Privacy

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Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.

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The "Nothing to hide" argument is (still) a logical fallacy (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 days ago by Charger8232@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

33 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Almost one year ago I made this post about how the Wikipedia page for the "Nothing to hide" argument removed the text stating that it is a logical fallacy. I advocated for it to be added back. Three days after that post it was added back.

Exactly one year, to the day, after the logical fallacy text was removed, it got removed again. On October 19th of this year, a different user removed the text from the Wikipedia page, despite plenty of evidence that the "Nothing to hide" argument is a logical fallacy.

I am back here, once again, advocating that the text be added back.

P.S. It's an absolutely crazy coincidence that the same edit happened to the same page on the same day exactly one year apart.

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[–] irmadlad@lemmy.world 43 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I find that people who say 'I've nothing to hide' haven't really thought it through. Mainly because, in most of the general public's mind, there is a disconnect between their daily lives and their online lives. Instead of being condescending to them, run through a couple of obvious scenarios with them:

You have keys and locks they go to. Maybe they go to your car, front or back door, or tool shed. Why? Keys and locks prevent unauthorized access. They do not portend guilt in any way.
You have window blinds and even black out curtains covering them. Why? What would be your reaction to a law that made window blinds and curtains illegal because the authorities having jurisdiction can't see what you are doing in your house?
Would you be ok if a live feed of your bathroom or bedroom be broadcast to the internet for all to see? Why not?

Usually, running through daily things people do and contrasting them with privacy, security, and anonymity, I can get them to realize that yes, they too enjoy, nay, demand privacy, security, and anonymity in their daily lives, and that their online presence should not be any different.

The average Joe citizen really has no idea what goes on behind all those pretty pictures on their screen, and they could almost be forgiven for that. I've had a computer in front of me since the mid 70s and I openly admit, computers and networking are complex beasts. Even I have not plumbed the depths. Someone here made a comment once that if their knowledge was a 25' tape measure, they might know an inch, and I think that is applicable.

We, as the stewards of the secret knowledge, should not brow beat those who may be unenlightened. They are not sheep, they are not normies, they are not idiots. They just have no clue, so it behooves us to educate and assist those who do not understand, without making them feel like they're stupid. The more educated the populace, the further our privacy, security, and anonymity mission is spread.

[–] moistclump@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago (1 children)

John Oliver did a good bit on this with Edward Snowden. He advocated that the messaging should be “do you want the government to have access to your dick pics.” Surveyed people on the street that didn’t seem to care less about privacy but as soon as they started thinking about their dick pics being available to the government… the tone changed.

[–] irmadlad@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

the tone changed

It does, especially when you make it a personal connection to their daily lives, which I always try to do. The vast majority of people don't really think in terms we as privacy advocates do. There are many factors. As I mentioned, shit's very complex. People are very busy now days just to make ends meet. Usually both parents work, come home, spend a little time with the family and collapse in bed only to do the same tomorrow, until the weekend when they catch up on household chores, spend time with their children, try to rest up for the next 5 or 6 work days. They don't have the time to read the Unix manual, much less understand it. So I try to break things down in digestible bits so as not to overwhelm.