O argumento falacioso "não tenho nada a esconder"

É habitual quando se fala de atentar contra as nossas liberdades e especialmente contra a nossa privacidade, aparecer o argumento de que "não tenho nada a esconder" uma vez que supostamente não vamos cometer um crime.
Estes dois artigos são interessantes e muito importantes tendo em conta que cada vez mais se assiste à destruição da nossa privacidade através da implementação de leis quer a nível europeu, como por exemplo na Alemanha, e especialemente nos EUA/USA onde se passam casos como o da AT&T que disponibiliza todo o seu tráfego de dados quer telefones quer internet à NSA.

Este argumento é falacioso como fica demonstrado nestes dois artigos, aqui fica um apanhado das conclusões do cripto-analista Bruce Schneier:

• If I'm not doing anything wrong, then you have no cause to watch me.
• Because the government gets to define what's wrong, and they keep changing the definition.
• Because you might do something wrong with my information.
• Who watches the watchers?
• Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
  

E ainda uma interessante dissertação sobre o mesmo tema....

'I've Got Nothing to Hide' and Other Misunderstandings of Privacy
DANIEL J. SOLOVE
George Washington University Law School

E uma frase do Cardeal Richelieu que nos deve fazer pensar....

"If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged."

The Eternal Value of Privacy

Bruce Schneier

The most common retort against privacy advocates -- by those in favor of ID checks, cameras, databases, data mining and other wholesale surveillance measures -- is this line: "If you aren't doing anything wrong, what do you have to hide?"

Some clever answers: "If I'm not doing anything wrong, then you have no cause to watch me." "Because the government gets to define what's wrong, and they keep changing the definition." "Because you might do something wrong with my information." My problem with quips like these -- as right as they are -- is that they accept the premise that privacy is about hiding a wrong. It's not. Privacy is an inherent human right, and a requirement for maintaining the human condition with dignity and respect.

Two proverbs say it best: Quis custodiet custodes ipsos? ("Who watches the watchers?") and "Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

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