I’VE never been keen on the phrase ‘if you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve got nothing to be afraid of’.

That’s because I think wrong’s an ever-shifting concept, morality’s subjective and societal norms are dependent on the society you’re occupying at the time.

When it comes to the almost universal truths – murder is bad, chocolate is good – most of us can agree, most of the time.

But the rest of it shifts – as a few horribly abusive 1970s characters can now attest, behaviour accepted or ignored in one era can make you a social leper with a criminal record in the blink of a decade or two.

The socially acceptable behaviour we display today could quickly become tomorrow’s immorality, next year’s criminal act, a warning to the following generation.

I imagine most of us can happily accept that when it applies to holding abusers to account, putting a stop to drink driving or criminalising racism.

But that potential cultural shift can have consequences for all of us, even those who truly believe they don’t have anything to hide because they’ve done nothing wrong.

Currently awaiting Royal Assent before being passed into law, the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 will extend ‘state spying’ in Britain to unprecedented levels.

Recently approved by the House of Lords, the so-called Snooper’s Charter would be the most extreme surveillance law to be passed in UK history.

It will grant authorities the right to hack computers and mobile devices on an industrial scale.

It will force internet service providers to store your entire internet history for 12 months and make that accessible to scores of public bodies. Not just the security services but the Department of Work and Pensions to the Gambling Commission. Basically, any Government department that fancies a quick sift through your browsing (and downloading) history.

The law will tell those entitled to ask which sites you’ve visited, which articles you’ve read and what you’ve been up to online, or via telephone, for the past year.

In a blow to investigative journalism and freedom of the press, it will also give authorities the ability to trace reporters’ sources.

The contentious law is a raid on our privacy and civil liberties that is as disturbing as it is Orwellian in nature.

The Government argue it will prevent terrorism but I fear it will inevitably bring with it a million and one opportunities for the accidental wrong-doers of today, tomorrow or yesterday to fall foul of authority.

The Snooper’s Charter gives the state an unprecedented opportunity to profile its population, to store data on everything from sexual interests to religious affiliation or what you bought on Amazon last week.

That data will be there whenever there’s a watch-list that needs compiling, whenever there’s a special interest that’s suddenly deemed inappropriate, whenever a new wrong is agreed upon.

Are you sure you won’t end up on any of those lists? Are you sure you’ll never have anything to hide? That there’s nothing you’d really rather keep to yourself? That your rights will not suddenly become society’s wrongs?

I wish I could be that confident.