Nothing to Hide

«It’s not that I have something to hide. I have nothing I want you to see.»
Anon, why she hides her life in an age of digital surveillance, in «Anon»

There’s something to be said for time off — off social media, of external influences, off all these voices. Of having time for yourself, for your own thought, for your private thoughts.

The value of thinking for yourself, without being distracted or influenced by anything else is one of the reasons why I like the idea of a digital shabbat, and why I think the idea of having «nothing to hide» is one of the most dangerous ones there is.

Just imagine the government knowing your thoughts. Knowing what you think, or begin to think, the early stages of ideas and convictions. And now imagine what the state would do. Wait for «dangerous thoughts» to develop? Or would it try to interfere, to influence early?

Yep, you bet they would.

Having nothing to hide, whether by surveillance or an almost precog AI would lead the mind control, one way or the other.

So, he’s to those private thoughts.