Can I disassociate myself from the rest of the world and say that everyone should lead a life in which they would never have anything to hide from anyone?
Do we have the right to demand that all citizens should have nothing to hide under any circumstances?
As allowing a society to emerge in which nothing can truly be kept secret is to impose this transparency on everyone, forever and regardless of the governments that might succeed one another.
If strong encryption systems are banned, or if we continue to use the tools of the IT giants, then we will be entering a generalised surveillance society, which has already begun to take shape. So not only states, but also private firms will participate in this surveillance. The giants of information gathering on our daily lives will gather it and sell it. They are already authorised to do so, they are already doing it in a more or less direct way; it is a very “promising” sector.
By renouncing my privacy, the respect of my digital intimacy, I also renounce that of everyone, whether they are in positions of responsibility and power, or on the contrary in a situation of weakness. I forbid in fact to everyone any “originality” and any moment of “guilty” weakness that could subject them to blackmail or popular vindictiveness.
Obtaining a “detailed sheet” on the person of one’s choice will become “commonplace”.
A multinational corporation will always be able to blackmail a judge or a politician of its choice, silence a witness or a journalist.
Any extremist group could take it out on a group of its choice, eliminating one by one the “impure” of the moment.
An HR may find it more profitable to blackmail an executive close to retirement or a cleaning lady rather than pay their due…