People have nothing to hide? Is privacy important?

Privacy is not really about having something to hide, it is about wanting to be alone in a world that is getting ever more crowded. We no longer have anytime when there is simple peacefulness. There is always someone looking over our shoulder being nosey. Someone listening into private conversations or being loud when we want to be quiet. There are cell phones every where with folks talking loudly or taking pictures of you when you do not know it. This is invasion of privacy that has nothing to do with you having something to hide. It is simple decency to give some one their SPACE! There was a time when we were told to NEVER give our our Social Security Number except to our employer, and that was AFTER we were hired. Now EVERYONE expects us to give it to them. You cannot GET a job if you do not give it to them FIRST. You cannot rent an apartment or buy anything big like a car without first giving a SS#. Did you know that this is actually against the law? Yeah right, try to fight it. You will not get anywhere except out the door. We now live in a police state where the cops no longer need a warrant to enter you residence or to search your car. They can question you without a lawyer and if you do not answer, you WILL go to lockup with no lawyer until first appearance. WE HAVE NO PRIVACY!

I don't give out my phone number. I will not give out my name if I don't like the person. I like the idea people think I have something to hide. In reality I don't . I'm just a private person offline. Online , many here know a lot about me.

I often got in arguments with my husband about wanting to make sure that none of my stores get on line in a public forum and also that when I joined a group, I made a passport so hard that I could not even remember it unless it was written down somewhere or rather printed. I think he thought that no one would be interested in what I wrote, and also that unless I did something bad, that no one would dare steal or blackmail me. I also thought that those who had innocent lives, that never got into trouble, never had a speeding ticket, never got drunk, never killed someone, and I am giving the usual reasons why one needs privacy, would not have to worry about things to hide. But there are bad people out there and to use an easy to remember password, or to give your social insurance number as a reference leaves you open to dangers.

There seems to be a skeleton in every familie's closet. Everyone has a history. I think you have hit on several very different subject. Our own private information is just that. Private. But then there are occurences in one's life that are better kept to themselves. With identity theft and all it is important to keep things to yourself.

Somethings are to protect us, I like knowing if there's some people that were convicted of crimes in my area, i would be aware of them, but not fearful. :)

hi, privacy is important in anyone's life. And i think those persons who says there's nothing to hide must be hiding a lot than you and me. Sharing a phone number is different than sharing their bank account number/s. We should have space for just ourselves and that should remain as 'ours' only.

yu have a point. of course if we have got nothing to hide, then it is okay for us to be seen wherever we go, and well i sure think too that we ought to be careful with a much too personal information like our credit cards, our personal and financial information. of course that is important that we are able to keep ourselves safe though.

Hi awinds! I would not favor the total disclosure of everything. We need to protect some of our private data/information from everyone so that our security and safety is not jeopardized.

Privacy is an absolutely essential civil liberty/right. Without it, you're opening yourself up to all kinds of nasty horrid people out there who, let's say, don't exactly have your best interests at heart. To be honest, I'm astounded by the total lack of understanding about privacy I see online every day: people who post incredibly personal information about themselves and seem to think that the Internet somehow magically makes them anonymous. Every single piece of information on the Internet (within reason) can be tied back to you, personally, when you post it - and you KNOW that someone's going to be looking and storing it all away for when they can use it against you. It may sound paranoid but just look at all the idiots in the recent looting in the UK. "Oh, we're so cool, it's such a lark... oops, I just got arrested with 3,000 other people who thought they were anonymous..." - that's obviously a positive example but it's vital to remember that disclosure is a two-edged sword. Personally, I don't want ANYONE knowing anything about me that I don't tell them myself. It's none of their business and they have no right to know it.

i also believe privacy is important..even with our couple or our people..maybe.. why? it`s only my opinion

Of course we all have something to hide. And we should have something to hide. There are certain things that are nobody's business. There are certain things about our life that are going to be something that we should not be sharing. There have been people out there, despite all of the dangers, all of the risks, they have really been a bit lax about the security, and it has really come back to bite them. There is no such thing as too much privacy. In fact, we should have even more privacy then we had. We should hide things. Everyone could be out to get you potentially. You never know when someone could be out there to cause you harm. It is a scary world out there. It is a harsh reality. It makes you think for sure, but privacy is rather important. People should learn to close more information. No one has any right to know things about your life that you feel uncomfortable about sharing.

I always value privacy. Let us respect if others do not mind washing their linens publicly because that is their business. That is a reflection of what and who they are.

Personally, my privacy is very important to me. I'm not really a social person and I tend to keep for myself - that's the way I am and perhaps the way I'm gonna be for the rest of my life. While I do socialize very now and then, i ten dot keep my privacy and my mouth slightly shut because I felt that some things are nobody's business but mine. Even if I'm a celebrity or a public persona, privacy is a given just becuase celebrities and otehr public persona are also people - only with more public expose and limelight. I guess there is a thin line between privacy and 'having nothing to hide'. For me, privacy is still essential. It has nothing to do with 'nothing to hide'. I think that just an excuse for people just get some dirt on anybody and justify their means. People are innately curious but using information with malice is another ballgame. Privacy means that there are something that you keep for yourself becuase it matters and applies only to yourself. You don't need anyone to know it. It is something personal and it may not warrant attention form other people who don't care or know about you. May it be delicate issues like family or personal issues - not everybody is entitled to poke their nose into other people's business. In a sense, with privacy, comes respect. Privacy is more important in this age. I guess it's easier to hide in the past when the technology is still in its infancy. I also don't mind some invasion of privacy as long as everybody gets subjected to it and it's for everybody's welfare. But I do mind if my information is being used against me or some ridiculous attempt to scam or deframe for something nasty.

Yeah, I think it's important to have still privacy. Specially you should never give your credit card number through internet to anyone. Although you can post a lot of info on the social networks you should keep some info with yourself. Think that all the entire world have access into what you post on the web.

People who have nothing to hide, we could say they life a totaly free life with totaly no worries about any privacy of theirs. But It`s totaly normal for someone to have it`s privacy. Some people may be ashame of their privacy so they keep hiding it while others don`t really care about it so they don`t hide it. It`s all about do we think is it important or not.