Once again we are told that if we’ve got nothing to hide, then we’ve got nothing to worry about. This time it is immigration minister Liam Byrne, referring to the introduction of a biometric scanning system at Heathrow airport. Justified in terms of efficiency, the biometric scans will require us to register 13 different types of biometric data on a national database. This will then be CRB checked and potentially shared with other countries.

Having been deeply infuriated by long queues and jobsworth airport officials many times in the past, I’m keen for airports to try to make the experience a little less hellish. What I don’t want to do, however, is to register my DNA in order to jump the queues. Surely employing more staff and implementing better management and training would be a less authoritarian alternative?

And what if we do have something to hide, something we don't want the authorities to know about? The idea that 'if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about' is based on the notion that we should put everything in the open for the authorities to see, that we should actively prove our goodness and innocence. This damages the idea of what it means to be a free citizen. It may be a cliched saying, but it is one we should challenge every time we hear it.

Patrick Hayes