3 I'VE GOT NOTHING TO HIDE

Nothing is more pervasive than the "I've got nothing to hide" myth. It comes in many different guises, like, "If you've got nothing to hide, then what do you have to fear?" Even stronger variants of the myth simply paint a distorted image of privacy as the shelter of evil. More nuanced versions are perhaps more compelling, claiming that giving up a small amount of privacy for a significant national security gain is a fair exchange in a civilized society. The underlying reasoning is that national security can be upheld and terrorism can be countered if a selected number of vetted government officials, or perhaps just some data-crunching government computers, get access to a tiny fraction of our private life. What could possibly be the harm in that? Wouldn't that be a fair price to pay to assure homeland security?
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Or to improve public health or prevent fraud (as other, milder interpretations of the myth argue)?