When discussing the argument that “I have nothing to hide so surveillance isn’t really an issue for me,” Chris Gilliard brought up an interesting point, stating plainly: that’s simply not how rights work.

I never really comprehended the fuss over privacy. Why is it a big deal for a big corporation or government to look at what we’re doing. If you have nothing to hide, who cares and why should it matter? Gilliard really helped broaden my perspective on the topic. I now understand the faultiness of that logic. For example, with the First Amendment, the United States’ Bill of Rights grants citizens freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, and petition. Using the same argument people often use against privacy and applying it to something like speech, it becomes rather ridiculous. “I have nothing bad to say about the government, so I don’t have a problem with my speech and writing being restricted.”

Rights are the fundamental rules are humans are owed in life, and according to our societal values, privacy is one of these rights.