Wednesday, January 09, 2013

If you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide … right?

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Zach Weiner at Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal goes political:

Excerpt from ‘Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal’ comic #2806 [@ 01/08/13]
© Zach Weiner

Transcript: (click the [+/-] to open/close →) []

AERIAL SURVEILLANCE ROBOT: Hello citizen. I'll be monitoring you on your walk today! Enjoy your safety.


CITIZEN: What? That's a violation of my privacy.

ROBOT: If you've done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide


CITIZEN: Everyone has something to hide and usually no one cares. By surveilling everyone, you catch the benign breaches of law and taboo. If the public are all guilty, the executive part of the government can selectively enforce laws, essentially giving them both judicial and legislative power, which defeats the whole point of separation of powers.

Be sure to see the rest for the punchline (and don’t forget the red button!). Of course, my go-to reply to anyone who tells me I’ve got nothing to hide if I’ve done nothing wrong is to immediately demand to see their bank statement and online passwords. After all, any flustered reaction can only be a sign that they’re hiding their wrongdoing! QED.

(via The Agitator)