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I Have Nothing to Hide

And 20 Other Myths About Surveillance and Privacy

Author: Heidi Boghosian

An accessible guide that breaks down the complex issues around mass surveillance and data privacy and explores the negative consequences it can have on individual citizens and their communities.

No one is exempt from data mining: by owning a smartphone, or using social media or a credit card, we hand over private data to corporations and the government. We need to understand how surveillance and data collection operates in order to regain control over our digital freedoms—and our lives.

Attorney and data privacy expert Heidi Boghosian unpacks widespread myths around the seemingly innocuous nature of surveillance, sets the record straight about what government agencies and corporations do with our personal data, and offers solutions to take back our information. “I Have Nothing to Hide” is both a necessary mass surveillance overview and a reference book. It addresses the misconceptions around tradeoffs between privacy and security, citizen spying, and the ability to design products with privacy protections. Boghosian breaks down misinformation surrounding 21 core myths about data privacy, including:

“Surveillance makes the nation safer.”
“No one wants to spy on kids.”
“Police don’t monitor social media.”
“Metadata doesn’t reveal much about me.”
“Congress and the courts protect us from surveillance.”
“There’s nothing I can do to stop surveillance.”

By dispelling myths related to surveillance, this book helps readers better understand what data is being collected, who is gathering it, how they’re doing it, and why it matters.

About the Series

In the Myths Made in America series, experts debunk pervasive and harmful myths across a wide variety of topics. As misconceptions about groups of marginalized people and misunderstood concepts in the world persist, these deeply researched, frank, and user-friendly books

identify commonly held myths by name and equip readers with facts and context to better understand why these myths were created in the first place
serve as a resource for people to resist, whether it be in organizing efforts, advocacy and policy work, or the classroom
arm readers with the necessary tools to be informed, think critically, and be prepared with facts and language to have effective and meaningful conversations about some of the most important societal issues of our time

The series has exposed myths about Indigenous people, immigration, LGBTQ+ people, prison reform, homelessness, unions, fat people, climate change, gun violence, and more written by critically acclaimed, award-winning, and New York Times best-selling authors.

“This book does an excellent job at exposing privacy myths…very highly recommended.”
—2600: The Hacker Quarterly

“‘I Have Nothing to Hide’ is a sweeping, yet direct and admirably up-to-date book on one of the most important topics of our time, and Boghosian’s effort to keep these pivotal matters on the national agenda is a praiseworthy, if all-too-often unappreciated, task . . . . Boghosian’s work is a clear call to re-embrace our privacy and value its place both in our lives as individuals and in a free society.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books

“Brings the big data problem down to earth with practical talk and anecdotes for citizens and policymakers.”
—FTCWatch

“Blatant misinformation can be easy to spot and debunk. What Heidi Boghosian dispels here are more insidious and more important: the core myths regarding data and privacy that quietly coalesce into conventional wisdoms. By unpacking the most pervasive and pernicious misconceptions, Boghosian leaves readers better informed about the modern surveillance state and better equipped to do something about it.”
—Nathan Fuller, director, Courage Foundation

“The first time I opened this book, I audibly squealed in delight. The persistent privacy myths that Boghosian exposes are the torment of every privacy advocate’s existence. She eviscerates each one with style. Melding important tech and policy history with personal stories and current events, this book is for anyone who wants to lay to rest the most persistent and damaging myth: that we should give up on our privacy altogether.”
—Alison Macrina, director, Library Freedom Project

“Heidi Boghosian’s book clearly and concisely tears down the lies we tell ourselves when it comes to the dark underbelly of technology as it relates to surveillance. Privacy is a right, and we need leaders like Heidi to tell us how to defend it from entities that purport to protect and serve us.”
—Rachel A. Pickens, executive director, National Police Accountability Project

Introduction

PART ONE: PERSONAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY

MYTH 1
“Smart homes are more secure”

MYTH 2
“I have nothing to hide, so I have nothing to fear”

MYTH 3
“Encryption and anonymity tools—those are for terrorists!”

MYTH 4
“We should worry about government, not corporate, surveillance”

MYTH 5
“The USA doesn’t have national ID numbers”

MYTH 6
“Surveillance drones are just for war”

MYTH 7
“Surveillance makes the nation safer”

PART TWO: PROTECTIONS AND IMMUNITIES

MYTH 8
“No one wants to spy on kids”

MYTH 9
“Police don’t monitor social media”

MYTH 10
“Biometrics technologies are foolproof”

MYTH 11
“Metadata doesn’t reveal much about me”

MYTH 12
“The constitution protects reporters and their sources”

MYTH 13
“The attorney—client privilege is sacrosanct”

MYTH 14
“They can’t design devices and platforms for privacy”

MYTH 15
“Congress and courts protect us from surveillance”

PART THREE: IMPACT ON AUTONOMY, COMMUNITY, AND SOCIETY

MYTH 16
“Surveillance doesn’t influence how I act”

MYTH 17
“Teenagers don’t care about privacy”

MYTH 18
“Surveillance affects everyone equally”

MYTH 19
“‘If You See Something, Say Something’ is a civic duty”

MYTH 20
“Surveillance can’t predict future behavior”

MYTH 21
“There’s nothing I can do to stop surveillance”

Surveillance and Privacy Timeline
Acknowledgments
Notes