'I've Got Nothing to Hide' and Other Misunderstandings of Privacy

'I've Got Nothing to Hide' and Other Misunderstandings of Privacy

DANIEL J. SOLOVE
George Washington University Law School

Abstract:
In this short essay, written for a symposium in the San Diego Law Review, Professor Daniel Solove examines the nothing to hide argument. When asked about government surveillance and data mining, many people respond by declaring: I've got nothing to hide. According to the nothing to hide argument, there is no threat to privacy unless the government uncovers unlawful activity, in which case a person has no legitimate justification to claim that it remain private. The nothing to hide argument and its variants are quite prevalent, and thus are worth addressing. In this essay, Solove critiques the nothing to hide argument and exposes its faulty underpinnings.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=998565

John Dean quotes Professor Solove in his http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=316407&mesg_id=316407">recent article and the PDF link doesnt seem to work except on the above webpage. It is a 25 page PDF file but as this FISA debate is happening, we are going to be seeing a lot of the "I've got nothing to hide" argument and this paper should do well to refute that.

but do you really want the government wiretapping it?

Do you really think, some low-level flunky would rather spend hours upon hours listening to grandmas talk to their relatives in The Old Country... or would they rather watch or listen to your sexual fantasies with overseas strippers?

I've downloaded and saved it for future reading. Thanks!

I sent it to all the idiots I know who keep saying that.