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thangalin 2 hours ago

> I've got nothing to hide.

Some retorts for people swayed by that argument:

"Can we put a camera in your bathroom?"

"Let's send your mom all your text messages."

"Ain't nothin' in my pockets, but I'd rather you didn't check."

"Shall we live-stream your next doctor's appointment?"

"May I watch you enter your PIN at the ATM?"

"How about you post your credit card number on reddit?"

"Care to read your high-school diary on open mic night?"

▲ Arch485 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I think the "nothing to hide" argument is made for a different reason.

People are unafraid of the government knowing certain things because they believe it will not have any real repercussions for them. The NSA knowing your search history is no big deal (as long as you're not looking for anything illegal), but your church knowing your search history would absolutely be a big deal.

	▲	mschuster91 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		> People are unafraid of the government knowing certain things because they believe it will not have any real repercussions for them. A very famous quote: "Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect." Many people - particularly white people, but let's not ignore that a bunch of Black and Latino folks are/have been Trump supporters - believe that they are part of the in-group. And inevitably, they find out that the government doesn't care, as evidenced by ICE and their infamous quota of 3000 arrests a day... which has hit a ton of these people, memefied as "leopards ate my face". [1] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/29/trump-ice-ar...

▲ JumpCrisscross 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> Some retorts for people swayed by that argument

Do any of these actually prompt someone to reconsider their position? They strike me as more of argument through being annoying than a good-faith attempt to connect with the other side.

▲ throw-qqqqq an hour ago | parent [-]

I usually just quote Snowden instead:

    “Ultimately, arguing that you don't care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say.”