Forums / Discussion / Serious Debate

My sister tells me I guard my information too much but often I do it because I know people will react inappropriately or worse. The NSA has only ever collected genuine information, but this is considered wrong when people are not consenting because there are fears the NSA would use this information wrongly and people are not comfortable with sharing information. The concept of if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear seems uncomfortable to many because we value privacy, but I have trouble understanding when we value it too much. In personal experience much to my gullible lament I have been taken advantage of socially for giving information and taken advantage of by people because of their secret keeping because I trusted their secrets should be respected when it turned out the secrets were very important and should have been shared from the start. When should there be a boundary placed, or a line drawn in the sand, in regards to what information you will and won't give and why is that?

in general, or just talking about online, like giving away your name and stuff?

irl with people who i know.. i tell them everything, i have no secrets, i have nothing to hide, nothing people would be able to blackmail me with.
When it comes to online, i'm kinda forced to give out a lot of my information such as name and address since i own an online business.

I think its usually safe to have a separate online and irl identity, but meh, it doesn't really matter.

When the person is a friend you know quite well for some time, sure it's okay to give info out

When the person is a mysterious unknown entity asking for your credit card number. Don't give out anything.

Consider that some people go to death row and aren't guilty. Consider that some killers get off the hook because of technicalities. Consider that the OPM requires knowledge about any and all things that could be used to manipulate you for important members – so they give you forms that are extensive. This idea that if you have nothing to hide it should be fine is absolutely absurd. While you shouldn't generally panic over sharing details about yourself, people shouldn't be allowed to know everything about you if they aren't trustworthy (and if anything has been demonstrated since Nixon, it's that the government isn't the most reliable). We value privacy because it keeps us alive and safe, even if we don't realize it. How many passwords out there are based on common-knowledge things, like pets, names, and birthdays?