Too many wrongly characterize the debate as “security versus privacy.” The real choice is liberty versus control. Tyranny, whether it arises under threat of foreign physical attack or under constant domestic authoritative scrutiny, is still tyranny. Liberty requires security without intrusion, security plus privacy. Widespread police surveillance is the very definition of a police state. And that’s why we should champion privacy even when we have nothing to hide.

—Bruce Schneier, real American hero, from a 2006 post about privacy, resurfaced in rebuttal to Eric Schmidt’s comment that “if you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place”.