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It was only about an hour ago I saw yet another mindless commentator on one of these threads saying "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about

It was only about an hour ago I saw yet another mindless commentator on one of these threads saying "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about".

newsomix9xl 2mo ago
These risks were said to be theoretical what ifs? But headlines are showing that they are quite real problems. Who watches the watchers?
- edoceo 2mo ago
  Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? is a question that is roughly 2000 years old. Still no good answer. The journalists uncovering this are doing good and necessary work. We need more transparency. Perhaps every search needs to be tied to a specific case and then made public after some time period.
  - richardfey 2mo ago
    > Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? is a question that is roughly 2000 years old. Still no good answer. I feel like we are moving towards a very specific answer, without much thought: AI.
tintor 2mo ago
People who have nothing to hide get ambushed by police at gunpoint, because surveillance system misidentifies them.
DANmode 2mo ago
Let them show themselves.
Walf 2mo ago
The funniest response I've read to this type of reasoning went something like this: a family gathering; topic of privacy came up; boomer-type trotted out the "nothing to hide" line; younger relative asked them if they enjoy a particular type of sexual intercourse with their spouse; red faces and looks of horror; the asker reminded everyone that privacy is important and it doesn't mean one is doing anything wrong.
- rationalist 2mo ago
  "Does your phone have a passcode? What are you hiding? Can I look through your text messages?"
- Analemma_ 2mo ago
  The underlying principle here is that secrecy and privacy are not the same thing. The famous illustrative example is that when you’re taking a shit it’s no secret what you’re doing in there, but most people still prefer not to be watched when they do it.
- veec_cas_tant 2mo ago
  Isn’t the easy reply here that there is no expectation of privacy in public, unlike in one’s home? There are tens, or more likely hundreds of millions of cameras recording outside in the United States.
  - Walf 2mo ago
    It's not that simple. If you were in public, going about your business, but someone followed you around perpetually, noting down everything you did, you should feel stalked and harassed. That is exactly what these machines are doing. Being in public means that you're not hiding any one part of your behaviour, but nor are you telling everyone where you've been and where you're going, etc.
    - aqme28 2mo ago
      In some places, like Germany, that reasonable expectation of privacy standard extends into public. You’re not allowed to just film strangers that have nothing to do with you. In some ways, I feel like this is a better system for our future.
      - veec_cas_tant 2mo ago
        Regardless of their laws, Germany has plenty of CCTV style cameras outdoors just like NYC and other major cities worldwide.
sixothree 2mo ago
There was a time when you could paste a reddit username into an online tool and it would build a profile of the person in question. And when I came across one of these "if you have nothing to hide..." people, I did just that. After I asked them how the weather was and how their dog was doing they deleted their account. Lightweights.
- willis936 2mo ago
  If you want a bad time just ask a chatbot what it knows about your username.

It was only about an hour ago I saw yet another mindless commentator on one of these threads saying "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about".

newsomix9xl 2mo ago

These risks were said to be theoretical what ifs? But headlines are showing that they are quite real problems. Who watches the watchers?

edoceo 2mo ago
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? is a question that is roughly 2000 years old. Still no good answer. The journalists uncovering this are doing good and necessary work. We need more transparency. Perhaps every search needs to be tied to a specific case and then made public after some time period.
- richardfey 2mo ago
  > Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? is a question that is roughly 2000 years old. Still no good answer. I feel like we are moving towards a very specific answer, without much thought: AI.

tintor 2mo ago

People who have nothing to hide get ambushed by police at gunpoint, because surveillance system misidentifies them.

DANmode 2mo ago

Let them show themselves.

Walf 2mo ago

The funniest response I've read to this type of reasoning went something like this: a family gathering; topic of privacy came up; boomer-type trotted out the "nothing to hide" line; younger relative asked them if they enjoy a particular type of sexual intercourse with their spouse; red faces and looks of horror; the asker reminded everyone that privacy is important and it doesn't mean one is doing anything wrong.

rationalist 2mo ago
"Does your phone have a passcode? What are you hiding? Can I look through your text messages?"
Analemma_ 2mo ago
The underlying principle here is that secrecy and privacy are not the same thing. The famous illustrative example is that when you’re taking a shit it’s no secret what you’re doing in there, but most people still prefer not to be watched when they do it.
veec_cas_tant 2mo ago
Isn’t the easy reply here that there is no expectation of privacy in public, unlike in one’s home? There are tens, or more likely hundreds of millions of cameras recording outside in the United States.
- Walf 2mo ago
  It's not that simple. If you were in public, going about your business, but someone followed you around perpetually, noting down everything you did, you should feel stalked and harassed. That is exactly what these machines are doing. Being in public means that you're not hiding any one part of your behaviour, but nor are you telling everyone where you've been and where you're going, etc.
  - aqme28 2mo ago
    In some places, like Germany, that reasonable expectation of privacy standard extends into public. You’re not allowed to just film strangers that have nothing to do with you. In some ways, I feel like this is a better system for our future.
    - veec_cas_tant 2mo ago
      Regardless of their laws, Germany has plenty of CCTV style cameras outdoors just like NYC and other major cities worldwide.

sixothree 2mo ago

There was a time when you could paste a reddit username into an online tool and it would build a profile of the person in question. And when I came across one of these "if you have nothing to hide..." people, I did just that. After I asked them how the weather was and how their dog was doing they deleted their account. Lightweights.

willis936 2mo ago
If you want a bad time just ask a chatbot what it knows about your username.