Why?
So why have this site? What does "If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" mean?
The idea of this site is to challenge this oft quoted bit of rhetoric that dosen't stand up to
any rigourous questioning; its usually just trotted out of its pen as a bit of common sense
that simply settles the argument. Bad people do bad thing thay want to keep hidden and law
abiding people dont have anything to hide so therefore have nothing to to get worried about.
The truth is that we all have details that we would rather have secret; PIN numbers, AOL passwords,
our religion and sexuality, medical records, the list is actually endless. The premise is that
secrets are a bad thing. I keep my PIN number secret so my money isnt stolen, I have house keys
so people cant walk in and steal my video recorder, we tell children to be careful who to reveal
information to to protect themselves and John Prescot tries to keeps his affairs quiet to keep his job
and long suffering wife.
So everybody has details to keep from others; not for nefarious reasons, its called privacy.
So why does the phrase have such resonance with the public and therefore politicians? What is it
about this meme that we find so hard to reject? Frankly I dont know and it bugs the hell out of me
hence this site. If you can get all the way to the end of the citizenship test and answer all
the questions truthfully; Congratulations you'll be the first to get an ID card, and welcome it.
I suspect most will baulk partiularly towards the end which means that you have something to hide
in which case, to recast the quote: "If you hide from us, you should fear us"
Comments and queries? Email: jono@nothingtohidenothingtofear.co.uk
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