So much for “I have nothing to hide” – why data protection concerns everyone

“But I have nothing to hide.” You often hear this when data protection comes up. It sounds reasonable – and yet it falls short.

It’s not about secrets, it’s about control

Data protection does not protect criminals; it protects your freedom to decide for yourself who knows what about you. You close the toilet door, draw the curtains in the evening and don’t tell your employer everything about your health. Not because you are doing anything forbidden, but because some things are nobody’s business but yours.

Harmless data adds up to a detailed picture

Individual pieces of information seem insignificant: when you go shopping, where you charge your phone, which articles you read. Combined, they can reveal your habits, health, financial situation, political views or relationships. This is exactly what many business models live on.

What is harmless today may cause harm tomorrow

Errors: inaccurate data held by a credit agency can lead to a loan or tenancy being refused.
Data breaches: whatever is stored can be stolen – and misused for fraud or blackmail.
New connections: data collected today may tomorrow be used for purposes nobody is thinking of today.
Other people: with your address book, your photos and chats, you also give away data about your family and friends.

Your rights under the Federal Act on Data Protection

The Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) gives you effective tools:

You are entitled to find out what data a company processes about you (right of access, Art. 25 FADP).
You can have inaccurate information corrected and data deleted (Art. 32 FADP).
You can object to processing (Art. 30 FADP).

Five simple steps

Check the privacy settings of your most important apps and accounts.
Use a separate password for each account and, where possible, two-factor authentication.
Choose a data-minimising messenger (comparison).
Only provide what is necessary for competitions, loyalty cards and forms.
Ask: with our access request template you can find out in a few minutes what a company knows about you.