Why JackPair? I Have Nothing to Hide?

The right to privacy is not just about “secrecy” or “having something to hide”. With modern surveillance technologies, the Government’s massive data collection and mining programs are problematic even if people have nothing to hide. The large-scale harvest of small bits of seemingly innocuous data allows weaving of a much more telling big picture of individuals, but it often failed to reflect the whole story. The problem lies in not only information “gathering”, but also information “processing”, and here’s some examples you should worry about:

• Distortion & Misinterpretation: What if the government mistakenly determines that, based on your pattern of activities, you’re likely to engage in a criminal act? What if the government thinks your financial transactions look odd—even if you've done nothing wrong—and freezes your accounts?
• Leaking & Secondary Use: What if the government or carrier operator leaks your information to third-parties or the public? What if the government doesn't protect your information with adequate security, and an identity thief obtains it and uses it to defraud you? How long will personal data be stored? And what can it be used for in the future? A lot of times we do not even know about the leakage of our records until long after the damage is done.
• Exclusion of Access: Most data gathered by the government is kept secret for national security reasons, and people are barred from accessing and correcting errors in that data. What if the government denies you the right to fly without giving you any reason?

An argument could be that the government does not intend to hurt average citizens. In many cases that is true, but the government can, and has, also harmed people inadvertently, due to errors, carelessness, or policy changes. These massive surveillance programs are no longer about what information people want to hide; they make the individuals powerless and vulnerable in front of the bureaucracy, and create a power imbalance between People and Government. To change the dynamics, JackPair is the affordable tool that enables average citizens to protect themselves against wiretapping and harassment from Big Brother.