A one-minute CNBC clip in which Google CEO Eric Schmidt says that if you have something you do not want anyone to know, perhaps you should not be doing it. The remark became a notorious line in privacy debates.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN cites it as the source of the quote and as a critical example of the nothing-to-hide attitude toward privacy.
Yes. He said it in an interview on CNBC. this video "If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. But if you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines like Google do retain the information for some time, and we are all subject to the Patriot Act, and it is possible that that information may be made available to the authorities." -- Eric Schmidt
Cites itpaulus_magnus2Dec 2017
“Schmidt tells CNBC”
Schmidt's CNBC statement on privacy
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"If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place," Schmidt tells CNBC this videolink
Cites itRunSetOct 2022
Cited as supporting analogy about privacy and public content
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> Controversial opinion: if you don't like websites with ads, don't use websites with ads. 1. If someone doesn't want their content to be publicly available, they should not put it on a public web server.[0] 2. The question should not be whether ad blocking is ethical, but whether it is a moral obligation.[1] [0] this video [1] link
CriticaldanielsidersJun 2013
“maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place.”
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"If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." this video
Criticalsome1elseMay 2015
“Eric Schmidt obviously has nothing to hide”
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Eric Schmidt obviously has nothing to hide, because maybe he shouldn't be doing anything [..] in the first place. this video
CriticalplgJun 2015
“I think this comes down to trust.”
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In addition to the comments already here, I think this comes down to trust. Which companies do you trust? Which CEOs do you trust? Eric Schmidt: "If You Have Something You Don't Want Anyone To Know, Maybe You Shouldn't Be Doing It." [1] Mark Zuckerburg: "They trust me — dumb fucks." [2] Tim Cook: "I’m speaking to you from Silicon Valley, where some of the most prominent and successful companies have built their businesses by lulling their customers into complacency about their personal information,” said Cook. “They’re gobbling up everything they can learn about you and trying to monetize it. We think that’s wrong. And it’s not the kind of company that Apple wants to be." [3] Tim Cook: "Our business is based on selling products, not on having information about you. You are not our product." [4] Tim Cook: "We take a very different view of this than a lot of other companies have. Our view is, when we design a new service, we try not to collect data" [5] [1] this video [2] link [3] link [4] link [5] link
Criticalthr0waway1239Dec 2016
“This reminds me of Eric Schmidt's comment on privacy”
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I would love if someone built a Chrome extension which highlights comments from folks self-identifying as working at the companies mentioned in the story. For one, the general radio silence around ethical issues from the same folks who jump in with gusto on technical issues is both the most fascinating and the most creepy thing I have seen recently, and I am guessing the signal (people debating ethics) over noise (people debating technicals) ratio is low when you consider the implications of people taking these things for granted. I guess someone will be asking if the signal and noise should be the other way around, given that HN is mainly for discussing technical issues. Maybe, but it emboldens the general attitude from these folks, which I will sum up thus: "We have more insight into this issue than you because we are on the inside. We are probably smart enough to know what we are doing because we are working at these companies in the first place. And no one really knows the answer to these questions anyway, so what is the use discussing them endlessly?" Another way to rephrase the above is: "We know what is best for you, and if you are questioning this assumption, you are just hating". This reminds me of Eric Schmidt's comment on privacy: this video
