Those who welcome surveillance need more information

People who welcome constant government surveillance have not thought it through [“Seattle grounds its police drone program,” page one, Jan. 8]. They welcome more watchers monitoring our every step to catch lawbreakers. After all, if you don’t break any laws everything will be fine. Inevitably, they proudly proclaim they have “nothing to hide.” All authoritarian regimes would agree.

Those who welcome police surveillance are apparently not aware that having something to hide changes from time to time and place to place. A citizen of North Korea with an unauthorized radio has something to hide, so does a blogger in China.

The Freedom Riders in Mississippi during the civil-rights struggle certainly had something to hide. Ann Frank had to hide the fact of her existence.

Only a few years ago, miscegenation was not just a word for the erudite bigot, but a crime. “Nothing to hide” is fine as a personal way of life, but as a legal standard, it is a disaster.

--Glenn Marquiss, Port Orchard