If you’ve ever said some extent of “I have nothing to hide, so I don’t care if companies or governments have my data,” I want you to really sit with that for a second.

Not because you’re dumb. Not because you’re malicious. But because that belief didn’t come from careful thinking. It came from repetition. It sounds reasonable because it’s been normalized.

And it’s one of the most effective lies of the modern digital world.

Privacy was never about hiding. It was always about power. Once you see that, the whole argument collapses.

Privacy Isn’t About Guilt. It’s About Control.

The notion of “nothing to hide” only works if privacy is framed as something only guilty people need. Let’s break down why that’s wrong.

You lock your home door.

You close your bathroom door.

You don’t hand your journal, your medical records, or your bank statements to complete strangers. Not because you’re doing something illegal, but because boundaries are normal.

Privacy is the ability to decide who gets access to your life, your habits, your thoughts, and your patterns. When that control disappears, so does a quiet kind of freedom most people don’t notice until it’s gone.

The moment privacy starts being treated as suspicious, we’ve already crossed a line.

This Feels Fine Until It Happens to You

People act like data risk is abstract until it actually impacts their lives. But we’re already seeing this happen in ways that go far beyond creepy ads.

Health insurers, for instance, are vacuuming up lifestyle and behavior data — often from outside the doctor-patient relationship — and even experimenting with using that data to set premiums or make predictions about future costs. Patient advocates warn that using unverified algorithmic inferences could lead to improperly priced plans or unfair penalty rates, literally because your data “looks risky” on someone else’s spreadsheet. 

And it’s not just health. Data used for insurance underwriting, risk modeling, or external predictive scores can influence whether you get a fair premium, whether you’re labeled “high risk,” or how algorithms price your coverage. Regulators in California have even flagged concerns that big data and AI can produce unfair discrimination in how insurers market, price, and underwrite policies. 

It’s fine until it’s not. And that’s how it works. People treat privacy like a distant concept until there’s a real bill, a real rate hike, a real denial, or a real pattern that harms them personally. That level of willful ignorance and complacency drives me insane.

1984 and Brave New World Were a Two-Part Warning

I didn’t treat 1984 and Brave New World like quirky school reading assignments. I treated them like warnings.

People love to argue about which one got it right. That misses the point.

1984 warned us about surveillance, monitoring, and control through fear. Brave New World warned us about control through comfort, convenience, and distraction.

One explains how the system can watch you. The other explains why you let it.

We needed convenience. We needed to agree to terms and conditions, even without reading, because it made life easier.

After all, surveillance works best when it doesn’t feel like surveillance. When it feels helpful, personalized, normal. When opting out feels annoying, antisocial, or extreme.

That’s the world we’re living in. And you absolutely should care.

I Used to Be All In on Smart Tech

I used to have smart devices all over my house.

Then my career in advertising grew, and I learned how data is actually mined: how behavioral profiles are built, and how voice data, location data, browsing history, and purchasing behavior are stitched together into something far more invasive than most people realize.

So I cut cords.

Not because I think someone is personally listening to me talk about my grocery list, but because I understand incentives. And because data collection never shrinks. It only expands.

You Might Think I’m Crazy. Maybe I Am.

I shut my WiFi off at night unless I need it.

I put my phone in a Faraday bag when I can.

My cameras are covered on the few tech devices I still have.

I don’t aim to have a house full of smart devices.

I’m not telling you to live exactly like this. I’m just saying it’s wild that caring at all gets labeled as paranoia.

Choosing not to be constantly monitored shouldn’t be controversial. It should be a valid personal boundary.

“Nothing to Hide” Ignores How Data Actually Works

When people say they don’t care about data privacy, they’re usually imagining targeted ads or better recommendations. That’s the cute, friendly surface layer.

What they ignore is inference.

Your data isn’t just used to see what you did. It’s used to predict who you are, what you’ll do next, what scares you, what persuades you, and where you’re vulnerable.

Location data can reveal religion, politics, health status, routines, and relationships. Search history can expose fear, curiosity, uncertainty, and intent.

You didn’t explicitly hand over those truths. They were extracted. And once that shadow profile exists, it can follow you into other parts of your life — insurance, lending, housing decisions, employment risk scores, and more. It’s already rolling into our grocery shopping, and airline reservations.

This Isn’t Just a Personal Choice

Privacy isn’t just about you.

When mass surveillance becomes normal, opting out becomes harder for everyone. Especially for journalists, activists, marginalized communities, and anyone whose safety depends on not being easily tracked, categorized, or misunderstood by an algorithm.

You might feel fine right now. You might even feel aligned with current laws and cultural norms.

Those change.

Your data doesn’t forget.

The Question We Should Actually Be Asking

The question was never “what are you hiding.”

The real question is “who has the power.”

Because once data becomes power, leverage, and influence, casually giving it away stops feeling harmless.

You don’t need secrets to deserve privacy.
You don’t need guilt to want boundaries.
You don’t need to justify caring.

And anyone who benefits from you not caring is counting on you staying comfortable, distracted, and quiet.

Bestie. That’s not the move.