people will probably see reason in the end, but some of them may not.

If one person, who really does not like you, gets access to your data, he is bound to be able to find something bad in there. You have left a lot of electronic traces in your life, and there are a lot of laws you do not know about - you are bound to have broken at least some of them. For example, about half of all adult Americans have tried illegal drugs at least once. Did they all avoid mentioning that in supposedly private spaces online?

Cardinal Richelieu allegedly said: “Give me five lines written by the hand of the most honest man, and I will find something in them to have him hanged”. He probably did not say it actually, but that is beyond the point. He or someone like him could have said it. Neither is it certain that the nazi propaganda minister Goebbels said: “Who has nothing to hide has nothing to fear”. But he could very well have said so. And some people may have believed him.

You do not know who gets access to your data, in the end, but it may be a friend of Richelieu’s, and even if you think you have nothing to hide, that person can find something.

And what if they are right? What if your insurance company learns that you have called an HIV advice line or some other health support, and you try to take out a life insurance? It will be in their interest to avoid giving you a good insurance if they are likely to pay out a huge sum in just a few years or months. It is in their interest to find out the truth that you would rather hide.

To be continued...