SO WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? I HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE...DO I?

OK, at this point someone in the back bench is waving their hand and saying, "But if you have nothing to hide, then what are you objecting to?"

Fair enough. Here are some of the answers...

  • Because first and foremost, this is supposed to be the Land of the Free, and you can not have a free country when government snoops into everyone's lives. No citizen (or non-citizen for that matter) owes any paid public servant any explanation about their activities.
  • Because if you bother to read a single book on the history of this (or any other) country, you might find that there is a long history of unjust laws on the books. Slavery was the law. Segregation was the law. Bans on birth control were the law. Unions were once against the law. Do I need go on? The government has managed to get itself on the wrong side of every last one of these struggles for freedom. What has always given the people fighting for freedom some edge was the fact that they could organize without an all-intrusive government spy system interfering. Can you imagine what would have happened if Bull Connor had this sort of technology for use against the Freedom Riders?
  • Because the information gathered by this sort of technology can and will be used to harass political activists and anyone else on the government's "enemy's list." Incredible as it may seem, the government has a long and sorry history of violating dissenters' right to organize.
  • Because there's also a long history of public servants abusing "confidential" data, and exploiting it for financial, political and personal purposes.
  • Because if they get away with this, it will set a precedent for even more repression. The government has outlawed many things in the Land of the Free -- from assault rifles to alternative pharmaceuticals to encryption exportation -- and this sort of information will be used to destroy anybody's and everybody's liberties. Imagine how this information could be used against tax protesters, police brutality resisters, gun show organizers, ravers, draft refusers, medical marijuana advocates, anti-WTO organizers, home schoolers, anarchists, and just about anybody else who refuses to march in step.
  • Because if you are in the government you do not want to be reduced to the level of a snoop. You might also think about how your superiors will turn this type of surveillance technology against you.
  • Because CA DOT personnel ought to read Article I, Section 1 of the California State Constitution. They might find that .privacy is a right (check it out...), and that prying into the citizenry's travel plans and financial information is way over the line.
  • Because turn the situation around. If members of the CA DOT have nothing to hide, then I am sure they will not object to citizens covertly videotape CA DOT personnel as they drive to and from work, as they screw around on the job, as they cheat on their spouses, as they plot the overthrow of the Constitution, etc., etc.

    Think about it.

    "I want you to fight against government surveillance."