"I have nothing to hide."
False.
You have medical history
You have financial behavior
You have location patterns
You have political views
You have relationship data
Privacy was never about hiding crimes. It was always about owning your life.
@Tutanota +under surveillance people reduce controversial discussion, this limits freedom
+surveillance singles out people that try to change the status quo, society does advance slower
+surveillance allows suppressing the unwanted people with precision
@Tutanota
"I have nothing to hide" cool, send me your browsing history and all contacts saved on your devices.
@Tutanota "I have nothing to hide" ... "How did the scammer got my phone number?"
"I have nothing to hide" ... "What is all this spam I'm getting?"
"I have nothing to hide" ... "How did you know I was going to this restaurant?"
"I have nothing to hide" ... "Why's this advertisement so accurate?"
"I have nothing to hide" ... "Data breach? What? My medical records are in?!"
"I have nothing to hide" ... 'Security Message: Someone logged into your account'..."I don't remember logging in today."
@SoftwareTheron @Tutanota Two crossbows!
...
Wait.
WAIT!
(This is actually the first time someone suggested this. But I wouldn't find this one that harmful.)
@The_Universality @Tutanota
Perhaps you remember "the gummint's coming for our guns!!" ?
@SoftwareTheron No. This is the first time I hear about this.
@The_Universality
Too American, perhaps? (Not that I am.)
Or maybe too old.
@SoftwareTheron I'm from EU Member State and not even old.
Still I don't know to what event is that refering to nor what were the arguments.
@The_Universality
I'm old.
There was, and probably still is, a claim among some right-wing Americans that they have guns to protect them from the state, and that the state is continually trying to constrain their ownership of weapons.
The same people claim(-ed) to believe strongly that only those with something to hide should be frightened by intrusive law enforcement and data-gathering. Generally, what they actually meant was "The cops are on our side and we should be able to know everything about you". Especially in an LGBTQ+ context - not illegal, but being strongly resisted by exactly these people.
I wish I'd thought to point this contradiction out to them when I knew some, in the very early days of social media.
@SoftwareTheron That is indeed contradicting statement from their side, then.
@The_Universality @SoftwareTheron 6 years old, but still current: https://theshovel.com.au/2020/06/04/nra-accidentally-forgets-to-rise-up-against-tyrannical-government/
@whybird @SoftwareTheron Hmmm.
One could ask if they so conveniently forgotten about their task, whether they wished to fulfill it in the first place.
@The_Universality @whybird
Oh for sure, it was always a lie.
Not being able to rub their noses in it is the only thing I regret about not being in contact with them any more.
@Tutanota I tried what that guy on YouTube said: when people tell me they have nothing to hide I ask them to share their email password with me. I promise to do no wrong at all, I'd just login occasionally, read some emails and leave. No damage, no writing, no deleting, no traces left. So far they all refused :|
@pepintheshort @Tutanota but they don't have anything to hide, so I don't understand.
on what basis did they not give you the password???
@falcennial @Tutanota that's a great question! :)
Sep 11, 2026, 9:40 AM@Tutanota genau so ist es 👏👏👏❤️
@Tutanota And what is legal today could be illegal tomorrow
Sep 11, 2026, 11:08 AM@pnairolf even funnier, sometimes illegallness may backpropagate! The fact, that it was legal back then, doesn't guarantee anything
like, by Russian constitution, laws cannot have reverse power, but then they introduced concept of «ongoing crime»
basically, if you posted something, while it's still available — it's subject to the most recent law. You posted a quote of an opposition politician, and don't removed it when they were declared extremist? You're now guilty of spreading extremist information. No, forgetting is not an excuse
Not just financial behaviour but also passwords/access to your finances which crooks would love to gather up and use to steal all your money!
@Tutanota you only have nothing to hide until someone decide they will harm you because you're different.
@Tutanota You also expose your peers privacy.
Sep 11, 2026, 11:56 AM@Tutanota It may be hard to realize but a lot of people don't care about hiding those things either.
@Tutanota they have made a machine that can bypass HIPPA/doctor-patient confidentiality laws. If your doctor asks AI "my patient has xyz..." AI knows who the doctor is talking about because the system says you had an appointment around then, and you google similar symptoms...
You may find yourself out of a job or you may find yourself not getting jobs or promotions because of a medical condition. Best believe that's the plan.
Sep 11, 2026, 12:14 PM@Tutanota Under perfect surveillance, everyone is a criminal.
Crime and law is a subjective construct, not an objective one. If it was, courts, trials and appeals wouldn't exist.
Sep 11, 2026, 12:15 PM@Tutanota You have something to protect.
You have a butthole.
You got nothing to hide ? Then show the world your butthole. With your name written next to it, and the name of where you work.
Sep 11, 2026, 1:25 PM@Tutanota "You have your own value."
@Tutanota And privacy is a basic right, not a privilege for people with nothing to hide.
@Tutanota Right. If I ain't got nothing to hide I ain't got no life.
At this point I think it's our psychology we want to hide the most. It's also the toughest now. If we don't, then we're fed exactly what is needed to make us think the way certain people want us to think. So if you want to think for yourself, protect your psychology and don't let people know it too well.
Don't cast your pearl before swine.
But again, if you don't care to think for yourself--if you don't like it--then ...
Sep 11, 2026, 1:37 PM@Tutanota And louder for the folks in the back: Orwell's 1984 was a *warning* not an *instruction manual*.
And yet? Here we are.
@Tutanota I personally don't care who knows any of that shit about me, but people who do care should have a choice, and that choice should be opt in, not opt out.
@Tutanota Law enforcement's members have political and personal motivations, beyond what the law requires, so everyone has someone to hide.
@Tutanota
That's what I keep telling people. The usual answer is just: "Yeah, but why should anybody be interested in this?" :blobcatfacepalm2:
Well, I don't know. But some people are. Isn't this fact enough to be concerned?
Sep 11, 2026, 3:01 PM
That's why we should own our own data and decide who gets to access it
@Tutanota isn't "I have nothing to hide" used when someone doesn't have any evidence against them on something.
@Tutanota I think saying to the people using the argument never realize how much they care about their own privacy. They think that having "nothing to hide" is some sort of a virtue, something to strive for, because that's what good people have and good people don't get into trouble - and you just can't argue with a person's belief of their own virtuousness if you want to persuade them.
"What would you like to show to complete strangers?" yields far more privacy-minded answers in my experience, or "What are you okay with giving away about yourself?"
@Tutanota And anyway, the issue isn't whether or not I have anything to hide, it's whether or not my business is any of theirs. It's not. My business is none of the government's or big tech's business. They need to keep their flipping noses to themselves. That's the point. I don't have to justify anything. They're the ones overstepping bounds poking their nose places they don't belong all in the name of greed. Don't accept the inverse frame. It's on them to justify a need to know. Otherwise none of it is anybody's business.
The petrostate oligarchs funding AI surveillance technology come from nations accustomed to serfs & slaves.
https://sources.news/p/mark-zuckerberg-meta-muse-ai-podcast-interview
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/meta-bricks-perv-smart-glasses
https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-glasses-camera-disabled-tampering-recording-light-update-2026-9
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/08/meta-settlement-social-media-facebook-whatsapp-glasses/
Feels like home to them when everyone is being watched & it can be bricked remotely at any time.
https://www.cnbc.com/2012/05/16/a-russian-magnates-facebook-bet-pays-off-big.html
https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/russian-billionaire-usmanov-buys-stake-in-apple-46010
https://www.dw.com/en/the-russian-oligarchs-of-the-fincen-files/a-55062675
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-richest-billionaires-putin-getting-wealthier-fast-2108587
@Tutanota I have places where I am alone at night, unarmed and unprepared to protect myself.
@Tutanota i have nothing to hide mfers when i walk into their room mid sex and cheer them on
-carrie
@Tutanota
truest fucking shit I've read the entire year, so far.
@Tutanota Privacy is knowing that at some point some lunatic with much more power than he deserves is going to decide "You know what, fuck that mad engineer guy, how can I best lean on him?" and the more I have in public, the more tools this guy is going to have.
@Tutanota I don't need privacy because of me doing something nefarious. I need privacy because I have to question your intent, goodwill, and competence to keep me safe, based on your past actions.
@Tutanota @Catfish_Man Turn to someone and look directly at them with dead eyes and tell them ‘I know when your kids leave for school in the morning, and when they leave school in the afternoon, and the routes they take’.
And watch them freak the fuck out.
Weird how that happens.
@Tutanota when your boss badly want to know where you stand on tax policy, trust me, you have a lot to hide from people that have no right to intrude in your life.
@Tutanota I have nothing to show.
@Tutanota The Tuta intern has been killing it lately.
Sep 14, 2026, 2:04 AM@Tutanota Stop! This is 100% true!
Sep 14, 2026, 7:36 AM@Tutanota
Just as I lament the lack of basic understanding of the humanities (history, philosophy, ethics, the arts, etc) across the general public, I often wish that the general public understood basic opsec and digital hygiene. Why is it not taught in high schools?
Ganz genau.
@Gergovie We love this - it's spot on! Thanks for sharing.
@Gergovie Would it be okay if we share it on our social platforms? :) We will credit you of course.
Not mine. No signature..
Just added Alt text.
