Americans might say they have nothing to hide, but many wouldnt hand over access to their phone even for $1 million

Date:
Thu, 10 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Description:
Incogni report finds those with 'nothing to hide' are more likely to snoop on the phones of their friends and family

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter New Incogni research has found that the privacy preferences of Americans don't really align with what they say Many of those with 'nothing to hide' will happily snoop on the phones of their family members and partners But those same people tend to get twitchy when handing over their phone to strangers, or their data to the government A new survey by Incogni has found almost half of Americans say they have
nothing to hide when it comes to their privacy, but almost immediately change their perspective when it comes to strangers looking at their phone - or sharing their private messages with the federal government.

Even when offered substantial sums of money, many of those with nothing to hide still wouldnt hand over their devices, and their personal habits such as covering cameras or installing privacy screens show a level of contradiction in what they say, and how they behave. Of those surveyed as part of Incognis research, Gen Z were the most likely to say they had nothing to hide at 57%, whereas just 26% of Baby Boomers offered the same response. Latest Videos
From TechRadar Watch full video here: Americans don't want strangers or the government accessing their phones (Image credit: Incogni) As it turns out, those who fell into the 45% of respondents who said they had nothing to hide were more likely to snoop on other people's devices. In fact, when polled on whether they looked at other peoples devices in public, people with nothing
to hide were double as likely (42%) to snoop compared to their something to hide counterparts (27%). (Image credit: Incogni) Those with nothing to hide were also more likely to look through the phones of their partners and family members without permission. In fact, 41% who fell into this category admitted to snooping on their partners phones, and 35% had looked through their family members' phones. You may like Quote of the day by NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden on the 'nothing to hide' argument: 'No different than saying you
don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say' "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place" quote of the day by Eric Schmidt Millions of VPN users
in the US are inadvertently putting their privacy at risk, Proton warns
(Image credit: Incogni) Despite claiming to have nothing to hide, 39% still covered their cameras with tape, stickers, or sliding covers - especially those of Gen Z. Over a quarter of respondents also said that they
deliberately obscure their personal information when signing up to online services with fake names, false dates of birth, and masked emails.

But the most interesting data comes from paying for privacy. 41% of those who said they have nothing to hide would pay more for a product if it was better for their privacy. But when offered money in return for handing over their phone to a stranger, 60% of respondents refused any amount of money. 20% said it would take an amount of $1 million or more, and just 6% offered access for $100 or less. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners
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When breaking these numbers down by group, 58% of those with nothing to hide would not let a stranger access their unlocked phone for any amount of money.

Even when offered three months of their salary, just 26% of respondents would hand over their SMS, chat-app, and email messages with law enforcement. This number drops to 25% with Big Tech companies, 24% for local government, and a staggering 21% for the federal government. (Image credit: Incogni) Incogni theorizes that those who said they have nothing to hide may be equating privacy with secretiveness and secretiveness with guilt. It may also be true that many people fail to see how their seemingly innocent data, such as an email address or phone number, should be kept private.

As numerous data breaches have shown, the leaking of such information can
lead to phishing emails, scams, and general harassment or doxxing. Incogni says that people fail to see why this information should stay private, especially in an era when social media and the websites we use hoover up as much information as possible to be sold to advertisers and third-parties.

The findings suggest that the nothing to hide argument may therefore say less about how much people actually value privacy than about how difficult it is
to see the consequences of losing it, the report concludes. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/americans-might-say-they-have-nothing-t o-hide-but-many-wouldnt-hand-over-access-to-their-phone-even-for-usd1-million


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