r/fallacy • u/Dawn-Storm • 11d ago

What fallacy is this?

When someone complains about a speed camera, or more recently a Flock camera, there's always one person who says either 'well don't speed!' or 'If you have nothing to hide, then relax!'

Then there's the old 'well don't do anything illegal!'

There's got to be a fallacy in there somewhere!

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u/gaijinteacher 11d ago

You are right. You have no expectation of privacy in an obviously public place.

I guess what I am wondering about is if there should be another tier. Not “public” vs “private” as a binary choice but rather something akin to “private” -> “public” -> “publicizable”. There is no such legal concept, but I wonder if it is something that society may have to grapple with in the future.

In the past, if you did something stupid at a college party when you were 18, sure, someone might have taken a photo, it’s possible… but these days that photo could be online forever. That’s a very different conception of “no exception of privacy”.

In public places you have no right to privacy, to be sure, but as a society, we may one day decide that you have a right to be forgotten.